ADM Fellowships Program
ADM Fellowships Program
ADM Fellowships provides 6–month or 1–year Fellowships for Christian women to complete a focused project at the ADM office in Sydney and pursue avenues to engage the public with their work. Fellows are provided with office space and a bursary, as well as tailored professional development opportunities.
As we warmly welcome our 2024 ADM Fellows in the ADM space, it is also time for our 2023 Fellows to pack their bags and say farewell. Their Fellowships have come to an end, and they’re leaving ADM to make room for our 2024 Fellows. Or are they?
ADM is delighted to introduce our 8th cohort of Fellows, with five women appointed to complete major projects that engage our sceptical and hurting world with the gospel.
Birth has always been a big part of Jodie McIver’s life. When she was a child, she was with her parents in the birthing suite as her mother gave birth to her brother Tim, and once again a few years later for the birth of her sister Tarn. While many children may be horrified and scared by the process of birth, for young Jodie, watching her siblings being born was a positive and encouraging experience that sparked a lifelong interest in pregnancy, birth and babies - and ultimately inspired her new book, written with the support of an ADM Fellowship.
Marlies Hartkamp came to faith in Jesus as a child and, like many, was challenged to own her faith for herself at university, in her home country of the Netherlands. Now she’s a 2022 ADM Fellow, working on a PhD in disability theology and hoping to inspire the Church to greater inclusivity.
ADM is delighted to introduce our 7th cohort of Fellows, with five women appointed to complete major projects that engage our sceptical and hurting world with the gospel.
ADM is pleased to announce that five women have been awarded a 2022 ADM Fellowship in our sixth annual Fellowships cohort.
A conversation about mental health and wellbeing, how the gospel speaks into this space and provides hope, as we seek to care for each other well. With Rev. Jo Gibbs, CEO of ADM; Rev. Dr Keith Condie, Co-Director of the Mental Health and Pastoral Care Institute, at Mary Andrews College; and Rev. Lily Strachan, 2021 ADM Fellow.
The ADM Fellowships program aims to raise up Christian women to engage a sceptical and hurting world with the good news of Jesus, as they serve in our churches, communities, nation and world. It gives Christian women the time, space, finance and collegial support to complete a major project and pursue avenues to engage the public with their work.
Q&A with Amanda Mason, 2020 ADM Senior Fellow
Amanda Mason is an Evangelist and Community Chaplain with the Sydney Anglican Department of Evangelism and New Churches. During her Fellowship at ADM this year, she’s creating accessible resources to equip Australian churches in discipling Buddhist-background believers and mobilise them to reach their families and social networks.
In a society that seems increasingly polarised, can understanding history play a role in shaping our future? Which stories of our shared past could enhance our current civic discourse? Dr Meredith Lake, 2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow, award-winning historian and ABC Radio National host explores these questions in ADM’s 2018 Annual Public Lecture.
Four of ADM’s 2018 Fellows reflect on their progress over the past six months. Read what they’ve been doing, how ADM has supported them, and their plans for the next steps in their projects…
“…Yorta Yorta man William Cooper grew up in a world shaped by these realities, and spent decades of his adult life challenging its injustice.” In this extract from 2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow, Meredith Lake’s book, ‘The Bible in Australia: A cultural history’, we hear about the life and work of William Cooper: a Yorta Yorta man, a Christian, and a man who fought injustice and was central to the founding of NAIDOC week…
The Bible in Australia – a new book by 2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow Dr Meredith Lake – is fast becoming an iconic reference point in the Australian cultural landscape – not only among the church but in far wider circles. Meredith shares about the experience of launching her book and the public conversations it is opening up …
ADM Fellowship awardee Dr Laura Rademaker has been appointed to a prestigious position at the Australian National University, researching Australia’s deep human past.
What a privilege it was to invest in five amazing Christian women and their projects this summer! Our Summer Fellows share about their experience at ADM and their accomplishments over the month of January...
It’s been an incredible journey for our first cohort of Fellows, with their time at ADM coming to an end on 31 January. We caught up with them in the final month of their fellowship to ask about the experience and the inspiring projects they have created...
As Senior Research Fellow, Dr Alix Beeston, prepares for a new position as Lecturer in modern and contemporary literature at Cardiff University in Wales (starting 16 October 2017), she shares how an ADM Fellowship paved the way for her to make a Kingdom impact as a Christian academic.
This year's ADM Visiting Fellow is New York writer, critic and scholar Alissa Wilkinson and ADM has a group of fantastic events scheduled for her visit from 9 – 14 October.
