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Honorary Senior Research Fellow

Revd Dr John D Weaver

BSc (Wales), MA (Oxford), PhD (Wales)

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John Weaver began his working life as a structural geologist completing BSc and PhD degrees at the University of Wales, Swansea. He was appointed a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Structural Geology at the University of Derby (formerly Derby College of Higher Education).

Following a call by God he undertook training for Baptist ministry at Regent’s Park College Oxford, completing an MA in Theology (University of Oxford). He was called to be the minister of Highfield Baptist Church, Rushden, Northamptonshire.

After ten years in pastoral ministry he returned to Regent’s Park College Oxford as Tutor and Fellow in Pastoral and Practical Theology. While at Oxford he explored the relationship between Science and Faith, receiving a Templeton Foundation Award in 1998. He has written three major texts on Science and Faith focusing much of his work on Environmental Theology.

After a further ten years he was appointed Principal of Cardiff Baptist College (formerly South Wales Baptist College) and Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Cardiff University. While in Cardiff he served as Chaplain to Cardiff City Football Club.

John is the Vice Chair of the Industrial Christian Fellowship and Vice President of the John Ray Initiative.

In retirement he continues to preach and lead services at a variety of Baptist and Anglican churches together with his continued research into Environmental Theology, and the relation of faith to work. This latter area has seen the production of a number of texts jointly on behalf of ICF with Ian Arbon, Ian Randall, and Phil Jump.

Research Interests

Environmental Theology; Faith & Work; and other aspects of Theological Reflection

Publications

The Church Meeting, in Baptist Basics, Didcot: Baptist Union of Great Britain, 1993

In the Beginning God - Modern Science and the Christian Doctrine of Creation, Macon: Smyth & Helwys, Oxford: Regent's Park College,1994

Water into Wine. Marriage as God intended, Didcot: Baptist Union of Great Britain, 1996

Earthshaping Earthkeeping: a Doctrine of Creation, London: Lynx/SPCK, June 1999

‘A Theology of Energy’ in The Energy Study Pack CD-ROM, London: Methodist Church House Publishing, 2003

Outside-in: relating faith to life and work, Macon: Smyth & Helwys, Oxford: Regent's Park College, 2006

John Weaver & Margot Hodson (editors) The Place of Environmental Theology. A guide for seminaries, colleges and universities, UK: Whitley Trust and Prague: International Baptist Theological Seminary, 2007

‘The Challenge of Evolutionary Theory for the 21st Century Church’, Faith & Thought, No.46, London: The Victoria Institute, 2009

Christianity and Science: SCM Core Text, London: SCM, 2010

With Stephen Finamore (Editors), Wisdom, Science and the Scriptures; Essays in Honour of Ernest Lucas, Regent’s Park and Bristol Baptist College, 2012; Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2014

With Ian Arbon, Sustainability and Ethics, Industrial Christian Fellowship & John Ray Initiative, 2014

With Ian Randall and Phil Jump, Love @ Work. 100 years of the Industrial Christian Fellowship, London: DLT, 2020

With Phil Jump, Love:Work, Reflections and Prayers for a World at Work, London: DLT, 2021

Emmaus. Journeying toward and onward from Emmaus, Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2022

Articles

A Theology of Energy (Baptist Ministers’ Journal, 2003, Volume 284, pp. 3-10

Questions follow in the tsunami’s wake (Baptist Times, 13th January, 2005, p.5)

‘Co-Redeemers: A Theological Basis for Creation Care’ in Perspectives in Religious Studies Vol.36, No.2, (National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion, Mercer Press, Georgia, 2009)

‘The Challenge of Evolutionary Theory for the 21st Century Church’, Faith & Thought, No.46, April 2009, The Victoria Institute

‘Climate Change: Covenant making, breaking and restoration’, Journal of European Baptist Studies, 2011

‘God, Truth and Climate Change’, Baptist Ministers’ Journal, 2011

‘Hopeful Disciples in a time of Climate Change’ in Stephen Finamore & John Weaver (Editors), Wisdom, Science and the Scriptures; Essays in Honour of Ernest Lucas, Regent’s Park and Bristol Baptist College, 2012; Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2014

