Revd Canon Dr Georgina Byrne

Since ordination in 1997, I have ministered variously in the dioceses of Lichfield, London, and Worcester, and most recently at Worcester Cathedral.

I have been a vicar, a bishop’s chaplain, a residentiary canon, dean of women’s ministry, and a director of ordinands – not quite all at once. Each of these roles has offered fresh insights into the life of the Church of England and enriched my faith along the way. I am thankful for wise teachers and gracious colleagues, as well as the many hundreds of faithful people who have encouraged me over the years. In gratitude, I try to encourage others as best I can.

In 2017, I was made a Chaplain to the Queen and an honorary fellow of the University of Worcester.

I live offsite, and commute in from Worcester, where I live with my husband, son, and two cats. In my spare time, I write historical fiction (as Georgina Clarke).

I am a proud Midlander, having grown up in Wolverhampton. We tend to be forgotten in the ‘north/south’ debates, but I am on a mission to rectify this.

Qualifications

1992 BA (Hons) Theology Trinity College, Oxford

1997 Certificate in Theology for Ministry Westcott House

1998 MPhil Ecclesiastical History Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

2001 PhD History King’s College London (‘The Church of England, Spiritualism, and Ideas of the Afterlife, 1850-1939’)

Roles at Queens

I am an Anglican Tutor.

I am responsible for setting up parish placements for Anglicans and I share in teaching the placement module. I also share in teaching Introducing Theological Reflection (First Year QRC/QCC weekends), and Introduction to Christian Doctrine and History for the Lichfield Readers’ course.

External

I am a Chaplain to Her Majesty the Queen and an honorary fellow of the University of Worcester

Research Interests and Supervision

I am a historian, most comfortable in the nineteenth century and early-twentieth century, but happy to dip into the eighteenth. I am interested in the interface between religion and popular culture, particularly regarding death, the afterlife, and psychic research. If it involves ghosts, psychics, spiritualists, or anything that goes bump in the night, then I am probably on to it. I am also keen to raise the profile of forgotten and overlooked women in the history of the Church.

I have spent a lot of time in church buildings over the years and appreciate the importance of place and space in worship and faith.

Publications

Books:

Modern Spiritualism and the Church of England, 1850-1939 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2010)

Life after tragedy: Essays on Faith and the First World War evoked by Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy (Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2017) co-edited with Michael Brierley, and including my own essay: ‘Prophecy or Propaganda? Preaching in a Time of War’

Articles:

‘Beyond Raymond: The theology of spiritualism and changing landscape of the afterlife in the Church of England’, in James Mussell and Graeme Gooday (eds), A Pioneer of Connection. Recovering the Life and Work of Oliver Lodge (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh, 2020)

‘Angels seen today’: The Theology of Modern Spiritualism and its impact on Church of England clergy, 1852-1939, in Studies in Church History, Vol 45 (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2009)

Also various contributions to ODNB and the Church Times.