It’s been an exciting month for our Creative Fellow, Jo Chew, as the first art exhibition in her Fellowship draws to a close this week. Jo shares about her Fellowship journey so far, and the experience of her ‘Numbering Stars’ exhibition …
Does the Bible have a place in Australian culture? ADM Senior Research Fellow Dr Meredith Lake gives us a taste of this conversation before she speaks at a sold-out panel discussion at the Sydney Writer’s Festival later this month.
It’s an action-packed month for our Fellows: appearances at the Sydney Writer’s Festival, books being published and the first art exhibition this year …
Alissa Wilkinson is a staff writer and critic at Vox.com, where she covers film, culture, and sometimes religion, and an associate professor of English and humanities at The King's College in New York City, where she teaches courses on criticism and cultural theory.
2023 ADM Senior Fellow Zoe Earnshaw shares about brand-new YouTube channel, Real Life Bible, a Bible-teaching platform for Christian women.
2023 Senior Fellow Rachel Ciano reviews Nick Tucker’s new book, ‘12 Things God Can’t Do… And How They Can Help You Sleep at Night’.
2020 ADM Senior Fellow Amanda Mason has reviewed her top 5 books to help Christians engage with a Buddhist worldview for Christianity Today.
2021 ADM Fellow Jodie McIver joined 2017 Senior Research Fellow Dr. Meredith Lake on ABC’s Soul Search, to discuss Christian perspectives on pregnancy and birth.
2019 ADM Senior Research Fellow Rev. Dr Dani Treweek speaks with Eternity News about her new book The Meaning of Singleness: Retrieving an Eschatological Vision for the Contemporary Church.
Read more here.
2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow Dr. Louise Gosbell joins Rev. Professor John Swinton on ABC’s Soul Search to explore what disability theology can bring to our understanding of the resurrection. Their conversation is presented by 2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow Dr Meredith Lake.
Keep listening here.
2021 ADM Fellow Rev. Lily Strachan shares her experience of living with bipolar and helps other to better understand and support those living with mental illness, across two articles for the Mental Health and Pastoral Care Institute.
Read more here.
2017 ADM Creative Fellow Jo Chew has won the 2023 John Glover Art Prize for her landscape painting ‘Tender’.
2018 ADM Senior Research Fellow Rev. Dr Kirsten Birkett joins The Church Society podcast to explore the history and use of journalling as Christians. She also discusses her new book Imperfect Reflections: The Art of Christian Journalling.
2021 ADM Fellow Jodie McIver joins the More Like Him podcast to share about what a Christian perspective can bring to experiences of pregnancy and giving birth.
2022 ADM Fellow Penny Reeve writes about her research into spirituality and teenagers, and considers how Australian writer Rosanne Hawke uses young adult fiction to explore doubt, faith and questions of belief.
2022 ADM Senior Fellow Dr Laurel Moffatt launches a new podcast on the Undeceptions network - Small Wonders.
2022 ADM Senior Fellow Marlies Hartkamp highlights the importance of welcoming people with disabilities in our churches, and offers three small ways for churches to get started.
2022 ADM Senior Fellow Dr Katrina Clifford was interviewed for International Women’s Day, and shares about her work on changing the problematic culture in some university residential colleges, and growing leadership opportunities for young women.
2020 ADM Senior Fellow Amanda Mason spoke with Sydney Anglicans about how oral-based Bible studies can help people from diverse backgrounds access God’s word in community with other Christians.
2021 ADM Senior Fellow Stephanie Kate Judd speaks with Eternity News about her upcoming Annual Public Lecture, and how accepting our limitations can help us to engage with the challenges we face in new ways.
2020 ADM Senior Research Fellow Katie Tunks Leach shares her research on pastoral and spiritual care provided by chaplains to the ambulance service. She continues to work with both paramedics and chaplains to understand how to best ‘care for the carers’ in this challenging profession.
2021 ADM Senior Fellow Stephanie Kate Judd shares her personal experiences of coping with a major life upheaval in the early days of the COVID-19, and reminds us that “it is through hardship, not ease, that we become brighter versions of ourselves.”
2019 ADM Senior Research Fellow Rev. Dr Dani Treweek asks how we can help to look after the mental well-being of single person households (1 in 5 of all Sydney households) during lockdowns, and argues that it involves recognising a genuine breadth of relationships as being wonderfully essential to life.
2020 ADM Summer Fellow Susy Lee spent her time at ADM working on a project titled ‘Raising kids who care: Investing in families for the Kingdom of God’. That project has turned into a published book that resources parents with research and a vision for better ways to ensure happy kids through gratitude, caring and contribution.
2021 ADM Senior Fellow Stephanie Kate Judd joins John Dickson’s Undeceptions podcast and tackles the topics of sexism, anger and how Jesus makes all the difference for her.
