Interview with Emma Penwright
Congratulations Emma for winning the 2025 Oliver Barclay Lecture. Emma will be speaking at our Autumn Conference in Manchester.
Do you have any thoughts on what your lecture may be about at the CiS Autumn Conference? While on sabbatical over the summer, I was doing a lot of thinking about how to persuade young scientists of the goodness and truth of the gospel. Data and experience both show that Gen Z are a lot more open to the idea of the spiritual than previous generations, but that doesn’t always translate to being willing to consider ‘traditional’ religions like Christianity. And yet, the historic Christian faith can uniquely make sense of many different aspects of science – from the laws of nature, to ethics, to the existence of intelligent life. When you add all these together, you have a very compelling case for Christianity as a framework that can make sense of life. In my lecture, I’m hoping to present a model for how we might engage Gen Z scientists with the claims of Christianity, showing how the Christian worldview is both intellectually and emotionally satisfying in today’s scientific world.
When and how did you become a Christian? I was really blessed to grow up in a Christian family, so I was in Sunday school every week as a child and Christian faith was very much part of our family life. As is so often the case for church kids, it took me a while to realise that Jesus wasn’t just for Sundays, but was worthy to be Lord of my whole life. I remember watching a friend get baptised when I was thirteen, and being struck by the weightiness of this moment of public commitment to Christ. If Jesus really had given himself for me, then surely the only appropriate response was to give my whole life back to him, and let everyone else know about it. I knew then that I wanted to be all in!
What were the things that spiked your interest in science? My parents both have science degrees, so I was definitely encouraged towards an interest in science from a young age! My mum is a veterinary surgeon, and she would help me prepare slides so that I could look at skin cells or pond water under a microscope. I remember being captivated by the intricate detail of the microscopic world, a feeling that only increased as I went on through school and began to learn more about DNA and the vast array of intracellular processes that are constantly going on in our bodies all without us being aware of them.
How do you view studying science in relation to God? I love these verses from Job chapter 28 which I think sum up the scientific endeavour so well: ‘People assault the flinty rock with their hands and lay bare the roots of the mountains. They tunnel through the rock; their eyes see all its treasures. They search the sources of the rivers and bring hidden things to light.’ (Job 28:9-11) . Because the natural world is created by an infinite, good God, it is packed with treasures for us to discover. What a privilege we have to get stuck in with studying God’s handiwork using science! At the same time, the author of Job goes on to make clear that we cannot find wisdom by looking at the natural world alone. It’s only by pursuing the ‘fear of the Lord’ that we find true wisdom. That’s why it’s so vital that we keep on growing in our knowledge of God’s word as we grow in scientific understanding. It’s only by holding the two together that we will become truly wise.
What has been the most interesting thing you have worked on in your career? A couple of years ago, I got to give an evangelistic talk at a Christian Union event titled ‘Will we ever find a theory of everything?’. It was fascinating to think about how Jesus, the Word through whom and for whom everything was made, fulfils our desire for a single integrating truth behind existence.
What do you do for fun or major interest outside of work? My most consistent hobby is running. I’m currently doing a challenge to try and tick off a parkrun starting with every letter of the alphabet! Having recently moved to North London, and being married to an Arsenal supporter, I’m gradually getting into watching football. We have season tickets for the women’s team, and going to matches is a lot of fun – helped by the fact that it’s less rowdy than when the men are playing!
If you could chat with a scientist from the past, who would this be? If they count as scientists, probably someone from antiquity like Archimedes or Aristotle. It would be fascinating to see how their view of the world was different – and to tell them about modern inventions and watch their reaction!
What challenges, if any, have you come across as a Christian and a scientist? There have been plenty of questions that I’ve had to wrestle through for myself as a Christian studying biochemistry. What do I make of Genesis 1 and 2? Who were Adam and Eve? What did the Fall do to biology?, to give just a few examples. One of my main frustrations when I was more involved in lab-based science was that so few of my peers were interested in talking about the big philosophical or ethical questions surrounding science. I think it’s a weakness in the way science is taught today. Students aren’t encouraged to think about the bigger picture enough.
