In freeing knowledge from the constraints of both church and state, modernity has led to a flourishing of academic disciplines. However, in privatising religion and in binding knowledge to the individual, the secular, and to autonomous objectivity, modernity has become blind to its biases and fixated on its borders.
What is spiritual must be private, what is public must be secular. The academy is kept from the marketplace and its departments from one another. We connect online but are isolated from our neighbours.
KLC’s scholars engage in key research projects aimed at excellent, impactful work in community and across disciplines. These projects are typically suggested by our fellows via one of our research communities (staff, hubs or seminars).
The giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus constitutes Israel as God’s nation and establishes key relational and ethical principles upon which their discipleship is based.
The church continues to wrestle with the ambiguity of its relationship to biblical law, and in politics and the marketplace, the erosion of a common ethical bedrock has made our systems of social welfare, democratic freedom and international cooperation vulnerable to assault.
KLC’s Ten Commandments Project aims to recover the power of the decalogue to teach the church and civil society a better way forward, even amidst our very modern cultural challenges.
Global evangelicalism faces challenges on many fronts, some political in nature, some social, some theological. These have led to a fracturing in regions around the world.
To better understand these fractures and to help unify the global community, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and the Kirby Laing Centre have partnered together to explore what “evangelical” means for the twenty-first century.
Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in Abraham Kuyper as a public theologian, but with Kuyper’s Dictaten Dogmatiek now being translated, there is an exciting opportunity to delve further into Kuyper as a constructive, creative theologian in his own right, working at a dynamic point in history.
The retrieval of Kuyper’s work is quickly being tied to partisan debates around the role of faith in public life. This raises the unique question of how Kuyper’s theology is being (mis)used.
KLC is energised by the need to bring together all the domains of life under the lordship of Christ, recognising his call for all creation to flourish under his shepherding. Our namesake, Sir Kirby Laing, was an exemplar of this principle too, growing a construction company that left its mark on the UK and beyond, while pursuing labour practices and acts of philanthropy that left a mark on eternity. Our biography project aims also to illuminate the connections of Sir Kirby and other leaders within UK evangelicalism.
We invite scholars and practitioners to join our community of fellows. The needs of our projects are diverse and so we welcome people of diverse gifts too.
There are no strings attached: you can apply to join simply to observe and to open avenues of connection with other scholars on your own terms.
For those who are interested in actively participating in impactful public-theological research, successful applicants can join a variety of communities for fellowship within your areas of interest, or simply follow one or more projects and contribute to the discussion or collaborate in your areas of expertise.
KLC’s staff team and our fellows gather under our three primary values:
As an organisation, KLC brings expertise to its community’s projects in several key areas, especially in honing project plans for impact, providing public-theological and technical consultation, creating access to interdisciplinary networks of scholars, and publishing.
Join a project and use your gifts for the common good and for Christ’s kingdom
Broaden your relationships within your own discipline or area of interest
Extend the reach and scope of your work with collaborators across disciplines
Benefit from KLC’s expertise in public theology as a basis for Christian public action
Benefit from KLC’s expertise in research supervision and project management
KLC has developed key publishing relationships and its own publishing outlets
KLC has developed relationships with major Christian academic publishers and can help to motivate the right projects for mainstream publication.
KLC has accessible in-house publications such as The Big Picture and facilities to produce and publish books of our own to major online retailers.
KLC offers collected project output and other digital publications on its website, and we have a growing community of readers on Substack.
Our wider community is invited to join us on the first Thursday of every month to pray for KLC and the world
Fellows involved in theological and biblical studies gather in four seminars online and at SBL
Fellows gather in discipline-specific groups, providing fellowship and Christian wisdom in their work
KLC trains PhD supervisors and guides PhD students under the auspices of Union Theological College, Belfast
We would love to keep you updated about our up-and-coming publications, webinars and events. The primary way we do this is via our newsletter and mailing list. Ensure you don’t miss a thing by subscribing to our KLC community mailing list today.
In this latest edition of Ethics in Conversation, Andrew Kirk reviews Michael F. Bird’s recent book: Religious Freedom in a Secular Age: A Christian Case for Liberty, Equality, and Secular
The Kirby Laing Centre has added another exciting avenue of publishing potential with the launch in January 2025 of the first book produced entirely under the KLC banner.
The Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology in Cambridge. Charity registered in England and Wales. Charity Number: 1191741
Kirby Laing Centre, Office 1, Unit 6, The New Mill House, Chesterton Mill, French’s Road, Cambridge, CB4 3NP
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