Sydney Anglican’s Judy Adamson spoke to four writers who attend Sydney Anglican churches, including 2020 ADM Senior Creative Fellow Claire Zorn. They share their perspectives on why they write and the impact their faith has on their work.
2020 ADM Senior Research Fellow, Amanda Mason, shares five helpful things for Christians to consider about Southeast Asian culture before they jump into sharing their faith.
2020 ADM Senior Creative Fellow, Claire Zorn writes for ABC’s Religion & Ethics on why reading fiction is an exercise in empathy and the need for boys and men to imagine, so they can understand and drive change themselves.
2019 ADM Senior Research Fellow, Rev. Dani Treweek, reflects on singleness, celibacy and why celibacy is not coloured “with golds and silvers and otherworldly tones”, but is simply “a life of grace-enabled, Godly obedience.”
2018 ADM Senior Research Fellow, Monica Cook, speaks with Dominic Steele on ‘The Pastors Heart’, about how pastors might do a better job in talking about sex.
In the wake of the final report of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, 2021 ADM Senior Fellow Stephanie Kate Judd looks back at her own family’s experiences of ageing and asks if we have diminished or devalued what it is to be human in later life.
In reflecting on Disney's latest release "Raya and the Last Dragon", 2020 ADM Senior Fellow Amanda Mason asks "What could be Australian churches’ collective love letter to the Southeast Asians among us?"
Could Australian Christian communities do as Disney did?
Rev. Craig Roberts, CEO of Youthworks, gives an overview of 2021 ADM Senior Research Fellow, Dr Ruth Lukabyo’s, 2020 monograph, “From a Ministry for Youth to a Ministry of Youth: Aspects of Protestant Youth Ministry in Sydney 1930–1959”.
How can stories help us – and help young people – navigate a sometimes lonely world?
As part of RN's Big Weekend of Books, award-winning YA author and 2020 ADM Senior Creative Fellow, Claire Zorn, joins Dr Meredith Lake, 2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow, to discuss writing, faith, the ethics of imagination, and her own sometimes difficult experience of learning to find her place in the world.
Current and past ADM Fellows have released a number of books into the world! Join us in celebrating each of our authors as they continue to engage our world with the Gospel:
2018 Senior Research Fellow Rev. Dr Kirsten Birkett, Christian Focus Publications
2021 Fellow Jodie McIver, Youthworks Media
2019 Senior Research Fellow Dr Roberta Kwan, Edinburgh University Press
2023 Senior Fellow Rachel Ciano (with Ian J Maddock), Christian Focus Publications
2019 Senior Research Fellow Rev. Dr Dani Treweek, InterVarsity Press
2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow, Dr Meredith Lake, New South Books
2020 ADM Senior Creative Fellow Claire Zorn, University of Queensland Press
2020 ADM Summer Fellow Susy Lee, 598press
2020 ADM Senior Research Fellow Robyn Wrigley-Carr, SPCK Publishing
2020 ADM Senior Research Fellow Robyn Wrigley-Carr, SPCK Publishing
“There is a dearth of local Christian role models of Southeast Asian Buddhist cultural background. I have intentionally sought out ways to be equipped for this ministry. Through an ADM Senior Fellowship, I am seeking a sense of community, empowerment as a woman in ministry, professional development and to be financially released for this project”
– Amanda Mason, 2020 ADM Senior Fellow
“The Fellowship was a game-changer for me. It put around me the resources I needed to do my best work, to finish the book, and I think, to grow as a person who has something to say.”
– Dr Meredith Lake, 2017 ADM Senior Research Fellow
“Bringing Forth Life would not have come into existence without Anglican Deaconess Ministries and their fellowships program. Alongside the practical support and community they provided, having someone external believe in my idea was what really made the book happen.”
- Jodie McIver, 2021 ADM Fellow
“I have appreciated the time to publish more papers, which adds to my ability to contribute in the field. This has also been a valuable time for thinking through future avenues. I have new impetus to continue writing and publishing.”
– Rev. Dr Kirsten Birkett, 2018 ADM Senior Research Fellow
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to have been an ADM Senior Research Fellow. My ministry to both single Christians themselves, and the wider Christian community on this topic is all the richer for it. I’d love to see the Fellowships Program continue to be a blessing to other Christian women involved in various forms of vocational, word-based ministry and theological research.”
– Rev. Dr Dani Treweek, 2019 ADM Senior Research Fellow
“The ADM Fellowship came at a perfect time in order to propel and equip me to meet the challenges of providing an Asian Australian voice that points to Jesus. Now I feel like I’m getting a seat at the table, and gatekeepers are open to hearing that my work could help them. I’m so thankful for where God has put me now, and ADM played an instrumental role in getting me there.”
