National theology competition win for Baptist minister-in-training 

Amanda Higgin, in her second year of training as a Baptist minister at Regent's Park College, Oxford, was crowned the winner in the live final of Theology Slam

Theology Slam aims to encourage a new generation to think theologically about the world around them, and to encourage the church to listen to what they have to say.

This year’s competition was organised by SCM Press, Church Times, and HeartEdge, with the final taking place as part of the HeartEdge conference, “Humbler Church, Bigger God”, in Leeds on 27 September. 

Each of the three finalists had to present a short talk before answering questions about their presentation. 

Amanda's  talk was on the topic of recovery. She is working towards a Master’s degree in New Testament theology, with a focus on the Letter to the Hebrews alongside her ministerial training, and she explained how she was forced to suspend her studies in 2022 to recover from mental illness. This caused her to reflect on how Hebrews’ model of preaching to a traumatised community might help lead people like her to recover new life from familiar traditions.

'As I found myself in recovery, I found myself holding the Letter to the Hebrews,' Amanda said. 'And as I grappled with my own pain, I started to see how uncertainty and trauma underpinned this masterful anonymous theological address.'

She noted how Hebrews draws from Psalm 95, but reads it in light of Jesus's life, receiving it as the voice of God and therefore discovering a message of rest and endurance for its traumatised congregation. Amanda highlighted the image of wandering and being stuck in the wilderness, amid the promise of eternal 'resurrection, Easter Sunday' rest, and a new way of dwelling with God.

'For that reason the word recovery can actually be unhelpful. It implies us going back for something that we've lost,' she said.

'But in the same way that Hebrews goes back for old texts and reads them in new life-giving ways, we can retrieve our wholeness while moving forwards... As we encounter people and communities carrying trauma Hebrews shows us a way - recovery is a wandering from pain to healing and that recovery is guided by the living and active voice of God.'

Fellow finalists Alex Clare-Young, a pioneer minister in the United Reformed Church, spoke on the topic of body. Victoria Turner, in the final stages of her PhD in World Christianity at the University of Edinburgh and also a member of the United Reformed Church, spoke on the theme of justice in relation to Amos 5.



The talks were judged by a panel of theologians.

Commenting on Amanda's talk, the Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London, described it as a 'stirring presentation', while Isabelle Hamley, Secretary for Ecumenical Relations and Theology and Theological Adviser to the House of Bishops, said it was 'a great presentation with excellent speaking skills'. She highlighted how Amanda had drawn resonances throughout scripture, not just from a single text. 'Trauma is etched everywhere in the pages of scripture, and I think you've brought that out absolutely beautifully.' 

Canon Anderson Jeremiah, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics, Philosophy, and Religion at Lancaster University, noted her message of 'bringing God into our own wanderings that removes fear from us, was a brilliant, helpful theological framing.'

Canon Rachel Mann, writer and Area Dean of Bury and Rossendale, in Manchester diocese, said, 'Gosh Amanda, thank you so much. Thank you for theologically reflecting on one of the most profound realities of actual bodies. I will take away that line 'recovery is a wandering from pain to healing'.'

As the winner, Amanda receives £250 to spend at Church House Bookshop, and the Theology Slam trophy.

She said, 'I am overjoyed to have been selected as the winner of Theology Slam 2022! It is a huge honour, and such a welcome endorsement of my theology.

'The Theology Slam trophy certainly looks good on my bookshelf, but the best prize of the competition was the opportunity to present my work on the national stage. I am glad that I was able to offer to others a theology of recovery which has been so important for me.

'The best compliment I received after my talk was from somebody who told me that it resonated with their own experience of recovering from domestic violence - I hope that there will be other people who have found it helpful to them, or who might do in the future.'

She added, 'In a competition run by Anglicans, we all enjoyed that the three finalists were from Free Churches!

'I am happy that I got to be publicly, proudly Baptist. As in the Declaration of Principle, we share a conviction that 'each Church has liberty, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to interpret and administer His laws'.

'That principle has underpinned and guided my work exploring how Hebrews reads Scripture, and when I encourage people to embrace 'the living and active voice of God' I think that is embodied in the discernment of the gathered, Christian family.'

The competition was in its fourth year. It was open to anyone, lay or ordained, between the ages of 18 to 35. Applicants were asked to write 500 words on one of seven contemporary issues: Work, Body, Grace, Justice, Space, The Virtual, Recovery.

Alongside the 500 words, applicants were also asked to submit a 90-second video, introducing who they were and why they were interested in the topic.

Watch the final here: