William Temple Foundation

Professor Chris Baker joined the William Temple Foundation in 2001 as Development Officer, before becoming Director of Research in 2003. He completed his doctorate on religion in English New Towns at the University of Manchester in 2002, where he taught urban and public theology until 2009. Chris holds the post of William Temple Professor of Religion, Belief and Public Life at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Chris has researched and published widely on the role and contribution of faith to urban and public life, including over 40 articles and book chapters and 11 books. Recent publications include Theology for Changing Times: John Atherton and the Future of Public Theology (SCM 2018); Re-imagining Religion and Belief for 21st Century Policy and Practice (Policy Press 2019) and Postsecular Geographies: Re-envisioning politics, subjectivity and ethics (Routledge 2019). His current research, commissioned by the UK Parliament, analyses the impact of partnership working developed between local authorities and faith groups during the COVID 19 pandemic on policy practice and changing attitudes towards inclusion and diversity.

He provides regular training and consultation events based on his research across the UK, Europe and Australia. Chris is passionate about cinema, live music and Charlton Athletic Football Club. Follow Chris on Twitter — @DrChrisRBaker

Dr Matthew Barber-Rowell FRSA joined the William Temple Foundation as Communications Officer in October 2023.

Matthew has a long association and knowledge of the work of the Foundation stretching back to 2014. In 2019 Matthew was awarded a Temple Scholarship by the Foundation. In 2020 Matthew was a researcher on the Keeping the Faith Report for the All Party Parliamentary Group for Faith and Society, which was led by the Foundation. In 2021 Matthew became the first of our Temple Scholars to achieve their doctorate from the Faith and Civil Society Unit at Goldsmith’s, University of London. In 2022, Matthew became a Research Fellow and was the inaugural recipient of the Len Collinson Postdoctoral Fellowship offered by the Foundation.

Matthew’s doctoral work offered a new paradigm for postsecular partnerships and leadership, called Curating Spaces of Hope. Since the pandemic, Matthew has developed a varied portfolio of work deploying Spaces of Hope and developing local leadership that responds to global crises and explores approaches to building resilience. This portfolio includes Ecological Transformation with Diocese of Manchester including the launch of Eco Stepping Stones, postdoctoral research at Liverpool Hope University considering the role of faith in higher education, and consultancy work, for example a recent piece with Liverpool Charity and Voluntary Services, co-creating a vision and strategy for eradicating poverty in the city. Matthew’s first monograph is expected to be published by SCM Press in Autumn 2024 offering a political theology of leadership for uncertain times.

You can follow him on Twitter @DrBarber_Rowell

Dr Katya Braginskaia joined the William Temple Foundation as Digital Learning Lead in April 2023.

She is based at Goldsmiths, University of London and her research interests include comparative approaches to the study of multiculturalism, hospitality and integration, minority faith activism and representation of refugees and religious minorities in national/local settings.

Before coming to Goldsmiths, she worked at the University of Bristol where she was awarded the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship and convened undergraduate courses on religion and politics. Her postdoctoral project was entitled ‘Minority faith and civil society responses to refugee integration in Britain’ in which she examined Muslim and Jewish initiatives aimed at supporting newcomers in the context of devolved social policies, local mobilisation, and government approaches to community integration in England and Scotland (2018-2022). She presented her work on religious minorities and refugee integration at different interdisciplinary conferences and events and is currently writing up her research. Prior to that, she worked on the collaborative project Public Faith and Finance, and was also involved in researching and developing the AHRC-funded Connected Communities forum entitled Co-Creating Cities and Communities. The event brought together participants from universities and communities interested in co-creating flourishing cities, engaged citizens and sustainable urban environment, with a series of case studies published in the report on  Co-Creating Urban Living.

Katya had previously completed her PhD in Politics on the role of the Muslim Councils in Britain and Russia at the University of Edinburgh in 2014. She published on Muslim umbrella organisations and British politics (1997-2013) and on the processes of institutionalisation and representation of Islam in Russia in comparative perspective.

