St Michael’s Lecture at 7.30 pm, Wednesday 12th February.

Dr Susannah Cornwall is Advanced Research Fellow in Theology and Religion at the University of Exeter. Until August 2013 she was Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester. She is the author of Sex and Uncertainty in the Body of Christ: Intersex Conditions and Christian Theology; Controversies in Queer Theology; Theology and Sexuality; and is the editor of Intersex, Theology and the Bible: Troubling Bodies in Church, Text and Society.

Intersex conditions, where an individual’s body cannot be classified as male or female, have received little attention in theological or church circles. However, intersex Christians’ stories are of relevance to broader theological discourse about sex, gender and sexuality, as well as deserving attention in their own right. In this lecture, Susannah Cornwall draws on interviews with ten intersex Christians, and suggests that recognizing them as full members of the Church community means giving space for their differing experiences of identity and embodiment, to change the stories about bodies and humanness which the Church tells. Christian communities which invest only male or female bodies with legitimacy and significance risk marginalizing and devaluing other types of body-story, with detrimental consequences for theology and pastoral care.

The lectures are OPEN TO ALL and admission is FREE (there is a voluntary retiring collection). They are followed by discussion and light refreshments. The lectures are held in St. Michael’s Church (Mount Dinham, Dinham Road, Exeter, EX4 4EB) which has a tall spire and is located by the Iron Bridge on North St./St. David’s Hill. For further information, or to discuss disabled access, please do not hesitate to contact David Beadle at dnb201@ex.ac.uk