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Christina Beardsley

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Reverend Doctor
Christina Beardsley
Giving the Brenda Harrison Memorial Lecture in 2018
Personal life
Born1951 (age 73–74)
Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Alma materUniversity of Sussex
St John's College, Cambridge
Westcott House, Cambridge
University of Leeds
Occupationretired Anglican ordained priest and healthcare chaplain, theologian, researcher, writer, and advocate for transgender inclusion in the Church of England
Religious life
ReligionChurch of England
Ordination1979

Christina Beardsley (born 1951), also known as Tina, is an English retired Anglican priest and healthcare chaplain, theologian, researcher, writer, and advocate for transgender inclusion in the Church of England.

Biography

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Beardsley was born in 1951 in Huddersfield, West Riding of Yorkshire. She was educated at the University of Sussex, St. John’s College and the Anglican theological college Westcott House (both at the University of Cambridge) and at the University of Leeds.[1] She was ordained in 1979.[2][3] Beardsley worked as a parish priest in the Portsmouth diocese before moving to London.[1]

Beardsley is a transgender woman who began exploring her gender transition in 1999.[3] In 2000, she established the Clare Project, a transgender support group, in Brighton and Hove.[3]

From 2008 to 2016, Beardsley was Head of the Multi-faith Chaplaincy at the Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust Hospital in London.[1][4][5] Between 2006 and 2013 she was Changing Attitude England’s first transgender trustee.[1][6] She was also an advocate in the campaign for women to become bishops in the Church on England, and was vocal in her opposition to the General Synod’s 2012 vote denying this, as well as the church's exemption from equality legislation.[7]

From August 2017, Beardsley was one of the five original consultants in the House of Bishops' (the religious governing assembly of the Church of England)'s "Living in Love and Faith" (LLF) project on human identity, sexuality, and marriage.[8] She resigned in 2019 over "remarks made about an LGBTI+ contact."[9][10][11] She has continued to campaign for the inclusion of transgender and non-binary people in similar projects and to influence the Church of England's policy and practice in relation to transgender and non-binary people.[12][13][14] She has also submitted written evidence to parliamentary committees[15] and protested with Peter Tatchell and Davis Mac-Iyalla over the "victimising, intimidating and bullying" of the gay Anglican priest Canon Jeremy Pemberton in 2014.[16][17]

Beardsley has published several articles and books,[18] has participated in queer theology panel discussions[19][20] and has spoken at the Cambridge Festival of Ideas.[21] She has been interviewed on how her personal experience of being Christian and transgender intersect for the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES),[22] on Soho Radio,[23] and on the Evolving Faith podcast.[24] She has also been interviewed for the 40th birthday of the OneBodyOneFaith (previously the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement) in 2016, with the project archive held at the London School of Economics Library.[25]

As of 2025, Beardsley is retired and assists in London parishes.[26]

Publications

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Articles

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  • Taking Issue The Transsexual Hiatus in Some Issues in Human Sexuality, Theology, Vol. 108, Issue 845. (2005)[27][28]
  • The Transsexual Person Is My Neighbour: Pastoral Guidelines for Christian Clergy, Pastors and Congregations (with an Appendix on Intersex by Michelle O'Brien) (2007)[29]
  • Love is a Many Gendered Thing: Gender Roles, Relationships and Trans People, Modern Believing, Vol. 55, Issue 2. (2014)[30]

Book review

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  • Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry, Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy, Vol 10, Issue 1. (2007)[31]