– Grace Lung, 2019 ADM Summer Fellow
2024 ADM Fellows
2024 ADM Fellows
ADM Senior Fellow
Fellowship project: Protestant Civil Religion and the English Commonwealth, 1520–1640
Esther Counsell is a historian specialising in early modern British history. She is currently preparing her PhD for submission at the University of Cambridge, and also holds an MPhil in Early Modern History (Trinity College, Cambridge). Esther has presented her work at numerous academic conferences, and is currently a casual academic at the University of Western Sydney.
Esther will use her ADM Fellowship to complete a book and several articles based on her PhD research, which focuses on reformed Protestant ecclesiology and ideas of civil religion in post-Reformation England.Her research highlights the integral role of Christian religion, and specifically reformed Protestant thought, in the development of the modern state - particularly through the establishment of principles with deeply biblical origins such as the rule of law, constitutional monarchy, and freedom of conscience. In looking at how reformed Protestant models of civil religion uniquely shaped the English commonwealth, Esther’s work also aims to engage a new generation of Christians to learn from their reformed Protestant heritage in navigating the intersections of church and state.
ADM Fellow
Fellowship project: A Pastoral and Theological Exploration of Embodiment - How the gospel teaches us to see the beauty and value of our bodies
Rev. Ruth Schroeter is a deacon with the Anglican Church of Sydney with extensive pastoral experience, most recently serving as an Associate Minister at St Andrew’s Cathedral. She holds a Bachelor of Theology and Certificate of Clinical Pastoral Education from Moore Theological College. Ruth is also an experienced dancer, and has taught dance for many years.
Ruth will use her ADM Fellowship project to research and write on the topic of embodiment - exploring what it means for us to be body, mind and spirit. Drawing on her personal history and ministry experience, Ruth will present a theology of embodiment with a strongly pastoral focus. Looking to Jesus – the most profound expression of embodiment, as God entered His world in human form – Ruth’s project explores historical, cultural, and religious views that shape how we think about ourselves as physical beings, and considers how these ideas might better align with how the Bible presents God’s view of us as embodied beings.
ADM Fellow
Fellowship project: A Different Normal: Building a Gospel-Shaped Family with Neurodivergent Children
Kate Morris is a child educator specialising in supporting gifted students. She is currently completing a Grad. Cert. in Autism Studies (University of Wollongong) and holds a B. Arts/Education specialising in Gifted Education (UNSW) and a Dip. Bible and Missions (Moore Theological College). Kate has engaged in long term cross-cultural mission in France with CMS, and is passionate about helping Christians understand and embrace neurological differences.
Kate will use her ADM Fellowship to write a book that engages Christian parents of neurodivergent children in a Biblically framed conversation about neurodiversity and parenting. Drawing on both her professional and personal experiences of parenting neurodiverse children, as well as the perspectives of other neurodivergent Christians, Kate will bring distinctly Christian approaches to neurodivergence and to parenting neurodivergent children.
ADM Senior Fellow
Fellowship project: Keeping House – A Provocation
Dr Justine Toh is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity (CPX), where she writes about popular culture, social trends, contemporary society, religion, and spirituality. Justine holds a PhD in Cultural Studies (Macquarie University), and her work has been published in The Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Online, ABC Religion & Ethics, The Canberra Times, The Guardian, and more.
Justine will use her ADM Fellowship to write a book exploring a distinctly Christian vision of care. Through the metaphor of “keeping house” – or the work of attending to the flourishing of all the members of all the “houses” we inhabit, she will explore how the work of care frequently goes unacknowledged, and yet remains essential to our individual and communal flourishing.
ADM Senior Fellow
Fellowship project: Mental Health and Ministry Talks
Miriam is an accredited mental health social worker, counsellor and supervisor. She holds a B. Arts/B. Social Work (University of Sydney), M. Divinity (SMBC), and a M. Clinical Counselling (ACU) and currently works as a counsellor. Miriam also has extensive cross-cultural experience, and has worked in counselling and chaplaincy across a range of professional contexts.
Miriam will use her ADM Fellowship to prepare a series of workshops to equip pastoral caregivers and ministry staff to better serve the mental health needs of their church communities. In doing this, Miriam brings her experience working in the intersection of psychology, counselling, and theology to provide practical, evidence-based tools to equip Christian communities in responding to mental health challenges.
Sarah is a Research Professor in the History of Christianity at Regent College Vancouver, a Research Associate at St Benet’s Hall Oxford, and one of the world’s leading experts on the history of Christianity.
