Details
WHEN: 9am – 3pm, 12 September 2026
WHERE: Theology House (95 Tuam Street, Christchurch)
COST: $15 (Students: FREE)
Speakers
Empowering Young People to Explore Big Questions in the UK
Stephanie Bevan
Steph holds a degree in Physics and Music from Cardiff University, a PGCE from UCL, and is currently pursuing a Postgraduate Diploma in Science Communication at the University of Otago. She is also a Trustee for Christians in Science, UK. Steph is an avid outdoor enthusiast who can usually be found mountain biking, snowboarding, or whitewater kayaking.
On Being a Young Scientist in Church
William Hurren
William is a high school student who has been a member of NZCIS since he was seven! He has a precocious interest in all things to do with science and faith. He and his family attend All Souls.
Climate Forum
Dr Kathleen Rushton RSM, Dr Richard Milne, and James Beck
Dr. Kathleen Rushton, Nga Whaea Atawhai Sisters of Mercy, is an independent biblical researcher who delights in making sound biblical scholarship accessible and linked to everyday faith and spirituality. She writes a reflection on the Sunday Lectionary gospels in Tui Motu InterIslands (www.tuimotu.org). As a Pākehā /Palangi Aotearoa New Zealand woman of the Pacific, she is developing an anticipatory approach to the Gospel according to John which links biblical hope and contemporary science in God’s unfinished, evolving universe.
Richard is lead author of the Religious Diversity Centre’s recent ‘Faith and Action Guide’ and lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Richard is an active member of a progressive Christian church and Ōtautahi Quakers. His diverse professional and academic life in Aotearoa NZ, the US and the UK has included applied physics, neuroscience research, and health economic modelling. Richard has been engaged in climate action within churches for 20 years. He loves science, the Southern Alps and other people’s cats and dogs.
James works at the intersection of faith, ecology, and strategic investment. As the leader of A Rocha’s Eco Church Network, a pastor at The River, and lead of the environmental strategy for The Wilberforce Foundation, he works to engage local churches with eco-theology and environmental action. James is passionate about tangible, grassroots change right where communities live.
Believing Scientifically: Some Ideas from ‘The Fixation of Belief’
Dr Joshua Wilson-Black
Joshua is a lecturer at the New Zealand Institute for Language, Brain and Behaviour at the University of Canterbury. He works across a wide range of projects using language data and has an academic background in philosophy, data science, and mathematics.
Science in the Pews
Rev Cirũ Mũriũki
Cirũ is a recently ordained deacon and Curate at St MJ’s Anglican Church. She has a deep love of theology for the explanations and frameworks it offers for engaging with the spiritual and immaterial world and its mysteries. In the last few years, she has developed a new love of science for its ability to do the same for the natural world. She continues to discover that these ‘two’ worlds are less distinct than we imagine. When she is not contemplating all that pertains to existence, she enjoys a meal around a table, a swim, and a film.
Wrestling With The Machine: AI, Humanity, and the Church
Dr Nicola Hoggard Creegan
Nicola is the Director of New Zealand Christians in Science. She specialises in the interface between evolutionary theory and systematic theology, with particular interests in animal theology, eco-theology, and the problem of evil. Her book Animal Suffering and the Problem of Evil (Oxford University Press, 2013) asks what God’s presence in a suffering natural world means for Christian faith, and what the sciences can teach theology about the creatures we share the world with.
A Life in the Sciences and in Church
Dr Philip Pattemore
Philip is retired from work as a paediatric respiratory specialist at Christchurch Hospital and Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Otago, Christchurch, where he was involved in research on asthma and cystic fibrosis and taught medical students for 31 years. He has had a long-standing interest in the interface of science and Christianity. He is the author of Am I My Keeper’s Brother which has sold over 500 copies. Philip maintains an active interest in new developments in this area. He is married to Wendy and has 2 adult children.