Books

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  • Unutterable Love: The Passionate Life and Preaching of F. W. Robertson (2009)[32]
  • This is My Body: hearing the theology of transgender Christians, co-written with Michelle O’Brien (2016)[33][34][35]
  • Transfaith: a Transgender Pastoral Resource, Includes Bible Studies and Liturgies, co-written with Chris Dowd and Justin Edward Tanis (2018)[36][37]
  • Trans Affirming Churches: How to Celebrate Gender-Variant People and Their Loved Ones, co-written with Chris Dowd with foreword by Susannah Cornwall (2020)[1][37]
  • Theology and Human Flourishing, Essays in Honour of Elizabeth Baxter, contributor (2024)[38]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Revd Dr Christina Beardsley". Gathering Voices. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  2. ^ "The Revd Christina Beardsley". Crockford's Clerical Directory. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  3. ^ a b c Burns, Christine (25 January 2018). "A Vicar's Story". Trans Britain: Our Journey from the Shadows. Unbound Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78352-470-9.
  4. ^ Connell, Sharon; Beardsley, Christina (16 December 2014). "'Hospitality of the Heart – Hospitality for the Human Spirit': How Healthcare Chaplains can Discover, Create and Offer Spaces for Spiritual Care in the Hospital Setting". Health and Social Care Chaplaincy. 2 (1): 65–78. doi:10.1558/hscc.v2i1.65. ISSN 2051-5561. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  5. ^ Beardsley, Christina (1 February 2009). "'In need of further tuning': using a US patient satisfaction with chaplaincy instrument in a UK multi-faith setting, including the bereaved". Clinical Medicine. 9 (1): 53–58. doi:10.7861/clinmedicine.9-1-53. ISSN 1470-2118. PMC 5922636.
  6. ^ "Name Change Liturgies and Trans People: a Church of England Perspective". TransEpiscopal. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  7. ^ "Pastoral Fallout: a Trans Perspective on Women Bishops". TransEpiscopal. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  8. ^ "Living in Love & Faith (LLF) to reconsider gender identity and transition". Unadulterated Love. 20 May 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  9. ^ Handley, Paul (1 February 2019). "House of Bishops' sexuality project loses transgender member". Church Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  10. ^ "Dr Christina Beardsley: Why I left the Bishops' sexuality project". Church Times. 1 February 2019. Archived from the original on 19 May 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  11. ^ "Dr Christina Beardsley: Why I left the Bishops' sexuality project". The Campaign For Equal Marriage in the Church of England. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Trans leaders ask Next Steps Group chair to ensure trans membership on new working group". Unadulterated Love. 24 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  13. ^ Sarmiento, Simon (2 June 2023). "Trans People and LLF". Thinking Anglicans. Archived from the original on 15 May 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  14. ^ Beardsley, Christina (2021). "'On Consulting the Faithful' in Matters of Human Identity, Sexuality and Gender". Modern Believing. 62 (1): 37–47. doi:10.3828/mb.2021.4.
  15. ^ "Written evidence submitted by The Revd Dr Christina Beardsley [GRA0920]". UK Parliament. November 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  16. ^ Gledhill, Ruth (8 October 2014). "Protesters confront John Sentamu over Jeremy Pemberton case". Christian Today. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Archbishop of York beset by gay protesters". Peter Tatchell Foundation. 7 October 2014. Archived from the original on 16 January 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  18. ^ St Reynolds, Shane (19 April 2025). Faithfulness in Service: The Evolution of Anglican Doctrine and Civil Rights in Australia: A Legal and Theological Analysis of the Faithfulness in Service Code. Saint Publishing Australia. p. 45. ISBN 979-8-3163-3705-7.
  19. ^ St James's Church Piccadilly (14 August 2021). Queer Theology Panel Discussion. Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025 – via YouTube.
  20. ^ Premier Unbelievable? (5 February 2021). Transgender people and the church: Preston Sprinkle & Christina Beardsley. Archived from the original on 19 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025 – via YouTube.
  21. ^ "Festival explores the impact of religion and faith". Cambridge Network. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  22. ^ "Personal experience of Revd Dr Christina Beardsley". Gender Identity Research & Education Society. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  23. ^ "LGBT+ History Month Show (01/02/2025)". Soho Radio. 1 February 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  24. ^ "Evolving Faith: Ep. 18 The Wilderness, Spiritual Gifts, and Gender-Expansive Christians". Evolving Faith. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  25. ^ "Christians Voices Coming Out at the LSE". OneBodyOneFaith. Archived from the original on 16 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  26. ^ Theology and Human Flourishing: Essays in Honour of Elizabeth Baxter. Sacristy Press. Archived from the original on 25 April 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  27. ^ Beardsley, Christina (1 September 2005). "Taking Issue The Transsexual Hiatus in Some Issues in Human Sexuality1". Theology. 108 (845): 338–346. doi:10.1177/0040571X0510800504. ISSN 0040-571X.
  28. ^ Congdon, David W. (22 February 2024). Who Is a True Christian?: Contesting Religious Identity in American Culture. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-42903-0.
  29. ^ Beardsley, Rev Dr Christina (21 May 2007). The Transsexual Person Is My Neighbour: Pastoral Guidelines for Christian Clergy, Pastors and Congregations (PDF). Sibyls.
  30. ^ Beardsley, Christina (2014). "Love is a Many Gendered Thing: Gender Roles, Relationships and Trans People". Modern Believing. 55 (2): 163–177. doi:10.3828/mb.2014.18.
  31. ^ Beardsley, Christina (7 April 2007). "Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry Paver J. E. ISBN 0-7546-5754-X Ashgate". Health and Social Care Chaplaincy. 10 (1): 37–37. doi:10.1558/hscc.v10i1.37. ISSN 2051-5561.
  32. ^ Chapman, Mark (1 October 2011). "Review of Unutterable Love: The Passionate Life and Preaching of F. W. Robertson. By CHRISTINA BEARDSLEY". The Journal of Theological Studies. 62 (2): 801–803. doi:10.1093/jts/flr091. ISSN 0022-5185.
  33. ^ This is my body: hearing the theology of transgender Christians. London: Darton, Longman & Todd. 2016. ISBN 978-0-232-53206-7.
  34. ^ Hayton, S. J. (22 November 2020). "This Is My Body". Transforming Ministry Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 April 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  35. ^ Gill, Robin (27 May 2016). "Scarred — and not by surgery". Church Times. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  36. ^ Turner, Victoria (28 February 2022). Young, Woke and Christian: Words from a Missing Generation. SCM Press. ISBN 978-0-334-06153-3.
  37. ^ a b Shurville, Derrie (14 November 2022). "Thought for the Week - Transformation, Lament and Glory". SJP. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  38. ^ "Book review: Theology and Human Flourishing: Essays in honour of Elizabeth Baxter, edited by Helen Leathard". Church Times. 9 May 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
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