Why science and faith ‘should strengthen each other’

Why science and faith ‘should strengthen each other’

A couple from a West Midlands church are coming to CRE National next week to try and make science and the Bible more understandable to Christians.

Matthew and Davinder Gardner – both health care scientists – will launch The Faith Experiment, a series of seven interactive family-friendly workshops exploring different topics at the interface of science and faith. 

Matthew explained: ‘Because of the Covid-19 lockdown we were not able to take the programme forward in the way we’d hoped, but we were recently awarded £16,700 from the ECLAS Project to fund a post-Covid relaunch event. This will enable us to go ahead and encourage churches to call us in to help members explore the relationship between science and faith. They do not have to be opposed to each other. We want to prove it by running up to seven sessions to break down the misconceptions and encourage curiosity.’

While the seven sessions have been tested at the couple’s church, New Hope Baptist Church, Coseley, they can also be covered in one day – to save the couple having to travel too far from their base.

Faith in Science C.I.C., based at New Hope Baptist Church, was awarded £16,700 to explore the relationship between science and faith through the church engagement programme Scientists in Congregations, which is run by Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS). 

Matthew, 32, said: ‘In each workshop we use games and demonstrations alongside a short talk to help summarise the arguments, explore ways in which agreement can be found and finally provide enough information for participants to make up their own mind and/ or defend their belief in a positive and constructive way.

‘We want to help Christians feel confident and knowledgeable engaging in conversations about faith and ready if challenged to defend their faith when presented with an argument against it citing science. And we want non-Christians to open their minds to the truth that science and faith need not be in conflict and should indeed strengthen each other, and to encourage exploration of faith.’

Matthew and Davinder will bring their own experiences and perspectives of using science to help diagnose and treat disease to highlight how health care science, in particular, can be an area where science and faith exist in harmony.

• Faith in Science are on stand A7 at CRE National 2021

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