Geoffrey Wainwright

Geoffrey Wainwright is a British Methodist theologian.

Born in Yorkshire, England, in 1939, Geoffrey Wainwright is an ordained minister of the British Methodist Church. He received his university education in Cambridge, Geneva, and Rome, and holds the Dr. Théol. from Geneva and the D.D. from Cambridge. He served as a circuit minister in Liverpool (1964-66) and then as a missionary teacher and pastor in Cameroon, West Africa (1967-73). Returning to England, he taught Scripture and theology at the Queen’s College, Birmingham (1973-79). In 1979 he moved to Union Theological Seminary, New York, where he became the Roosevelt Professor of Systematic Theology. Since 1983 he has taught at Duke Divinity School, a part of Duke University in North Carolina, where he occupies the Robert Earl Cushman chair of Christian Theology. Dr. Wainwright has held visiting professorships at the University of Notre Dame, the Gregorian University in Rome, and the United Faculty of Theology in Melbourne, Australia.

From 1976-1991 Dr. Wainwright was a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and chaired the final redaction of the Lima text on "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry" (1982). Since 1986 he has been co-chairman of the Joint Commission between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church. In 2004 he gave the opening address on behalf of "the ecclesial communities of the West" at the Roman symposium to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism.

Among Wainwright’s dozen books the most influential remains the classic Doxology: "The Praise of God in Worship, Doctrine and Life" (Oxford University Press, 1980; tenth impression 2006). His more recent books include "For Our Salvation: Two Approaches to the Work of Christ" (1997), "Worship with One Accord: Where Liturgy and Ecumenism Embrace" (1997), "Is the Reformation Over? Catholics and Protestants at the Turn of the Millennia" (which was the Père Marquette Lecture for 2000 [http://www.marquette.edu/mupress/perecomp.html] ), and an intellectual and spiritual biography of a father of the twentieth-century ecumenical Church, "Lesslie Newbigin: A Theological Life" (Oxford University Press, 2000). His "Eucharist and Eschatology" (1971) and "Christian Initiation" (1969) were re-issued in 2002 and 2003 respectively. With Karen Westerfield Tucker he edited "The Oxford History of Christian Worship" (2006). His latest book is "Embracing Purpose: Essays on God, the World and the Church" (2007).

Geoffrey Wainwright has served as president of the international "Societas Liturgica" (1983-85) as well as of the American Theological Society (1996-97). He was honored by the publication of "Ecumenical Theology in Worship, Doctrine, and Life: Essays Presented to Geoffrey Wainwright on his Sixtieth Birthday" (Oxford University Press, 1999). He was awarded the 2005 Johannes Quasten Medal by the Catholic University of America for "excellence in theological scholarship." He has lectured all around the globe, and his work has been received in many countries and languages.