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Dr Susan Docherty's research has greatly impacted on the teaching of Religious Education and on the practice of collective worship in schools through two avenues: first, through her work in training teachers at Newman University, one of the major providers of Initial Teacher Education in the West Midlands; and second, through her contribution to the design and delivery of the biblical studies components of the Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies programme (CCRS), a course taken by the majority of teachers in Roman Catholic primary schools within the Archdiocese of Birmingham (comprising the counties of West Midlands, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) as well as by teachers working in the Church of England and maintained sectors.
Utilising the pioneering research in reception history at the University of Sheffield, and in partnership with Sheffield Cathedral and Museums Sheffield, exhibition materials and educational guides were designed for the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible in 2011. These educational outreach materials were used by 30 English cathedrals and other greater churches throughout the UK, and the Church of England would not otherwise have been able to develop them; significantly, the material's content deliberately cut across many National Curriculum disciplines to provide teachers with a multifaceted resource. Taking feedback from Sheffield Cathedral as sample evidence, all participants in the adult education outreach programme registered changed perceptions of the King James Bible following engagement with the resources and the exhibition.
The Practical Theology group's collaboration with other researchers and churches has helped faith groups to understand how clergy and lay people engage with Scripture, leading to developments in the theory and practice of preaching. Consultancy and research by Dr Andrew Village has helped inform the Bible in the Life of the Church project of the Anglican Communion, an important attempt by a global denomination to shape its practice in relation to its sacred Scriptures. Research on Bible beliefs has informed the debate about Creationism and evolution that arose in 2009 during the celebration of Charles Darwin.
Lincoln's research treats historical, literary, theological and hermeneutical issues in New Testament studies. Aiming to be accessible in its presentation, it has an impact throughout the English-speaking world on leaders in churches, teachers and sixth formers in schools and a broad audience interested in the interpretation of the Bible. In particular, it has contributed to bridging the gap between academic biblical studies and popular understanding in the church and society, as readers turn to his work on New Testament texts and issues to find ways to integrate the challenges of critical reading with an appreciation of the contemporary significance of the Bible for theological thinking and the religious imagination.
The Revd Professor Richard Burridge's work on the biographical genre of the Gospels in comparison to Graeco-Roman literature has impacted significantly on how the Gospels are used within churches and wider society, nationally and internationally. Ideas emanating from this research — specifically through Burridge's commentary on John's Gospel and subsequent writings — have provided ways for the Anglican Communion across the globe to build relationships and live together through a period of deep disagreement and potential division, especially over women's leadership in the Anglican Church and homosexuality. This was particularly evident in both the run-up to and during the Lambeth Conference of 2008, and also in the course of the subsequent `Bible in the Life of the Church' project across the Anglican Communion worldwide. Furthermore, the impact of this research on Anglican relations with the Roman Catholic church was made clear by the announcement on 21 June 2013 that Burridge had been chosen as the first non-Catholic recipient of the prestigious Ratzinger Prize, viewed by the Vatican as `the Nobel Prize for Theology'.