Elaine Storkey

Dr. Elaine Storkey

Dr. Elaine Storkey is a philosopher, sociologist, and theologian, who has held university posts at Kings College, London, Stirling, Oxford, and the Open University, in addition to visiting professorships in the USA, Australia and New Zealand. She is a Fellow of Aberystwyth University, Senior Member of Newnham College, Cambridge, and a former Vice President of the University of Gloucester. In the 1990s she was Director of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity and has held posts at two Anglican theological colleges. Elaine has also lectured in Africa, Asia, Haiti and across Europe. She has been involved with BBC and other broadcasting companies for 30 years, presenting television and radio documentaries with the Open University, TV, radio and podcasts, and as a regular theological broadcaster for BBC Radio Ulster. Her writing includes nine books and hundreds of journal and symposia articles.

Elaine was on the General Synod of the Church of England for 28 years, and served on numerous boards and councils, including the Archbishops’ Commission on Rural Areas, Crown Nominations Commission, the Cathedrals Commission and ‘Living in Love and Faith.’ She has been a theological adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, and on the Central Media Panel. Elaine has also been a C of E delegate to the World Council of Church in both Zimbabwe and South Korea as well as to the Genera Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The WCC has involved her independently in the five year Orthodox-Evangelical Dialogue and in apologetics and advocacy for women.

Elaine’s presidency of the NGO, Tearfund, spanned 17 years enabling her to focus on the issues women face across the world. It also pushed her to write Scars Across Humanity: Understanding and Overcoming Violence Against Women, published in 2015, updated for the USA in 2018 and named ‘Book of the Year’ in Politics and Public Life in the Christianity Today 2019 Book Awards. For other writing and lecturing she was awarded the Abraham Kuyper Prize at Princeton USA, and the Frumentius Award in Addis Ababa, among others. Her most recent book is Women in a Patriarchal World: 25 empowering stories from the Bible published during Covid19 lockdown 2020.

Elaine has been involved in arts organisations, in counselling and on theological panels across a wide spectrum, including climate change, work ethics, safeguarding and peace issues.. She continues to teach on the postgrad course at Oxford University, ‘Developing a Christian Mind’, which she co-founded 12 years ago.

Elaine has been married for many years to Alan, an economist and artist, and they have three sons and six grandchildren.