Charles Read

Charles Read (BA, MPhil, PGCE) is an English pastor and theologian who has been visiting the USA for over 20 years, mainly to attend CBE events! Charles has two jobs  – he teaches Liturgy, Doctrine, Old Testament and Mission at the Church of England regional seminary, the Eastern Region Ministry Course (ERMC). He is also Director of Training for lay ministry in the Church of England Diocese of Norwich. He comes from the very centre of England, having been born in Birmingham but has studied in the north of England at Manchester, where he was a high school teacher and later a pastor. In 1999 he moved into theological seminary teaching at St. John’s College , Durham, in the northeast of England. In 2007  he moved to the east of England to be Vice Principal (Associate Dean) of the Diocese of Norwich training course. Since 2013 he has also taught for ERMC.

Charles has served in a wide variety of churches but mainly in inner urban areas. He has been a member of the Church of England governing body, General Synod where he was able to advocate successfully for women to be ordained as bishops. He is a longstanding campaigner for women’s ministry in his own church and is the lead staff member for safeguarding in ERMC. His MPhil was on the development of daily prayer services in the early centuries and his PhD (nearly finished!) is on gender inclusive language in Church of England worship. He has published widely, mainly on worship.

Charles is married and has two grown sons. His ERMC work takes him all over Europe but his favourite time in the USA was visiting the bat cave in LA used in the 1960s Batman TV series which he grew up watching!

Charles Read serves on CBE’s Board of Reference. 

CBE’s 2026 International Conference Speaking Sessions

Workshop | Friday, August 7 at 10:30 am | Location: Love B

Abusing God? (How) Do our beliefs about gender affect the safety of our churches? 

Track: Biblical Equality in Action

This workshop will draw on examples from the UK to open a discussion about whether what we believe about gender roles and about God has an impact on the culture and practice of our churches around the safeguarding of children, women, and vulnerable adults. By looking at another country and setting, we can reflect on our own situation. 

Workshop | Saturday, August 8 at 1:30 pm | Midway

Naming God 101 

Track: Going Deeper with Biblical Equality

We will look at the diversity of how God is named in Scripture and why we need to pay more attention to this in our churches—especially in areas like worship, pastoral care, and evangelism. We will examine whether God can be called “mother” as well as “father” and consider the theological issues this raises.