Preaching Clinic

Barbara Brown Taylor

AJ Levine

AJ Levine is one of today’s most engaging biblical scholars. She is the Rabbi Stanley M. Kessler Distinguished Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, and the University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Emerita and the Mary Jane Werthan Professor of Jewish Studies Emerita at Vanderbilt University. Professor Levine is the first Jew to teach New Testament at Rome’s Pontifical Biblical Institute. In 2023 she received the Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Cooperation from the Archbishop of Canterbury. Her many publications include The Bible with and Without Jesus and The Annotated Jewish New Testament (with Mark Bratter) and numerous guides to aspects of the gospels that are popular with preachers.

Doug Gay

Doug Gay is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow. He is a Church of Scotland minister and has taught preaching to ministry students for many years. He has worked as a columnist for the Times and is author of Remixing the Church, Reforming the Kirk (based on his Chalmers Lectures) and God Be In My Mouth: 40 Ways to Grow as a Preacher.

Mark Oakley

Mark Oakley is the Dean of Southwark and a Festival of Preaching favourite. He is a Visiting Lecturer in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, Kings College London; Visiting Scholar at Sarum College, an Ambassador for StopHate UK, Patron of Tell MAMA (supporting those affected by anti-Muslim hate crime) and a Trustee of the Civil Liberties Trust. His books include By Way of the Heart: the Seasons of Faith, My Sour Sweet Days and The Splash of Words which won the Michael Ramsey Prize.

Mark was given the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship by the Archbishop of Canterbury last year.

Paula Gooder

Paula Gooder is one of the UK’s most popular speakers and writers on the Bible and is passionate about making biblical scholarship accessible to a wide audience. She is Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral and runs its extensive programme of educational events. Her many books include a series on the seasons of the Christian year, Journey to the Manger, Journey to the Empty Tomb, and The Parables in the Biblical Explorations series.  Blending her critical skills with her love of storytelling, Paula has imaginatively recreated the lives of biblical women in Phoebe, Lydia, Women of Holy Week and the forthcoming Women of the Nativity.