She is the UK correspondent for EUREL network, an online portal providing information and news about religion and legal affairs in Europe.

Professor Simon Lee (Chair) is Professor of Law, Open University, and Emeritus Professor of Jurisprudence, Queen’s University, Belfast. He was a Brackenbury Scholar at Balliol College (where William Temple studied, a little earlier), Oxford, and a Harkness Fellow at Yale Law School. He became Rector of the ecumenical Anglican-Catholic Liverpool Hope University College, Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University, Chair of Level Partnerships, Executive Director of the Cambridge Theological Federation and a Fellow of St Edmund’s College, Cambridge. He was awarded honorary doctorates by Virginia Theological Seminary in 2011 and Liverpool Hope University in January 2016.

His grassroots contributions to peace included editing Freedom from Fear: Churches Together in Northern Ireland (Institute of Irish Studies, 1990) and co-founding the citizens’ movement, Initiative ’92, which established the Opsahl Commission. He was appointed by different governments to the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights and to the Standards Task Force for schools.

Simon writes and broadcasts about law, ethics, religion, politics, history and sport. His books include Law & Morals (Oxford University Press, 1986), Judging Judges (Faber, 1988), The Cost of Free Speech (Faber, 1990), Uneasy Ethics (Pimlico, Random House, 2003) and Vincent’s Club Oxford 1863-2013 (Third Millennium, 2014, foreword by Sir Roger Bannister). Simon’s lifelong interests in ecumenism, education, multi-faith societies and social justice come together in studying the influences of four Balliol students from the same era: Beveridge, Tawney, Temple and Toynbee. Simon is on Twitter: @paradoxbridge

John Bridgeman CBE TD DL has had a career involving international business, government service and charities. He is currently Chairman of the Audit and Standards Committee of Warwickshire County Council, Independent Complaints Commissioner for the Direct Marketing Authority and a Pension Trustee of The British Horseracing Authority. As Honorary Colonel Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars he is President of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Association and a Trustee of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Trust. He advises charities and trusts on strategy, fund raising, brand identity and corporate governance.

John is also an educationalist. He was the founding Vice Chairman of the Heart of England Training and Enterprise Council and awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Sheffield Hallam University for services to Management Education. He has been visiting Professor in Management at the Universities of Keele and Surrey and at Imperial College, London. For 12 years he was a Trustee of the UK Foundation for Canadian Studies (UK Vice-Chairman for 5 years, then Chairman for 3 years).

Earlier in his career John was Chief Executive of British Alcan Aluminium plc, Director General of Fair Trading, a non-ministerial department of Government, founding Chairman of the Horseracing Regulatory Authority and Vice Chairman of British Waterways.

Lois Guthrie pursued a career in taxation, first at PwC and then at Zurich Insurance Group until 2016. Having joined the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) in 2004, she simultaneously developed a career in climate and natural capital corporate reporting. ln 2007, when the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) was established, Lois was appointed Executive Director and became responsible for CDSB’s work to develop a framework for reporting on environmental information and natural capital in mainstream corporate reports. Lois was seconded for two years to the lnternational lntegrated Reporting Council (llRC) as a Technical Director during the development of the Framework. Lois is currently a director at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in the Redefining Value Programme.

Lois studied environmental policy at the Open University and holds an MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice from the University of Bath. She studied the Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme in an effort to understand the capacity of technology to support the transition to a just and low-carbon society. Lois’ first degree was Theology, studied at the University of Birmingham, and she has retained a life-long interest in the role that religion plays in society. She is a member of the ACCA Global Forum on Sustainability, the Carbon Tracker Advisory Board and Fulcrum Leaders. In her spare time Lois practices yoga and ballet, gardens, reads and travels in her camper van.

