Revd Dr Jane Craske

Following a first degree in English literature and three years as a secondary school teacher, I trained for Methodist presbyteral ministry at the Wesley Study Centre, Durham. I was ordained in 1996, and have served Circuits in London, Manchester, Leeds and Lowestoft / East Suffolk. I have also worked in ministerial training, at Hartley Victoria Methodist College, Manchester (in the Partnership for Theological Education, Manchester) as well as here at Queen’s since September 2015.

Qualifications

1986	BA (Hons) English Literature	University of East Anglia
1987	PGCE	University of Leeds
1992	BA (Hons) Theology	University of Durham
1995	PhD	University of Durham

Roles at Queen's

I am teaching courses in Christian doctrine and in specific denominational and ecumenical formation, in preparation for ordained ministry.

As the Director of Methodist Formation, I have particular lead responsibility for how the training at Queen’s relates to the needs and requirements of the Methodist Church in Britain.

I serve on the Queen’s Leadership Team.

External roles and responsibilities

Alongside ministry in a variety of suburban and small town / rural contexts, I have served on the Methodist Church’s Faith and Order Committee, on its Ministerial Candidates Selection Committee, as well as being involved in District/Diocesan ecumenical work relating to the Anglican-Methodist Covenant, and in working parties on a number of issues. I have also represented the Methodist Church on a number of ecumenical bodies, including the General Synod of the Church of England for three years. For a time I also chaired the Trustees of the Fernley-Hartley Trust, which arranges an annual lecture on theological matters that relate to the faith and theology of Methodism

Research interests and supervision

My doctoral research was titled, “Women and Violence: a Feminist Theological Ethical Study” and I remain particularly interested in the boundaries and intersections between supposedly ‘different’ areas of theological study: systematic theology, ethics, contextual theologies and practical theology, always looking at theology with feminist commitment. I have written on Methodism in Britain, on preaching and on reading non-theological texts, as well as articles and short studies on women’s varied experiences and perspectives. I have written preaching notes for magazines, and drafted material for church reports – because it is important to me to make theological study available to people in churches.

I have supervised MA and MPhil dissertations, usually in the areas of doctrine and Methodist Church perspectives and insights. I am interested in supervising at any level in those areas,  and also in Christian feminist perspectives.

Publications

• Doing Theology in the Tradition of the Wesleys (Cambridge, Grove Books, 2020)
  
• “Methodism and Feminism” in The Oxford Handbook of Methodist Studies, eds., W. Abraham and J. Kirby, OUP, 2009
• Being Human: In Conversation With Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, Inspire, 2007
• “The Grounds of Dispute: Theologies of Leadership, Ministry and Ordination – and Women’s Ministry” in This is Our Story: Free Church Women’s Ministry, Janet Wooton ed. (Peterborough: Epworth Press, 2007)
  
• A Woman’s Perspective on Preaching, Foundery Press, 2001
• Methodism and the Future, Continuum, 1999 (edited with Clive Marsh)