We're delighted to invite you to join us this February as we welcome Rev. Dr Jennifer Powell McNutt as ADM's 2026 Visiting Fellow.

Dr McNutt is an award-winning author and professor who holds the Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies at Wheaton College. During her visit, she'll help us explore how we read Scripture, understand the resurrection, and bring together academic work and ministry.

We have three opportunities for you to learn with us from this pre-eminent scholar and theologian.

There is no resurrection account without the presence of Mary Magdalene, but what does her witness mean?

During the earliest era of Christianity, Mary Magdalene was recognised as "first to witness and to worship the risen Lord".

Over the centuries, this encounter has been misunderstood, obscuring how we understand Mary Magdalene’s life-changing encounter with Jesus at the garden tomb.

Dr McNutt will trace how that confusion occurred, and suggest a restorative way to rediscover Mary Magdalene and her historical record in the Gospels. Through a combination of transfiguration theology and a rereading of the resurrection witness, Dr McNutt will offer a way to receive Mary’s witness to the One who healed her, taught her, received her presence and resources, appeared to her, and sent her to proclaim the saving message.

This lecture will deepen your understanding of the resurrection as we rediscover one of Scripture's most significant witnesses.

We look forward to having you learn with us.

Masterclass: Reading with Wonder: The Hermeneutic of Surprise and the Gospels (20 tickets available)

Over the course of Christian history, clergy and theologians have developed and practised various approaches to understanding the layered meanings of Scripture. These avenues of meaning are increasingly being retrieved among scholars today and put into conversation with the biblical-critical methods of the modern era. Dr McNutt’s masterclass is for participants looking to ground and refresh their engagement with Scripture in two primary ways. Firstly, through exposure to the landscape of hermeneutical approaches employed by Christians over the centuries of exegetical history. Secondly, by engaging with Dr McNutt’s “Hermeneutic of Surprise” as another fruitful way to employ historical contextualisation. Join us as we turn modern suspicions into biblical surprise to recapture the wonder of Scripture that points us to the truth of God’s revelatory Word!

Join us for Magnify - an evening with Dr McNutt inspired by Mary's song in Luke 1:46-55. Through Q&A and conversation, Dr McNutt will share her journey pairing academic work with ministry, her research interests, and her story of faith. Dr McNutt will share what it has meant for her to pursue theological scholarship in service of the church – magnifying the work of the Lord - encouraging us to remember that like Mary, our lives can magnify the Lord too. This is a chance to hear how one scholar's life reflects God's faithfulness and to be encouraged in how your own story can do the same.

Rev. Dr Jennifer Powell McNutt, PhD, FrHistS, is an award-winning author and professor who holds the Franklin S. Dyrness Chair of Biblical and Theological Studies and is Professor of Theology and History of Christianity at Wheaton College, Litfin Divinity School. She earned her PhD in Reformation Studies from the University of St. Andrews (Reformation Studies Institute), an M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Religious Studies (Biblical Languages) from Westmont College. She is director of the M.A. Programs in Theology and in History of Christianity.

Dr McNutt is a recipient of the Leland Ryken Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities at Wheaton College, an elected Fellow in the Royal Historical Society, a Senior Fellow of the Center for Pastor Theologians, a Scholar-in-Residence at the Newberry Library, and past-President of the Calvin Studies Society. Dr McNutt teaches at Wheaton College, specialising in Reformation history and theology.

She is also the author of several books and journal articles, including her latest book, ‘The Mary We Forgot: What the Apostle to the Apostles Teaches the Church Today’, published in 2024.

About ADM Visiting Fellowships

ADM Visiting Fellowships are for Christian women who are established leaders in their field and who have developed a distinctive approach to engaging our world with the good news of Jesus.

The Visiting Fellowship program serves the church in Sydney and beyond by hosting international Visiting Fellows who can enrich the public conversation about Christianity and inspire and equip Christian women and girls as they seek to make the gospel intelligible in their own spheres.

Visiting Fellows are invited to take up a short-term residence at ADM. During their Fellowship, they undertake high-profile public events and may offer masterclasses through Mary Andrews College.

About ADM

At ADM, we champion Christian women across Sydney, throughout Australian and around the world. 

ADM began 130 years ago when an Anglican Minister and his wife, Rev. Mervyn and Martha Archdall, set aside a quarter of his stipend for the equipping of Christian women. The Archdalls set up a lay order, the “deaconesses”, modelled on a similar order in Germany, and so in 1891 ADM was born.

Through prayer and partnership, sacrificial serving and giving, our work grew from small beginnings over many years to include hospitals, nursing homes and schools. Always at the centre has been a foundation built on Jesus Christ and serving him.

As our society has changed over the years, so has the shape of ADM’s work. ADM continues our legacy through a diverse range of innovative programs for Christian women, to see them equipped and encouraged for gospel work in its broadest sense.

As a Christian organisation, our highest priority is to see people come to know Christ and grow in him. NCLS Research tells us that 60% of the Australian church is female. At ADM, we work to see every Christian woman using their gifts so that God’s kingdom would grow across Australia and the world. We are committed to seeing women growing in Christ, being built up as they serve the Lord  and being provided with the resources they need to reach the world for Jesus.