Dr Helen Reid is Director of Leeds Church Institute, a faith based organisation for lifelong learning. LCI is based in Leeds city centre and works city-wide. Its mission focuses on ‘Learning for a Faithful City’ through education and events, research, city engagement and a not-for-profit business. Previously, Helen has held three different posts each focused around education and action for better understanding between different faiths. She was awarded a PhD in Peace Studies (1997) for research into the role of conflict resolution in Religious Education in schools in Bradford and Leicester. This was a formative time in her career and she continues to be motivated by a commitment to acting with others for the city to be a better and more peaceful place for all.

The Very Rev’d Dr Peter Robinson was made Dean of Derby in July 2020, joining the Bishop of Derby’s staff team and leading the life of Derby Cathedral. Formerly, from 2008, Peter was Archdeacon of Lindisfarne in Newcastle Diocese. Peter has wide experience of theological reflection in different settings – the inner urban, remote rural and in the city centre. Peter led the pioneering Urban Ministry and Theology Project in the East End of Newcastle which experimented with new forms of contextual training following the impetus of Faith in the City in the mid-1980s. In Newcastle Diocese Peter chaired the Lindisfarne Regional Training Partnership (2009 to 2017) and also the Diocesan Board of Education (2014 to 2020) through which he gained extensive experience working with academies and multi-academy trusts. Peter’s experience in  theological training (both as a practitioner and in governance) continues to develop in his membership of the national church’s Resourcing Ministerial Formation Review panel. He is also a lead reviewer for theological eduction institutions on behalf of the Bishops and Ministry Division.

Peter chaired the William Temple Foundation from 2011 to 2020 during which time he oversaw a five year development programme from 2011 to 2016 which re-shaped the focus of the Foundation’s activities and its communications. Peter is continuing as a member of the Council to support the continued development of the Foundation’s work.

Rev’d Dr Yazid Said is a Senior Lecturer in Islam at Liverpool Hope University. He studied Classical Arabic and English Literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Christian Theology at the University of Cambridge. After being ordained an Anglican priest, he completed his PhD at the University of Cambridge (2010) on the medieval Muslim theologian Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111). His research is focused on medieval Muslim political and legal thought and on Christian-Muslim theological encounters, with reference to the manner in which Greek philosophical thought was appropriated in both Christian and Muslim texts. He is the author of Ghazali’s Politics in Context (Routledge 2012) and co-editor of The Future of Interfaith Dialogue: Muslim-Christian Encounters through A Common Word (Cambridge University Press, 2018). Yazid is currently working on two projects: a critical edition of an Egyptian Muslim polemical manuscript against Christians and Jews in seventeenth century Ottoman Egypt and an investigation of Ghazali’s concept of ‘taste’, dhawq.

Rev Dr Paul Monk BSc PhD BA MA CChem MRSC comes from the South East of England, and has wide lived experience of deprivation and the effects of underinvestment in our poorer towns.

Paul has degrees in chemistry from the University of Exeter and worked in several other UK universities before ordination in 2007. He now works as a priest in Oldham, Greater Manchester and has degrees in theology from the universities of Manchester and Sheffield.

He has written 18 books on science (for undergraduates and research monographs, chemistry, mathematics, biosciences), theology (for example the Vestry Guide series for the SLG Press), and church histories, chapters, papers, etc. He also co-authored a great many interfaith texts.

Until recently, Paul sat on the ecology and environmental board in the Diocese of Manchester, and authored, or co-authored, all its online policy statements. He also sits on the Diocesan fundraising and finance boards, and is in demand for advice on funding church work through grants.

A major concern is rebuilding community cohesion. To that end, he created the Barnabas Thrive project in Oldham which is now one of the larger Anglican community projects in Greater Manchester.

You can follow Paul on Twitter @Revd_Paul_Monk

Dr Deirdre Brower Latz joined the William Temple Foundation as Trustee in March 2024.

She is Principal of Nazarene Theological College, Manchester, a theological college validated by the University of Manchester.  Her research interests include urban poverty, justice practice, engaging in research around church on the margins, and she has a particular interest in Wesleyan Theology.   

