[New post] Second wave of Scientists in Congregations grants unveiled: and another project for Ely Diocese is a winner!

Ten projects, including one that is the brainchild of Trevor Thorn, LLM in the Fen Ditton group of parishes, are to receive funding of up to £10,000 as part of the second wave of Scientists in Congregations, a grant scheme open to all mainstream Christian churches. The projects are aimed at helping churchgoers engage confidently with science, raising the profile of Christians whose vocation is science-related and changing the debate about science and faith in churches and communities.

Scientists in Congregations is part of Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science, a three-year Durham University project run in partnership with the Church of England.

Rt Rev Dr Richard Cheetham, Bishop of Kingston, and one of the co-leaders of Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science, alongside Durham University Professors David Wilkinson and Tom McLeish, said: "I have been very excited and encouraged by the range and quality of these local projects - they bear witness to the widespread and vibrant desire to enable a fruitful and stimulating conversation between science and faith which is much needed in contemporary society."

Rev Dr Kathryn Pritchard, Scientists in Congregations project leader, said: "We have been hugely impressed by the innovative and creative approaches demonstrated in this second wave of Scientists in Congregations projects and the calibre of the scientists who will be supporting this work. We are confident that these projects in churches and cathedrals will not only help raise the profile of scientists within Christian congregations but will promote greater understanding of science and faith issues in wider communities across the country."

Here is a list of the 10 successful projects in the second wave of Scientists in Congregations grants:

Sing of God and Science, based All Saints, Teversham, Cambridge
To create a book of songs on the theme of science and faith. The project will start working with a group of primary schools in Ely Diocese. Copies of the booklet will be sent free to all 80 CofE primary schools in the diocese who will be invited to give dramatic presentations of one of the songs at Ely Cathedral Science Festival in May. Some of the schools will make presentations of songs at the festival that they have written themselves on the theme of science and faith.

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