The Confession Project Summary The Confession Project explores what confession of sin looks like in British churches today — whether practised privately before God or shared with others — and what God offers to those who engage in it. It asks how these practices connect to biblical and theological themes, and where they do not. […]
Discover the research projects that SWF engages in.
Edgy Faith and Learning – project report
We’re pleased to release the project report into a project SWF supported in collaboration with the St Peter’s Saltley Trust entitled Edgy Faith and Edgy Learning, written by Dr James Butler, Prof Clare Watkins and Dr Ian Jones. Using theological action research methodology, the team worked with seven groups who identified themselves as ‘edgy’. Visual […]
Holy Communion online – project report
We’re pleased to report on a project looking at online communion in the Methodist Church. The team write: In this project, led by Dr James Butler and Dr Ash Cocksworth, we seek to surface and reflect on the theology embedded in the practice of online celebrations of Holy Communion in the Methodist Church in Britain. It contributes to a […]
Christian Leadership in Methodist Schools research project
“There is something that just shines through in Methodist schools.” We have begun a new project exploring Methodist Christian Leadership in schools, with a goal of generating resources out of conversation between Methodist school leaders, Methodist historians, Methodist theologians, chaplains and others, that explore what it means to lead in a Methodist school (whether state […]
TAR Field Guide
We’re delighted to have produced a Theological Action Research Field Guide that has been created by our friends at the Theology and Action Research Network (TARN) and edited by Stefanie Conradt. Funded and designed by the Susanna Wesley Foundation, this is an invaluable help to those considering using theological action research in their work. The […]
Methodist School leadership – project report
We’re delighted to release a project report by Dr Anthony Thorpe, SWF Research Associate, entitled Methodist school leadership and governance: mission and workforce equality and diversity. Executive summary: The project explored the concept and discourse of leadership and governance in Methodist schools and related organisations in England with particular reference to the purpose of the […]
Chaplaincy and the Church research project
The Susanna Wesley Foundation (SWF) is launching a new research project into chaplaincy and the Church. The project will look to map the current chaplaincy landscape in terms of understanding of chaplaincy and its primary contexts. As part of this, we will explore how chaplaincy is defined, trained for, and credentialed, as well as considering […]
Hope research project
New Research Associate the Revd Dr Susie Snyder introduces a new project. “Hope has holes in its pockets,” as poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer puts it—and this perhaps feels particularly true at this point of the twenty-first century (1). I have been interested in hope for a while, and at a time of global polycrisis, public […]






