PhD Survey Invitation: Women’s Experiences of Liturgy After Trauma

Naomi Browell, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow, is conducting a study on women’s experiences of liturgy after experiencing gender-based violence. The project has full ethical approval and invites current or former female members of the Scottish Episcopal Church who are victim-survivors of gender-based violence to participate.
 
Participants will be asked to complete a brief survey regarding their experience of SEC liturgy and worship. It’s important to note that the survey addresses some topics that may be distressing, but that it does not require sharing personal experiences of gender-based violence.
 
The survey will be accessible until 31 August, 2023. Learn more and participate in the survey here.

Naomi writes: “Hello, I’m Naomi Browell, a PhD student at the University of Glasgow. I began studying the liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal Church a few years ago. I found my experience of the liturgy was an uncomfortable one, and I wanted to learn more about it. I went back to University to complete a research Masters. For my Masters, I analysed prayers from Scottish Liturgy 1982 (the most recent liturgy at the time) from a textual, theoretical perspective. After finishing my Masters, however, I realised that I wanted to look at the liturgy from a more practical perspective and that this would include hearing about the experiences of others.

I have always had a keen interest in supporting women. Particularly after the #metoo movement, I have wanted to highlight the experiences of women who have been subjected to sexual violence. The majority of worshippers in the Scottish Episcopal Church are women, and sadly one in three women will have experienced some form of gender-based violence. My PhD project, therefore, is looking at women’s experience of the Scottish Episcopal liturgy after sexual violence, asking whether women find liturgical experiences sustaining or draining after sexual violence.”