Come and meet our 3 new Trustees: Prof Hugh Rollinson, Dr Simon Kolstoe and Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham.
CiS trustee: Prof Hugh Rollinson
When and how did you become a Christian? I grew up in a Christian home with godly parents and so my faith in Jesus was there from my earliest days. My father ran a Christian bookshop in York and as a family we were involved in many different Christian groups ; and so, as a young person, my faith was nurtured by a myriad of different interactions. My faith has grown and matured over the years through student life, my working life and marriage, always in the context of a number of different Christian communities to whom I am very grateful.
Could you give us a brief snap shot of your background? I am a geologist with a specialism in geochemistry and a particular interest in the earliest history of our planet a period of time known as the Archaean, the era before 2,500 million years ago. I am currently an Emeritus Professor at the University of Derby. My work has given me the opportunity to study ancient rocks in the UK, Africa, Greenland and Russia. I became interested in the outdoors and fossils at quite a young age, in part inspired by a primary school teacher and subsequently encouraged by a teacher in the sixth form. After my studies I have worked as a survey geologist in west Africa, taught at the Universities of Gloucestershire, Zimbabwe, Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, and latterly at the University of Derby. After leaving Derby I became course director for the Faraday Institute in Cambridge. I trained as an Anglican lay reader when I lived in Cheltenham and have served in a number of different churches since then.
What are your interests outside of work? I love the outdoors and my wife and I love to travel. We have a son who lives in Cape Town which is a bonus. More recently I have taken do doing a bit of woodwork, restoration type of work.
Where is life taking you now? I am retired but still writing up some of my research results from my working life. For many years I have had conversations and given talks about the relationship between my geology and my Christian faith, particularly on how we might read the biblical account of origins. More recently I have developed a growing interest and concern over the subject of climate change and currently am doing some reading, thinking and writing on this subject.
How would you encourage other Christians to be interested in Science? Sadly, my track record is not good. Of my three children none was inspired to follow me into science, although one did study environmental engineering and another now teaches in a University. Maybe I can be more effective in influencing their children!
If you could chat with a scientist from the past, who would it be and why? Tricky this. In some ways our geochemical understanding of the early Earth has moved so fast and provided us with fascinating insights not dreamed of a couple of generations ago. I think some of the early workers in this field would be blown away by what we now know.
CiS trustee: Dr Simon Kolstoe
When and how did you become a Christian? I grew up in a Christian family, and after leaving school spent two years with the charity Mercy Ships visiting 30+ countries and experiencing a wide variety of Christian traditions. I am now settled in a friendly, progressive, Anglican church with an awesome vicar.
Could you give us a brief snap shot of your background? Following my two years with Mercy Ships I attended the University of Southampton to study for a degree in Biomedical Science, with the aim of going on to medical school and then ideally back to Mercy Ships. However, I caught the research bug after carrying out my final year project at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), so instead did a PhD in Biochemistry (protein X-ray crystallography).
This was followed by nine years as a post-doc at UCL working in pre-clinical drug development, and then a BBSRC funded new investigator award at the University of Portsmouth. I’ve always had a bit of an interest in Philosophy, so also got involved with research ethics during this time, completing additional degrees in Philosophy with the Open University, and then a master’s degree in research Ethics (Keele), and joining an NHS research ethics committee.
I consequently started running research ethics projects alongside my biomedical research, and in 2017 made the jump initially to a senior lectureship in Evidence Based Medicine, and then getting promoted to an Associate Professorship in Bioethics, both at Portsmouth University. My research area is now Research Ethics with a specific focus on how ethics and governance processes can promote research integrity and trust in research. I chair research ethics committees (RECs) for the NHS, MOD and UKHSA, and spend a lot of time teaching research ethics nationally via the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO). I’ve also been involved as an ethics reviewer on 30+ European Commission grant calls, so travel to Brussels a few times each year to have interesting discussions with ethicists and researchers from different countries and backgrounds.
What are your interests outside of work? I have three children, so my hobbies seem to follow theirs: at the moment cricket where they try to get me to also play or umpire, but my aim is to sit in the shade with a beer and the scorebook. My daughter is into dance and gymnastics, so this also involves a lot of taxi driving and increasingly weekends at competitions. Historically I’ve been an avid musician so try to play bass, guitar or cajon in church as much as I can around family commitments, and one day would like to get “the band back together” with some old University friends who still live nearby.
Where is life taking you now? I really enjoy the way research ethics combines my experience of both science and philosophy, and have found an increasing number of interesting national and international opportunities (such as being the ethicist on the UK’s “human challenge” ethics committee). I am now seconded out of my university role for a lot of the time, working on a variety of research ethics projects, and suspect this will keep me occupied for a very long time to come.
How would you encourage other Christians to be interested in Science? I have the suspicion that many Christians feel disempowered or excluded when it comes to science. Unfortunately, this results in a rejection of many scientific ideas as an ill-judged statement of identity or culture. Christianity has a compelling narrative, while science reveals the world, so any conflict is caused by people not quite appreciating the way both must grow together.
