Dr Selina Stone
Lecturer in Theology and Ethics
Background
Selina Stone is a theologian whose work is focused on the urgent social issues that face us as human beings in the UK and across the world. Raised in inner-city Birmingham in the African Caribbean Pentecostal church, her PhD involved an interdisciplinary study bringing womanist ethics into dialogue with Pentecostal spirituality and theology. Her MA in Theology, Politics and Faith-Based Organisations is from King's College London (2014).
Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh, Selina was Postdoctoral Research Associate in Theological Education at the University of Durham (2022-24). Her work included an oversight role within the Common Awards validation partnership, research and training for theological colleges on EDI and Decolonisation. Previously, she was Lecturer in Theology at an Anglican theological college (2017-22).
Selina is committed to developing and sharing knowledge for the academy, the church and the wider public. Along with various articles and book chapters, she is the author of The Spirit and the Body: Towards a Womanist Pentecostal Social Justice Ethic (Brill, 2023) and Tarry Awhile: Wisdom from Black Spirituality for People of Faith, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book 2024. Her third book on theology, power and abuse in evangelical/charismatic churches in England and beyond, will be published in 2025 by SCM Press. She was the lead researcher for the national project on race and clergy wellbeing in the Church of England and authored the report "If It Wasn't For God: A Report on Global Majority Heritage Clergy Wellbeing in the Church of England" (2022). She is the host of the Black British theology and faith podcast, Sunday School for Misfits.
Qualifications
PhD, University of Birmingham, 2021
MA, King's College London, 2014
BA, University of Birmingham, 2010
Responsibilities & affiliations
Selina is a member of the National Executive Committee for the Society for the Study of Theology.
Memberships: Society for the Study of Theology, Society for the Study of Christian Ethics, GloPent (Global Pentecostalism Network).
Undergraduate teaching
DIVI10100 Public Theologies: Thinkers and Themes
DIVI08025 Christian Theology: Doctrines and Debates
DIVI08026 The God(s) of the Philosophers: Proposals and Problems
Postgraduate teaching
THET11066 Public Theologies: Current Controversies
Open to PhD supervision enquiries?
Yes
Areas of interest for supervision
I would be pleased to hear from prospective PhD students whose work falls within any of my main areas of research interest (listed below) and those broadly related. I would also add: constructive theology and ethics; qualitative methods in theology; theology in inner-city contexts; and theology, healing and well-being.
Research summary
My research interests fall within the following spheres:
- Womanist Ethics and Theology (and Liberation Theologies more broadly)
- Theology and Social Inequalities
- Pentecostal Theology, Spirituality and Ethics
- Theology and Power in Christian Leadership
- Decolonisation and Theological Education