Geoff Thompson named new Editor of Uniting Church Studies

Pilgrim Theological College’s Reverend Associate Professor Geoff Thompson has been named the new Editor of Uniting Church Studies.

Dr Thompson told Insights that the journal he is going to edit is one he has long considered, “one of the best kept secrets in the Uniting Church.”

“Great work by previous editors has already made the journal a treasure of wisdom, scholarship and informed commentary,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to building on what’s already been achieved.

“In particular, I hope the journal can become the go-to publication for people within and beyond the UCA to engage the growing body of scholarship about the history, theology and life of the Uniting Church.”

Dr Thompson is Co-ordinator of Studies in Systematic Theology at Pilgrim Theological College and Associate Professor in the University of Divinity, Melbourne. A Minister of the Word, he spent several years in congregational ministry prior to being called by the church to theological teaching and research.

He has written extensively on the theology of the Uniting Church, including Disturbing Much, Disturbing Many: Theology Provoked by the Basis of Union, A Genuinely Theological Church: Ministry and Theology in the Uniting Church and ‘In his own strange way’: A post-Christendom sort-of Commentary on the Basis of Union.

He has a wider interest in the functions of doctrine in the church, and recently published Christian Doctrine: A Guide for the Perplexed. As well as publishing in academic journals, Dr Thomson has published op-ed pieces in The Guardian, The Conversation, On-line Opinion and ABC Religion and Ethics.

He said he was looking forward to raising the profile of the church’s scholars, as well as poets and artists.

“I hope, too, to develop one of the journal’s long stated goals, fostering scholarly conversations with other united and uniting churches around the world,” Dr Thompson said.

“Whilst there is a vast body of scholarship on theologies that produced the twentieth century church union movement, there’s very little on the sorts of theologies that are emerging as a result of those church unions.”

“Uniting Church Studies is uniquely placed to publish research along those lines.”

Past issues of Uniting Church Studies are available via Camden Theological Library. If you would like to subscribe, contact Renee Kelly at reneek@nswact.uca.org.au.

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