With ever more sophisticated technologies (AI springs to mind) it is essential that Christians do not exclude themselves from fascinating and lively debates by getting hung up on issues that reflect yesterday’s understanding of the world. As science advances, it should also advance Christian growth and potentially also theology, which granted does sometimes threaten a more traditional narrative. At the same I don’t think Christianity should be standing still. As a research ethicist I am acutely aware how technology challenges and often changes people’s perception of ethics, and I think Christians need to be open to changing their minds on some issues as well.
If you could chat with a scientist from the past, who would it be and why? I love a fast moving and intellectually challenging discussion/debate, so suspect that chatting with Ludwig Wittgenstein (mathematician and philosopher) would have been an awesome experience. Mind you I did sit on a panel with John Polkinghorne a few years back and experienced a similar thing, while the very much alive Francis Collins is also an inspiring person to chat with over lunch!
CiS trustee: Rt Revd Dr Richard Cheetham
When and how did you become a Christian? I was baptised as a baby but had little contact with churches until the age of eleven when my family moved from Bramhall, just south of Manchester, to South London. A boy who lived round the corner from our new home suggested I might like a group called “Pathfinders” which was run by the local Anglican church. I decided to go mainly to meet others of my age and to play football which was included!
I cannot point to a particular moment when I began to think of myself as a Christian, but my Christian faith certainly developed and grew from the age of eleven onwards. The steadfast work of the leaders of the Pathfinder group was vital in that, and I was confirmed at the age of fourteen. During my secondary school years, I was also very involved with the church youth club, Crusaders, and the very active Christian Union at my school. In my later teens I played a leadership role in all of these, and I remain very grateful for that formative experience.
Could you give us a brief snapshot of your background? During my secondary school years, I was increasingly specialising in science, especially physics and mathematics. So, an obvious question was how the understanding of life and the universe I was learning through the wonders of science related to my Christian faith. In many ways this led to my choice to study physics and philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Oxford where I went in 1974. It proved to be a fascinating combination I remain grateful to this day for that foundational educational experience.
After my degree I trained as a science teacher and then taught for five years, firstly in a large comprehensive school in Richmond, North Yorkshire and then at Eton college. From my late teens I had been exploring a vocation to ordained ministry in the Church of England, but it became clear that it would be helpful to have some working experience outside of education, so I then worked for two years as an investment analyst for Legal and General in the City of London. After that valuable working experience, I trained for ministry at Ripon College Cuddesdon. I have served as a curate in Newcastle, a vicar and area dean in Luton (during which I did a part-time doctorate at King’s College, London), an archdeacon in Saint Albans, and for 20 years from 2002-22 as Bishop of Kingston in the Diocese of Southwark.
What are your interests outside of work? My family are very important to me. I met my wife, Felicity, in the church youth club, and we were married after I finished at university, so she has journeyed with me and been a great companion through all the twists and turns of life and vocation. We are also blessed with two wonderful children (now well into adulthood) and their spouses, and five splendid grandchildren. I have had a lifelong interest in sport and played hockey for many years including in the England under 19, Oxford University and British Universities teams and, until recently, some veterans’ hockey. I now play tennis regularly if slightly erratically! Felicity and I both enjoy walking, including in the lovely hills around Dorking where we now live.
Where is life taking you now? In 2012, during a period of sabbatical leave, I became convinced of the importance of the wider communication of some of the excellent scholarship about the science/religion engagement to the churches, the education system, and the wider world. At that stage I became involved in the project Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS). This has been very fruitful, and I am now part time Co director for global engagement for ECLAS. I’m also a member of the Anglican Communion Science Commission which was set up after the 2022 Lambeth conference of Anglican bishops worldwide which issued the Lambeth Call on Science and Faith. So, it is very good to be able to add to these my new role with Christians in Science. I’m also an assistant Bishop in the Dioceses of Guildford and Southwark, and part of the clergy team at Saint Martin’s with St. Mary’s Dorking, and St Barnabas’ Ranmore.
How would you encourage other Christians to be interested in Science? Even if you think you don’t have “a scientific bone in your body”, your life is profoundly affected by the results of science. Just think vaccines and artificial intelligence for example. Also, your understanding of life and the universe will have been shaped by modern science. So, an interest in what might be called, “science engaged theology” is crucial for a deep understanding of Christian faith today including how it is explained both inside and outside the church. And the Christian faith also has a huge amount of wisdom to contribute to some of the major science related issues of our time such as climate change, artificial intelligence and so forth. In the pages of the New Testament, it is very clear in passages such as John 1:1-14, and Colossians 1:15-19, and many others that the Good News of God’s love made known in the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is for all God’s creation. Thus, we do need to study both the Book of Scripture and the Book of nature for a full understanding of Christian Faith.
If you could chat with a scientist from the past, who would it be and why? There would be lots, including people from previous eras whom we might not normally label as scientists, such as the venerable Bede, who made a close study of some aspects of the natural world. But, if I had to pick one, it would be Albert Einstein who died in the year I was born. I would love to hear from him about his journey into science and especially his extraordinary creative leaps which led to his theories of relativity. I would ask about his thoughts and feelings around the development of the atom bomb. I would want to know about his deep understanding of life in the universe in the light of both quantum mechanics and relativity theory and not least what he meant when he famously said, “science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”
Autumn conference 2025: Save the date
- When: Friday evening 24th October and Saturday 25th October
- Where: Manchester
Please put it in your diary now. We hope to see you there! All other details will be released very soon.