Sarah taught a two-part masterclass at ADM’s 2020 School of Theology, Culture & Public Engagement: ‘Prayer as Political Resistance: The Radical Theology of First Wave Feminism’. She was also a panellist at the STCPE Opening reception event on ‘Faith in Action: Past, Present and Future’ and she delivered the Closing reception keynote address, entitled: ‘Prayer, Agency and Cultural Transformation’.
Karen is a Professor of Counselling and Psychology and Director of the Hamilton Counselling Program at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. She is author of “Preventing Suicide: A Handbook for Pastors, Chaplains and Pastoral Counsellors” (IVP).
Karen taught two masterclasses at the ADM’s 2020 School of Theology, Culture & Public Engagement: one on suicide prevention in faith communities and another on the same topic aimed specifically at clergy and ministry workers with special attention to topics such as suicide and preaching.
Michaela is Senior Director of the De Pree Centre for Leadership at Fuller Seminary, where she is also Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology and Leadership. She is an entrepreneur who has started several businesses, most notably, she is co-founder and CEO of Long Winter Media.
Michaela visited ADM in September 2019. She was the keynote speaker at the 2019 ADM Annual Funding Event and Evening Showcase event. She also taught an Engage Masterclass for women on innovation, empathy and imagination, as well as meeting with the 2019 ADM Fellows and women in our 2019 Incubator program.
ADM established its Fellowships Program in 2016 and appointed its first cohort of ADM Fellows in 2017. ADM has so far seen 23 Fellows through its year-long program, with 5 current 2023 Fellows.
The Fellowships Program reflects ADM’s commitment to see women serve Christ and his Church by supporting them to undertake high-quality major projects which give them credibility in their area and open up further opportunities for them to contribute to serving God’s people and engaging a sceptical and hurting world with the good news of Jesus.
At present, many Christian women who have a desire to make a significant contribution to the Church and its witness have limited access to support and funding that would allow them the time, space and training to do this. As a result, Christian women at the early-mid career stage can end up needing to leave these projects aside for financial, family and other reasons. Sadly, this can mean the Church too often misses out on the particular contributions women might make to its ministry and mission.
The ADM Fellowships Program was developed to address this need and to expand the capacity of Christian women to serve Christ in the church, the community and the world. In creating the program, we drew on best-practice models of early-mid career Fellowships, which are used extensively in a wide variety of contexts from universities and theological colleges through to government, philanthropic foundations and even banks.
ADM Fellowships provide 6-month or 1-year Fellowships to Christian women to complete a focused project at the ADM office and engage the public with their work. The maximum bursary for ADM Fellows who undertake their project 5 days per week for one year is $60,000, and for ADM Senior Fellows, $80,000. To suit many women’s needs for flexible work, Fellowships can also be held ‘part-time’ (2,3 or 4 days per week, bursary pro rata).
In addition, ADM Fellows are provided with tailored professional development opportunities in project management and Christian public engagement, as well as avenues to connect with mentors and networks. ADM Fellows also become part of a growing Fellows Alumni network, providing ongoing support and encouragement.
Enable the completion of high-quality major projects by Christian women that will give them credibility in their field and set them up for further opportunities to serve Christ and his Church, particularly in engaging a sceptical and hurting world with the good news of Jesus;
Train and equip Christian women to share their contributions with wider public audiences, through providing integrated theological and professional development in a supportive Christian environment;
Progress Christian women at the early-mid vocational stage towards sustainable pathways to continue their work, and promote the creation of more pathways for Christian women and girls to serve Christ in the church, the community and the world.
ADM began offering its Fellowships and Senior Fellowships in 2017. To date, ADM has hosted six year-long cohorts of Fellows (2017-2022), with the seventh cohort (2023) having begun on February 1. Each cohort has had 4-5 Fellows, with a total of 35 Fellows so far. (Note, however, that many of our year-long Fellows took up ‘part-time’ Fellowships of 2, 3 or 4 days per week). ADM has also hosted three cohorts of Summer Fellows (2018, 2019 and 2020), with a total of 11 Summer Fellows. ADM offers an International Visiting Fellowship each year by invitation, sometimes connected with the Annual Public Lecture or other major event.
Our history, her story: Rachel Ciano
The Church suffers when women’s stories, perspectives and insights are missed. But sadly, women’s stories are often hidden from history, and historically women haven’t been given the same opportunities to study theology in depth. Historian, theologian, 2023 ADM Fellow and new Dean of Academic Development at Mary Andrews College, Rachel Ciano, is trying to do something about that, with her passions for history, theology and teaching entwined.