Anglican Theological Review—Spring 2015

About the ATR

The Anglican Theological Review is a quarterly journal of theological reflection within the Episcopal Church USA and the Anglican Church of Canada. In the spirit of sound learning that has been a hallmark of Anglicanism worldwide, its aim is to foster scholarly excellence and thoughtful conversation in and for the church. The journal is committed to creative intellectual engagement with Christian tradition and interdisciplinary inquiry that includes literature and the arts, philosophy, and science.


Description of the Spring 2015 Issue

The Spring 2015 issue of the ATR opens with Richard S. Briggs’s foundational article on the place and role of scripture in the emergence of practical theology today, with its attention fixed on the daily lives of people. Dustin Resch then explores the integral relationship between doctrine and spirituality in the theology of former Archbishop Rowan Williams. Jessie Gutgsell’s essay on the gift of tears in the medieval church is the 2014 winner of the Charles Hefling Student Essay Competition. 


Three Practicing Theology essays are included in this issue of the ATR: first, George Wayne Smith reflects on his recent experiences in Ferguson, as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. The overlapping distinctions and particular qualities of witnesses and martyrs are then explored by Craig Hovey. Finally, Lauren F. Winner provides a thought-provoking reflection on what those who are divorced have to teach the church about the life of faith.


Ellen K. Wondra’s Review Article focuses on the knotty question of authority in the Anglican Communion and how Anglicans throughout the world face the challenges of cultural, ecclesial, and theological diversity. As always, this issue of the ATR also includes poetry and book reviews.


Author Bios

Richard S. Briggs is Lecturer in Old Testament and Director of Biblical Studies at Cranmer Hall, St. John’s College, Durham University in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Words in Action: Speech Act Theory and Biblical Interpretation.


Craig Hovey is Associate Professor of Religion at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. He is the author of numerous books, including Bearing True Witness: Truthfulness in Christian Practice, Nietzsche and Theology, To Share in the Body: A Theology of Martyrdom for Today’s Church, Unexpected Jesus: The Gospel as Surprise, and co-editor of An Eerdmans Reader in Contemporary Political Theology.


Jessie Gutgsell is a seminarian at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and a postulant in the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis. She is a professional harpist


Dustin Resch is Assistant Professor of Theology at Briercrest College and Seminary, Caronport, and Associate Priest at St. Aidan Anglican Church, Moose Jaw, in Saskatchewan, Canada. He is the author of A Sign of Mystery: Karl Barth’s Interpretation of the Virgin Birth.


George Wayne Smith the tenth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri. He has served the diocese since 2002. 


Lauren F. Winner is Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School and an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of North Carolina. Her books include Girl Meets God, A Cheerful and Comfortable Faith: Anglican Religious Practice in the Elite Households of Eighteenth-Century Virginia, Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, and the forthcoming Wearing God: An Exercise in Expanding the Spiritual Imagination.


Ellen K. Wondra is Research Professor of Theology and Ethics at the Bexley Seabury Seminary Federation, and a member of the World Council of Churches' Commission on Faith and Order.


Richard Geoffrey Leggett (Editor in Chief) is Rector of Saint Faith’s Anglican Parish in Vancouver and Professor Emeritus of Liturgical Studies at Vancouver School of Theology. He is the Principal Consultant for Liturgy Pacific, a worship consultancy for congregations, and a member of the Liturgy Task Force of the Anglican Church of Canada.