John M. Usher

BA Hons. (University of York)

MA (Bangor University/Regents Theological College)

PhD (University of Birmingham)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Charismatic expressions of spirituality throughout Church history and particulalry the development of Pentecostalism (especially in Britain and China); Preconstitutional Pentecostalism; Anglican-Pentecostalism (Protocharismaticism) and Evangelicalism; Cecil Henry Polhill (the Cambridge Seven) and the digital text editing of archival sources. I also have an active side interest in evidential Christian Apologetics.

I am currently working on a biography of the important Pentecostal-Anglican pioneer, missionary and philanthropist Cecil Henry Polhill (1860-1938). In addition I continue to edit and develop the Polhill Collection Online. This is a unique digital archive based on the private collection of Cecil Henry Polhill. It includes many hundreds of letters, principally from mainland China, with some from the most influential figures in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Evangelicalism; financial records (including detailed lists of donations to the Pentecostal movement and other organisations); photos (several from China and India); unpublished memoir manuscripts and various ephemera. 

In 2014 I was the Principal Investigator for the CLAD (Centre for Learning and Academic Development) funded Theology Experience Conference, at the Univeristy of Birmingham. The conference was designed for local sixth form students to discover the many and varied uses of a degree in Theology and Religion. 

I have taught Church history ('Navigating Church History') to first year Ministerial Theology students since 2012. The module is also available through the Theology for Everyone initiative.

I was born in Scotland but have lived in England for most of my life. Between 2003-2006, I read Applied Social Science in the department of Social Policy at the University of York. After graduating I joined the staff of a vibrant, international and student-orientated Pentecostal church. During this time I read for an MA in Theology (part-time) with a focus on Pentecostal and Charismatic spirituality. I began pursuing doctoral research (full-time) in the Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies at the University of Birmingham in 2012. After graduating with a PhD in Theology and Religion, in 2015, I was made an Honorary Research Fellow of the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion. I have been a visiting lecturer of Church history ('Navigating Church History'), on the popular Ministerial Theology programme (FdA), at the University of Roehampton since the module's inception. In 2017 I became a Research Fellow at Roehampton.

• Honorary Fellow of the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham.
• Steering Group member for the Pentecostal Network, University of Roehampton.
• Committee Member of the Christianity and History Forum.

I am aslo a member of:

• The Ecclesiastical History Society.
• The Research Group for Ministerial Theology, University of Roehampton.
• The Centre for Pentecostal and Charismatic Research, University of Birmingham.
• The European Pentecostal Theological Association.
• GloPent.
• The Archives and Records Association.

Theology for Everyone