Prior to coming to NTC, she worked as a youth worker, global leader of a denominational youth movement, and served as a local church minister in urban contexts in Bristol and Manchester.  

Most recently she searched as a peer research lead for Church Action on Poverty https://www.church-poverty.org.uk working of the first phase of a long term project entitled Church on the Margins https://www.church-poverty.org.uk/church-on-the-margins-reports/. 

Deirdre completed her PhD in Practical theology at the University of Manchester in 2009. Working with ideas of justice from within a Wesleyan framework while participating in local leadership in Longsight, Manchester, her passion for justice engaged in normal life and transformational practice grew. 

Professor Edward Abbott-Halpin is an Emeritus Professor of the University of the Highlands and Islands, who describes describe himself as a political scientist with a particular interest in governance, human rights, child rights, peace and conflict resolution. He has been actively involved in issues of social justice throughout his life, as an academic, councillor serving on Calderdale Council, activist, and in serving on the boards of a number of NGOs over the years; including acting as a board member and as Chair of the Geneva-based international NGO HURIDOCS. 

Over the last 30 years he has worked at a number of universities including, the University of Central Lancashire, Manchester Metropolitan University, Leeds Beckett (Metropolitan) University, and most recently as Principal of the University of the Highlands, Orkney College. He has also worked for the Civil Service and as a Racial Equality Officer (Social Policy) funded by the Commission for Racial Equality.

Edward has an MA in Public Policy, and his PhD examined “The Use of Information and Technology for Child and Human Rights”. His university appointments have included Professor for Peace Studies (developing a School of Applied Global Ethics and leading the development of the Senator George Mitchell Centre for Peace), and Professor of Social and Human Rights Informatics. He has served as an Expert Panel member at the Cambridge Governance Labs, Cambridge University, and as a Visiting Professor to the Citizenship and Governance Strategic Research Area (SRA), at the Open University. 

Edward has worked as an expert for the European Parliament Scientific and Technical Options (STOA) Unit of the European Parliament and is an Associate Schumann Fellow of the European University, in Florence. He has worked in partnership with a range of organisations including the Child Rights Information Network (CRIN), Plan International (on a missing Children Alert System, for Bangladesh, India, and Nepal), and the Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children (Monitoring Children’s Rights: A Tool Kit for Community-Based Organisations). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts. For some years he served as a Regional Expert/Assessor for Chevening/The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, for the West and South Asia Region.

Ian Mayer DL is an innovative entrepreneur, who connects strategic leaders, to see positive influence and transformation. His key focus is understanding people and how they behave in groups. Ian has successfully founded a number of Virtual Networks and Virtual Organisations. He currently manages a number of Internet based projects that range from business development to community and social networking.

Ian is a trained teacher and graduate in technology. He has been involved in education and training since 1990 and his roles have included, Teacher of Design & Technology and ICT, Head of Student Services, Head of Marketing and Director of Information Learning Technology. Ian first started working with Internet and Multimedia Learning Technologies in 1995.

In March 2019, Ian was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, a Crown appointment, working alongside the Lord Lieutenant across the region. This representation helps maintain the connection between the Crown and local communities, reinforcing the ceremonial and symbolic role of the Monarchy within the region.

Ian is a volunteer Public Leadership Ambassador for the Evangelical Alliance, and actively supports the development of public leadership events, leadership networks, and unity focused projects across the UK. For over 20 years, Ian & Alyson have been responsible for pioneering and growing One Heart One Voice, a unity movement of church leaders based in and around Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom. They currently lead The Catalyst Network which promotes unity & togetherness across all leadership settings within localities.

Ian is married to Alyson, and together they work across the north of England directing a number of businesses and Christian ministries.

They both have a vision to see people develop a meaningful and authentic faith in every sphere of their lives, and are passionate about churches and church leaders working together. They have three grown-up children and six grandchildren.