FEATURED SPEAKER

Dr. Jayme R. Reaves

Jayme R. Reaves, PhD., is a public theologian and uses feminist and liberation theology to work with churches and communities around issues such as conflict and peace, gender, identity, race, trauma, and what it means to love your neighbor.

She has lived and worked in the U.S., Bosnia, Croatia, and Northern Ireland and has an M.Div from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (U.S.) as well as an M.Phil in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation and a Ph.D. in Theology from Trinity College, University of Dublin (Ireland). 

She is the Coordinator for the Centre for Encountering the Bible at Sarum College in Salisbury, England. Her book Safeguarding the Stranger: An Abrahamic Theology and Ethic of Protective Hospitality was published by Wipf & Stock in 2016.

She lives in Dorset, England but travels to and speaks in the US regularly.

SPEAKING TOPICS

Safeguarding the Stranger: An Abrahamic Theology and Ethic of Protective Hospitality
What does it mean to practice "protective hospitality"? In our current political climate, opportunities are available to change the paradigm by welcoming and protecting the threatened other. This session (available from one hour to a whole day) looks at the Abrahamic traditions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), their prophetic heritage of resistance, and their theological and ethical imperatives to provide protective hospitality as a valuable, yet neglected, commonality upon which cooperative, shared belief and action could be built.

#MeToo Jesus: Why Naming Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse Matters
The #MeToo hashtag and its tributary campaigns such as #ChurchToo and #SilenceIsNotSpiritual has confirmed the prevalence of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and sexually abusive behavior. As such, the #MeToo movement raises important questions for the stories we tell ourselves within Christian faith and theology. This session will explore the current context of #MeToo while also encountering a closer reading of the mocking and crucifixion of Jesus narrative in Mark 15:16-24. 

We Are Made of Stories: Reading Contemporary Fiction as Sacred Text
What non-biblical stories are sacred to you? What stories do you look to for advice, inspiration, or guidance as you go about your daily life? The concept of reading contemporary fiction with the same reverence, authority, and hermeneutical principles used in reading sacred scripture is growing, and both religious and non-religious people are integrating generative, contemporary texts and stories into their spiritual and/or ethical development. The most familiar example of this practice right now is seen in the popular podcast “Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.”