The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

Frances Margaret Young,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, FBA (born 1939) is a British

Christian theologian Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradit ...

and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

minister. She is

emeritus professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

Biography

Young taught theology at the

from 1971, becoming the

Edward Cadbury Professor Edward Cadbury Professor of Theology is a senior chair in theology at the University of Birmingham. It was founded in 1940 and was named for Edward Cadbury who helped fund the setting up of the university's theological department. The chair has bee ...

and head of the Department of Theology in 1986. During her time at the university, she also served as dean of the Faculty of Arts (1995–97) and pro-vice-chancellor (1997–2002). In 1984, she was ordained as a

minister, and has combined preaching in a local Circuit and pursuing her academic career. In 1998, she was awarded an

for services to theology and in 2004, elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...

. In 2005, she retired from the university. On 15 November 2005, she preached at the opening service of the 8th

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

, the first Methodist and the first woman to preach at the five-yearly inauguration ceremony. She delivered her

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

at the

Eucharist The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an Ordinance (Christianity), ordinance in ...

service at which the then-Archbishop of Canterbury,

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, presided. She served as editor of volumes 39–43 of the ''

Studia Patristica ''Studia Patristica'' is a peer-reviewed, academic book series established in 1957 and focused on the study of patristics. History The series is the official publication of the Oxford International Conference on Patristic Studies, which was first ...

'' and wrote academic and more popular theological writings, drawing on her work on the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

and on Christianity in its formative centuries, but also on her experience as the mother of a son (Arthur) who was born with profound physical and mental disabilities.

Bibliography

*''Sacrifice and the death of Christ'', Philadelphia : Westminster Press, 1975, *''The Myth of God Incarnate'', ed. John Hick, London : SCM Press, 1977, *''Incarnation and Myth : The Debate Continued'', ed. Michael Goulder, London : SCM Press, 1979, *''Can these dry bones live? : the excitement of theological study'', London : SCM Press Ltd, 1982, *''From Nicaea to Chalcedon : a guide to the literature and its background'', London : SCM Press, 1983, *''Meaning and Truth in 2 Corinthians'', with David F Ford, London : SPCK, 1987, *''The art of performance: towards a theology of Holy Scripture'', London : Darton, Longman and Todd, 1990, *''Face to Face: A Narrative Essay in the Theology of Suffering'', Edinburgh : T. & T. Clark, 1991, *''The Making of the Creeds'', London : SCM Press, 1991, *''Virtuoso Theology: The Bible and Interpretation'', Eugene, OR : Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1993, *''Theology Of The Pastoral Letters'', Cambridge; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1994, *''Dare We Speak of God in Public?'', London: Mowbray, 1995, *''Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997, *''Brokenness and Blessing: Towards a Biblical Spirituality'', Grand Rapids, Mich. : Baker Academic, 2007, *''God's Presence: A Contemporary Recapitulation of Early Christianity'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2013, *''Arthur's Call: A Journey of Faith in the Face of Severe Learning Disability'', London : SPCK, 2014, , *''All of You are one in Christ Jesus'' - Young, Frances M. All of You Are One in Christ Jesus : Bible Studies for the Fifth World Conference on Faith and Order. Santiago De Compostela, 1993. Geneva: Commission on Faith and Order, World Council of Churches, 1993. Print.

References

External links

Sermon by Frances Young entitled Bodily Creatures on disabilityMyth and Incarnation by Jerry H. Gill, Christian Century 21 December 1977, p. 1190Debating the Incarnation by Trevor Beeson, Christian Century 31 August – 7 September 1977. P. 740

Revd Frances Young to preach at opening service of the General Synod 2005
* ttp://www.cofe.anglican.org/news/gssermon.html Text of Sermon at General Synod, 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Frances 1939 births Academics of the University of Birmingham British biblical scholars Date of birth missing (living people) English Christian theologians English Methodist ministers Fellows of the British Academy Women biblical scholars Living people Methodist theologians Officers of the Order of the British Empire Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century English Methodist ministers 20th-century English Methodist ministers