Is there any advice you found helpful to offer to other young people starting out on their science/faith journey? I’d always advise young people starting to think about faith as it relates to science to ask their questions rather than letting them bubble away in their head. There are some genuinely tricky questions that come from thinking about topics like creation, evolution, neuroscience, and so on. But there will nearly always be someone else who’s thought of the same question and has done some good work towards answering it! Questions generally become a lot easier to deal with once they’re out in the open. A great bit of advice I received as a biochemistry student was to try praying before sitting down to study. Inviting God to show me more of himself through his creation made a huge difference to how I thought about my work!
What makes you go “WOW” at work? Seeing students who love Jesus boldly living and speaking for him at university. As I write, I’m preparing to go away for UCCF’s annual student conference, Forum. Looking around at an evening gathering to see a thousand young adults singing their hearts out in praise to God is just incredible.+3
What makes you go “WOW” outside of work? I love those moments where you have a sudden encounter with nature that you weren’t expecting. Earlier this week, I was kayaking on a river in Norfolk when a kingfisher shot out of a bush on the bank and darted across the water in front of me. The week before, I startled two foxes playing in a field behind our house as I walked past. Those times feel like a little shared moment with the Lord knowing that he’s put me in the right place at the right time to see something beautiful that otherwise I would have overlooked.
Where is life taking you now? In August we moved to a new home at Oak Hill College, where my husband Adam is going to be training as a Church of England ordinand for the next three years. I’m excited to be starting a part-time Masters’ course in Contemporary Christian Leadership, thinking about how theology should shape culture in churches and Christian organisations. Over at UCCF, we’re doing some work to rethink how we help students engage well with their degree subjects – I’m looking forward to seeing the work we’ve done to equip students in a few key disciplines expand to cover more subject areas. On the side, I’m hoping to finish writing up my sabbatical thinking into a short book for science students. So there’s plenty to keep me busy!
Annual conference 2025: God makes the difference
Join us as we explore how being a Christian in the sciences makes the difference personally, professionally and in public life.
When: October 24-25th 2025 Where: Manchester (Online or Onsite at Altrincham Baptist Church, Hale Road, WA14 2EW) Speakers: David Gregory, Kathryn Pritchard, Matt Pritchard, Emma Penwright, Gavin Merrifield, Sam McKee, and more!
CiS – stepping forwards
By Gavin Merrifield, CiS General Secretary
Over the last 12 months we have been sharing our renewed vision for the future of Christians in Science. This vision can be summed up as Enjoying Science, Encouraging Scientists and Equipping the Church. This is a vision for both CiS and for the wider Church when it comes to how we approach science.
Survey after survey shows that questions around science remain one of the biggest areas of tension or concern when it comes to mission, evangelism and discipleship. More worryingly though is that groups conducting these surveys then offer no solutions and little engagement with these concerns.
Coupled to this the science/Christianity landscape in the UK is also shifting. We are moving out of a golden period where multiple organisations, who were positive about science, worked alongside each other with different but complimenting focuses. Some of these organisations are coming to an end, either naturally or through lack of funding. Gaps in what we collectively offered the Church are beginning to appear. History has shown us that those gaps are too often filled by those who are intent on fermenting conflict and confusion between the scientific community and the Church. In our current environment of wider disinformation and division, we must not allow this to happen again.
It is time for CiS to step up our game, in line with our vision and to fulfil the calling that God is placing on us as an organisation. Over the next few months, you will see a step change in the activity of CiS and in how we organise ourselves. There will be new events, new resources, new partnerships forged and new ways of doing things. Many of these will continue to support and encourage the work of CiS in exploring the frontiers of science and Christian belief. Many others will provide opportunities for the Church to learn to engage well with the sciences and address those concerns that surveys are showing.
Ultimately, what we can do will only be limited by the resources that we have. And we will be asking for help in this. Help from our members, help in growing our supporters, help from churches who want our support. And we will need all of you to play a role in this. We have talked about vision for a long time, but talk must become action. The need is urgent. The opportunity there! Let’s step forward together.
CiS Annual Members Meeting will be online starting at 7pm Thursday 13th November 2026. To book your place please check the CiS website or https://buytickets.at/christiansinscience.