Equipping communicators to use an innovative style of public engagement with children and young people, promoting the compatibility of science and the Christian faith through dialogic learning.
Benefact Trust are funding the God and the Big Bang ‘Next Generation’ project, which will recruit and train 30 science-faith communicators over 12 months. These communicators, who will predominantly be students or early career scientists will be taught to deliver an innovative style of communication, which puts the voices of children and young people front and centre.
Andrew Bass, Senior Grants Officer at Benefact Trust, said: “We’re delighted to support the expansion of the ‘God and the Big Bang’ project which is helping young people gain a deeper understanding of science, faith and how they connect. It can be challenging to find ways to engage with young people, but this project is the perfect example of how to do it. Equipping facilitators with a deep understanding of philosophy and science so that they can open-up meaningful and interesting conversations with young people.”
Revd Professor David Wilkinson, chair of the God and the Big Bang board, said “God and the Big Bang is at the cutting edge of enabling school students to engage with big questions through a discussion of science and religion. Key to this is the engagement of students with early career scientists who are also people of faith. This funding from Benefact Trust will raise this work to a new level in the recruitment, training, and support of these scientists.”
Michael Harvey, Executive Director of God and the Big Bang, said “One of the great strengths of God and the Big Bang has been the commitment to an incarnational model of communication, that is taking early career scientists who are Christians into schools, showing that it is possible to study science and be a person of faith. We are so thankful for this funding which allows us to recruit even more of these communicators, building a new generation who are able to enter into dialogue with children and young people with increasing confidence.”
