Dr John Binns

John has combined research and writing with ministry as a priest in the church of England. He was parish priest of Great St Mary’s the University Church Cambridge for 23 years, where he provided care and support for researchers in the university as well as developing the life of the church in central Cambridge. Since a six month period studying in the Serbian Orthodox Theological Faculty of Belgrade University in 1974, he has been involved in various kinds of ecumenical work and research in the field of east-west church relations. He has visited and lectured in several Orthodox countries including Israel/Palestine, Russia and Romania. He was a founding director of the Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies in Cambridge where he remains a Visiting Professor. In addition he is chair of trustees of Partners for Change Ethiopia and the Aradin trust supporting churches in Iraq. His publications include an Introduction to the Christian Orthodox Churches (Cambridge University Press 2002) and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church a History (I B Tauris 2017).

John’s research interest is the life and teaching of the Orthodox Churches of the Christian East. He is continuing his work on the Christian traditions of Ethiopia, and is especially committed to understanding the unique character of this traditional African church. He is also writing a history of Orthodox monastic life which will examine the diverse origins of Christian monastic life across the whole Christian East, and show how it has influenced the life of the various churches.