Today’s Theology Talk is led by Dr. Jessica Scott, Lecturer of Christian Theology at the University of Nottingham, UK.
The English artist, Stanley Spencer (1891-1959), is known for creating paintings that show biblical scenes occurring in his beloved village of Cookham, in which he casts his fellow villagers as different characters within the Gospel narratives. In this talk, I want to explore how Spencer’s paintings might invite us to imagine God’s life outside of the places we already know to be holy; how his paintings locate hope in people and places beyond the church; and the temptation his paintings also hold up to us as works of (over?)-imaginative projection. What Spencer’s paintings raise, I will suggest, are a critical set of questions with which to wrestle as we address our own relationship to our localities through the practice of community organizing.
Jessica Scott teaches Christian theology at the University of Nottingham, having previously taught Christian doctrine at Sarum College, Salisbury.
Prior to that, she briefly studied architecture at London South Bank University, following her studies in theology at the University of Cambridge, from which she took her doctorate in 2021.
Since 2015, she has attended St George in the East Church in London, through which she has been involved in the practice of community organizing for seven years now.
For more information about our theology program and to receive links for weekly Sunday Theology Talks, please contact Fr. Gioia.
