Revd Dr Manon Ceridwen James

A bit about me

I was brought up in Nefyn (on the Llyn peninsula) though I was born in Glanaman, Carmarthenshire. I studied Humanities at the University of South Wales, Pontypridd and explored a vocation to the ordained ministry whilst there and working at Coleg Trefeca, a Presbyterian conference centre. During that time I was accepted for training at Ridley Hall, Cambridge where I studied theology at Selwyn College. I was ordained deacon in 1994 in Bangor Cathedral (priest in 1997) and my curacy was in Llandudno, where I had my first daughter. During my first incumbency I had my second daughter and combined ministering in four communities around the Ogwen Valley with being Diocesan Director of Ordinands. In 2005 I moved to St Asaph diocese to a full time training role, within ministerial and discipleship training as well as having responsibility for church schools. In 2008 I combined being the tutor for ministry training within the diocese again with parish ministry, as Rector of Llanddulas and Llysfaen picking up other diocesan responsibilities such as IME officer and Director of Ordinands along the way, until I became full time Director of Ministry in 2015. So I have been involved with training for ministry in the Church in Wales since 2005, and taught practical theology, leading worship, preaching and adult education during that time.

I studied for a postgraduate certificate in Adult Education and Theological Reflection with Chester University (in 2008) and enjoyed it so much I decided to do a PhD, which I completed in 2015, in practical theology under the direction of Prof Stephen Pattison. I used a combination of life story interviews and theological reflection on poetry and memoirs to study how Welsh women use religion to construct their identities. I published a book arising from this research in 2018.

In my free time I enjoy going to football matches and comedy events with my husband, Dylan who is head of financial accounting at Bangor University. We also enjoy music concerts, festivals and caravanning. I also read and write poetry and have had several poems published in literary magazines.

My research interests

My research interests revolve around contextual and practical theology, Wales and Welshness, literature (and especially poetry) and feminist theology.

Some highlights of my work

Chapters

‘Fat Chicks, Blue Books and Green Valleys, Women, Religion and Identity in Wales’, in Slee, N., Porter, F. and Phillips, A. (eds.) (2013) The Faith Lives of Women and Girls: Qualitative Research Perspectives. Farnham: Ashgate.

‘Song of a Voiceless Person: Using the Poetry of Menna Elfyn in a Study of Welsh Women's Identity and Religion’ (2018) in Slee, N., Porter, F. and Phillips, A. (eds.) Researching Female Faith: Qualitative Research Methods (Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology). Abingdon. Routledge.

Article

Y Ferch Gref: Merched, Crefydd a Hunaniaeth yng Nghymru in Y Traethodydd April 2017 Caernarfon. Gwasg Pantycelyn.

Forthcoming

Editor, along with Wayne Morris and Stephen Adams, Welsh Theology: Historical, Contextual and Practical Perspectives, University of Wales Press, 2019.

‘People who go to Eisteddfodau all grand and thinking they are someone’: the role of religion in creating the Welsh middle class’ also in Welsh Theology: Historical, Contextual and Practical perspectives University of Wales Press 2019

‘Body Remember’: reflecting theologically on the experience of domestic violence through the poetry of Kim Moore’ in Feminism and Trauma Theologies edited by Katie Cross and Karen O’Donnell. Bloomsbury Press

Poetry

I have had poems published in Poetry Wales, Envoi, Obsessed with Pipework and Under the Radar.