Adam Couchman winner of Leatherland Prize 2018

The University of Divinity in partnership with the Australian Academy of Liturgy is pleased to announce that the 2018 Leatherland Prize has been awarded to Captain Adam Couchman (PhD student, Eva Burrows College).

Citation

In his essay, Performing in the Theodrama: a Theocentric Vision of Christian Worship, Adam Couchman draws on the work of Adrienne von Speyr in conversation with James Torrance and Kevin Vanhoozer to explore what it is for worship to be at the heart of the Trinity. Beginning with the question of what it is for Jesus to be a worshipper, Couchman addresses questions around the relationship between prayer and worship, and how doctrine is enacted through liturgical action, to offer a definition of worship as a theocentric drama that unfolds the inner life of the Trinity in the daily prayer and worship of the Church. Couchman argues that:

Christian worship is an ongoing, theodramatic performance of the eternal glorification of God that is already taking place within the Trinity. It is made possible through the High Priesthood of Christ and effective to us by the presence of the Holy Spirit. It is centred upon the worship of Jesus Christ as revealed in the canon of Scripture and yet the theodrama is extended into new contexts every day through faithful improvisation.

The examiners remarked on Couchman’s fresh approach, observing how ‘it was particularly satisfying to see classical Chalcedonian doctrine – and that very well understood – closely integrated with liturgical analysis.’

Captain Adam Couchman

BTh (Sydney College of Divinity, Australia), BTh (Hons) (Charles Sturt University, Australia), MA in Theology (Nazarene Theological College, UK), ThD (Candidate)

Captain Adam Couchman has been teaching since 2008. He has held various appointments at Eva Burrows College in both the School for Officer Training and School for Christian Studies. From 2009 to 2012 he was the Director of the School for Christian Studies. He was commissioned as an Officer, along with his wife Megan, in November 2003, and since then he has been Corps Officer at Armidale Corps (NSW), Gosford Corps (NSW) and is currently a Lecturer at Eva Burrows College and Assistant Corps Officer, Box Hill Corps.

Adam is both a lecturer and alumni of Eva Burrows College; having completed his undergraduate degree through the college in 2005. His honours studies, through Charles Sturt University, saw him research the sacramental theology of The Salvation Army. His Masters studies in Christian Holiness were completed with distinction through the Nazarene Theological College in Manchester, UK. Adam is currently working towards his Doctor of Philosophy through the University of Divinity where his research is engaged in theological interpretation of Scripture; specifically the worship of Jesus Christ himself.

About the Leatherland Prize

The Leatherland Prize was established to honour the memory of the Rev Dr Harold F Leatherland, a prominent Australian liturgical scholar, by supporting scholarly engagement with liturgical studies. In 2018 the Prize consists of $1,000 to resource the cost of attendance at the 2019 Australian Academy of Liturgy National Conference or another liturgical conference approved by the Victorian Convenor of the Australian Academic of Liturgy.