‘Progress or Problem? Responding to Genetically Modified Food and Crops’, briefing paper, John Ray Initiative, 2014

‘European Environmental Policy: Post Brexit what should we do?’  briefing paper, John Ray Initiative, 2016

‘Is Fracking Good For Us? Energy Security, Energy Prices and the Environment’, briefing paper, John Ray Initiative, 2015, revised 2017

‘‘Travelling Light’ - a theological reflection on modern transport’, briefing paper, John Ray Initiative, 2018

Book Chapters

with T R Owen, ‘The structure of the main South Wales Coalfield and its margins,’ in P L Hancock editor, The Variscan Fold Belt in the British Isles, Bristol: Adam Hilger, 1983

In the Beginning God - Modern Science and the Christian Doctrine of Creation (Macon, Smyth & Helwys, Oxford, Regent's Park College,1994)

‘Marriage’, in Anne Wilkinson-Hayes & Paul Mortimore, Belonging: A Resource for the Christian family, Didcot: Baptist Union of Great Britain, 1994

‘The Implications of the New Scientific Worldview for Theology Today’ in John Rogerson (Editor) Industrial Mission in a Changing World (Sheffield, Sheffield Academic Press, 1996)

Earthshaping Earthkeeping: a Doctrine of Creation (London, Lynx/SPCK, June 1999)

A Baptist Response to the Notion of a National Church, Law & Justice. The Christian Law Review, No. 149, 2002; and Une Replique Baptists a la Notion d’Eglise Nationale au Royaume-Uni in Colloque sur la Notion d’Eglises Nationales, Paris: l’annee Canonique, Tome XLIV, 2002

‘A Theology of Energy’ in The Energy Study Pack CD-ROM (London, Methodist Church House Publishing, 2003)

Schindler’s List, in Anthony J Clarke & Paul S Fiddes (editors) Flickering Images. Theology and Film in Dialogue, Macon: Smyth & Helwys, Oxford: Regent’s Park College, 2005

with Larry Kreitzer , ‘Part Three: Resources’ in Anthony J Clarke & Paul S Fiddes (editors) Flickering Images. 2005

Outside-in: relating faith to life and work (Macon, Smyth & Helwys, Oxford, Regent's Park College, 2006)

John Weaver & Margot Hodson (editors) The Place of Environmental Theology. A guide for seminaries, colleges and universities (Whitley Trust, UK and International Baptist Theological Seminary, Prague, 2007)

‘Spirituality in Everyday Life: the View from the Table’, in Paul Fiddes, Under the Rule of Christ: Dimensions of Baptist Spirituality, Oxford: Regent’s Park College, Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2008

Christianity and Science; Core Text (London, SCM, 2010)

With Stephen Finamore (Editors), Wisdom, Science and the Scriptures; Essays in Honour of Ernest Lucas, Regent’s Park and Bristol Baptist College, 2012; Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2014

‘Hopeful Disciples in a time of climate change’ in Finamore & Weaver, Wisdom, Science and the Scriptures; Essays in Honour of Ernest Lucas, Regent’s Park and Bristol Baptist College, 2012; Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2014

With Ian Arbon, Sustainability and Ethics (Industrial Christian Fellowship & John Ray Initiative, 2014)

‘Attuned to God’, in Anthony Clarke (editor), For the Sake of the Church Essays in Honour of Paul S Fiddes, Oxford: Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, 2014

‘Exploitation of the Earth, Exploitation of People’ in Dan Pratt (editor) Emerging Theologies and Responses to Modern Slavery, London: SCM, 2021

‘The Impact of Climate Change on Marginal Communities in the Developing World with specific reference to Peru’ in Helen Paynter & Peter Hatton, Attending to the Margins. Essays in Honour of Stephen Finamore, Oxford: Regent’s Park College, 2022

Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Climate change as a wake-up call, a Baptist perspective’, in Paul S Fiddes (Editor) One Earth, One Love. Orthodox and Baptist Theologians in Conversation about the Environment, 2025

Memberships & Networks

Baptist Union of Great Britain; John Ray Initiative; Industrial Christian Fellowship

Other Activities

Preaching and teaching for various Baptist and Anglican organisations and churches in UK