Seforosa Carroll named lecturer in Cross Cultural Ministry and Theology

Rev. Dr Seforosa Carroll will join United Theological College as lecturer in Cross Cultural Ministry and Theology in 2023.

“In 1985 the UCA declared itself a “multicultural church” and has developed several statements since,” Rev. Dr Carroll said.

“I understand the role to be about accompanying the UCA in thinking theologically, and in addition developing and strengthening cross cultural competencies in who we are as a church in a universal sense, and in particular, as the UCA.”

“How do we and what are the tangible practical ways of fully living into that vision?”

According to Rev. Dr Carroll the role consists of two parts: teaching which involves a combination of teaching contextual and systematic theology subjects and involvement in the formation for both lay and ordained ministry through a cross-cultural lens.

Rev. Dr Carroll comes to the role with experience spanning across the church. At the time of writing, she was finishing up as programme executive for Mission and Mission from the Margins for the World Council of Churches.

“The United Theological College has a strong tradition of being at the forefront of advocating cross-cultural and contextual theologies, both at the undergraduate and research levels,” Rev. Dr Caroll said.

“It is a community that brings and holds together people from diverse cultural backgrounds including the host culture. But the teaching of cross cultural ministry and theology cannot be limited to those of linguistically diverse backgrounds but an imperative for all students,” she added.  

“At a practical level, this will have implications for how students at UTC understand and practice ministry in the Australian context including that of the diaspora, and theologically, it will be about enabling students to make connections with and understand the implications of theology and its practice within a global ecumenical context.”

“What excites me about this role is that the scope of cross cultural ministry is very broad and there are many intersecting issues and concerns – the challenge is enabling people to make connections between issues and the role of theology and accompanying practices to make transformative changes.”

“I look forward to being part of and working together as a team in  academic teaching, involvement in the formation process and developing strategies for living cross culturally as a church.”

Rev. Dr Seforosa Carroll begins at United Theological College on 1 January 2023.