Home

I have a PhD in dramatic theology and spend my time exploring the meanings of stories and texts, seeking wisdom in unexpected places, learning to ask better questions, facilitating learning spaces, labouring over my words, taking photographs of every little thing, feeling all the feelings, and drinking copious amounts of chai. This is where I share what I’m learning, thinking about, and seeing in the world. Nothing is final. All is in process.

My writing…

“Sometimes I long for Jesus to be a woman. But I wonder, does Jesus ever long to be female?” – Martha Elias Downey, Who is Jesus to You? (Quoir, 2024).

I am honoured to have a chapter in the book, Who is Jesus to You? (Quoir, 2024). The book includes a variety of perspectives from authors, academics, theologians, mystics, pastors, musicians, and even a former reality TV star and Muslim scholar. My chapter deals with the question: does it matter that Jesus was not a woman?

Get your copy here: Amazon USA and Amazon Canada

I wrote a book about sidestepping hierarchy in how we think about God, the Bible, and the world. It includes refreshed interpretations of biblical stories, insights into how we think about God and the church, a smattering of personal anecdotes, and some spiritual practices. This is an invitation to a more expansive way of being in the world.

Available here: GO WIDE USA. GO WIDE Canada

I have a limited number of signed copies of GO WIDE that you can purchase directly from me ($25 CDN plus $5 shipping within Canada). Request one at marthaeliasdowney@gmail.com.

I am grateful for my work to be included in this diverse and thought-provoking collection of 19 stories about worlds both familiar and strange. My short story, “After Tuesday,” is about a young person awakening to the gifts and dysfunction of the society in which they live. Available on Amazon: Augmented Vol 1

You can also purchase signed copies of Augmented Vol. 1 from me for $25 CDN plus shipping ($5 within Canada). Request one at marthaeliasdowney@gmail.com.

Upcoming…

I will be teaching a 12-week writing workshop exploring the genre of memoir in Fall 2024 at Thomas More Institute. Details to come.

Latest Posts

Bible

Living peaceably in a violent world

I find it hard to watch the news. The presence of violence is so pervasive. Are things worse than they were fifty years ago? I don’t know. Certainly, we are more aware of the state of the world because we have ready access to information. I also realize that violence is not new. A brief…

life

The Gift of Diversity (part 2)

[This is part 2 of a paper I presented at The Table conference in Waterloo, Ontario, October 2023.] Read The Gift of Diversity (part 1) here. I bring my story into the conversation on diversity in order to bear witness to a God who is resplendent in diversity and calls us to reflect that diversity.…

Bible

The Gift of Diversity (part 1)

[The following is the text of a paper I presented at The Table conference in Waterloo, Ontario, October 2023. Some of these ideas stem from my book, Go Wide: reimagining the landscape of theology (Quoir, 2023).] “In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth,…

Bible

Reimagining Prayer

These days, I don’t really know what I’m doing when I pray. Most of the time, I have no words. To be honest, I don’t know that I have ever felt confident in praying. Despite being raised in the church and being in pastoral leadership for over 20 years and praying for hundreds of people…

Loading…

Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

Follow Me

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

            Design a site like this with WordPress.com
            Get started