ADM appoints its fifth cohort of Fellows for 2021
Six women have been granted Fellowships to complete major projects, enabling them to engage a sceptical and hurting world with the good news of Jesus.
Thursday 22 October 2020
– By Emma Morgan
The 2021 ADM Fellows were announced at the ADM Annual Public Lecture on 22 October 2020. Left to right: Jodie McIver, Emma Knowles, Stephanie Kate Judd, Stephanie Dunk (ADM Acting CEO) Elizabeth Strachan, Ruth Lukabyo. Not pictured: Emma Kluge.
Solicitor Stephanie Kate Judd, who recently graduated from The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, is concerned that the consensus around the unconditional value and dignity of the human person is under pressure, with potentially devastating impacts for the most vulnerable members of our societies.
She sees a gap in the public conversation on this topic and has been offered an ADM Fellowship to publish work in public outlets on the truth and beauty of the Christian worldview as it relates to disability, incapacity, limitations and constraint.
Rev. Elizabeth Strachan, Deacon in the Sydney Anglican Diocese and Chaplain to Macquarie University and Robert Menzies College, longs to reach hurting people with the life-transforming words of scripture and the sure hope of the gospel.
She has been granted an ADM Fellowship to write a book for those who suffer from bipolar and their friends and family, seeking to provide hope and comfort from God’s Word, share personal testimony and give practical wisdom.
Registered midwife Jodie McIver aims to integrate her personal, professional and theological background through her ADM Fellowship. She will write a book to support women and their partners through pregnancy, birth and meeting their baby in an accessible format and from a Christian perspective.
These are just three of the six women who have been awarded an ADM Fellowship for 2021, marking the fifth cohort of ADM Fellows. Fellows receive office space and a bursary of up to $80,000 (or part-time pro-rata) as well as a tailored professional development and theological formation program.
Dean of Women and Senior Lecturer at Youthworks college Dr Ruth Lukabyo has also been granted a Fellowship to continue her research into the history of youth ministry in Australia.
Ruth will write journal articles and a book, aimed at helping youth and children’s ministers to analyse their context, think theologically about their practice and nurture thoughtful, biblical ministry.
Dr Emma Knowles, Associate Lecturer in English at the University of Sydney and former Gates Cambridge Scholar, will examine the representation of God, humanity and nature in medieval biblical poetry through her Fellowship.
This will allow her to offer new insights into the history of biblical interpretation in the vernacular; a reception significant for the translation of the whole Bible into English. She will also develop a seminar on the biblical understanding of nature for a related HSC English unit.
Historian Emma Kluge, whose research focuses on decolonisation in the Pacific, will use her Fellowship to develop a richer understanding of the history of the Pacific churches in this period.
Emma will develop short, accessible resources to help to inform Australian churches and NGOs engagement with the Pacific today, drawing attention to the connection between Pacific leaders’ faith and action.
Historian Emma Kluge, whose research focuses on decolonisation in the Pacific, will use her Fellowship to develop a richer understanding of the history of the Pacific churches in this period. Emma will develop short, accessible resources to help to inform Australian churches and NGOs engagement with the Pacific today, drawing attention to the connection between Pacific leaders’ faith and action.
The ADM Fellowships program aims to raise up Christian women to engage a sceptical and hurting world with the good news of Jesus, as they serve in our churches, communities, nation and world. It gives Christian women the time, space, finance and collegial support to complete a major project and pursue avenues to engage the public with their work.
In four years, the program has seen the publication of six books, launched Fellows into over 100 public events and media engagements, and provided Fellows with more than 30 tailored theological and professional development opportunities.
Since its establishment in 2016, ADM has supported 19 Fellows for year-long cohorts (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) each with four to five Fellows. ADM has also supported another 11 Fellows over three cohorts of Summer Fellows and a number of international Visiting Fellows.
For the past four years, Fellows have completed book manuscripts, published articles, developed training materials and run courses to support local churches and not-for-profits. They have engaged with church history, cross-cultural ministry, developed pastorally integrated theologies of ministering to single people, couples and children and they have expanded research at the intersection of theology and areas such as health, psychology, literature and more.
“There are very few funding schemes targeted at supporting Christian women and even fewer that are offered annually and pay bursaries and grants to near industry-standard,” says ADM’s Director of Public Engagement Programs Dr Annette Pierdziwol.
“With so much changing in 2020... ADM is delighted to be able to continue our commitment to funding and supporting Christian women as they seek to serve God’s people and the world”
“With so much changing in 2020, including greater financial insecurity, which could have further impacts for developing Christian women’s projects and ministries, ADM is delighted to be able to continue our commitment to funding and supporting Christian women as they seek to serve God’s people and the world,” Annette says.
Investing in women early has a snowball effect, setting Christian women up for further opportunities. In 2020, Dr Meredith Lake, ADM Senior Research Fellow in the 2017 cohort, won the Non-fiction prize at the Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature for The Bible in Australia: A Cultural History, after having won the Australian History Prize in the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards in 2019.
She now hosts Soul Search on ABC RN, one of Australia’s most prominent media platforms contributing to public discussions about faith in contemporary life. Since taking up this role, she has interviewed ADM Fellow alumnae on the show, including Claire Zorn, Brooke Prentis and Katelyn Beaty, ADM Visiting Fellow at the 2019 School of Theology, Culture & Public Engagement.
“The Fellowship was a game-changer… it put around me the resources I needed to do my best work, finish the book and grow as a person who has something to say,” Meredith admits.
“The Fellowship was a game-changer… it put around me the resources I needed to do my best work”
2018 ADM Senior Research Fellow Rev. Dr Kirsten Birkett, who is writing a major new book on the pursuit of Christian happiness, acknowledged the vital time the Fellowship gave her to develop her contribution to the field: “I had new impetus to continue writing and publishing.”
2019 ADM Senior Fellow Brooke Prentis, who was this year appointed CEO of Common Grace, an Australian Christian movement for justice, acknowledged the program as ground-breaking and door-opening. “It helped to break the way I had been pigeon-holed,” she said.
“Through its Fellowship program, ADM is a national leader inspiring and resourcing women to attempt great things in dependence upon God, for the good of the church, and the society we are called to love,” says Rev. Michael Paget, Rector of St Barnabas Anglican Church Broadway.
“There’s nowhere else like this organisation, as far as I’m aware, anywhere in the world,” says Professor Alison Milbank, Head of Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Nottingham and ADM Visiting Fellow at the 2019 School of Theology, Culture & Public Engagement.
Stephanie Kate Judd
ADM Senior Fellow
Rev. Elizabeth Strachan
ADM Fellow
Jodie McIver
ADM Fellow
Dr Ruth Lukabyo
ADM Senior Research Fellow
Dr Emma Knowles
ADM Senior Research Fellow
Emma Kluge
ADM Senior Research Fellow
Announcing the 2024 Women in Ministry Support Scheme grantees
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