About – By the Well

By the Well is a weekly lectionary-based podcast for preachers. Each week we take a deep dive into some of the texts from the Revised Common Lectionary, exploring their ancient setting and how we might preach them today. We aim to take the Bible seriously, but not literally, bringing the best biblical scholarship into conversation with lived experience, pastoral need, and theology.

Our name, By the Well, is a nod to the Samaritan woman in John 4. In many ways she is an ordinary woman, perhaps on the margins of her community. When she encounters Jesus during her daily task of drawing water at the well, it transforms her and her faith. In discovering the “living water” that is Christ, she becomes a preacher and evangelist for her community, bringing them to encounter the good news of God for themselves.

- Fran and Robyn (co-founders)

Fran Barber

Fran is an ordained minister in the Uniting Church of Australia where she has served in congregational and chaplaincy ministry for over 19 years. Currently the Coordinator of Continuing Education for Ministers, Fran supports and resources colleagues in the joys and challenges of ministry in the 21st century. A wide reader, Fran loves to explore the art and practice of preaching, engagement in public theology, and discover more about church history.

Robyn Whitaker

Robyn is a Uniting Church Minister and Associate Professor of New Testament at Pilgrim Theological College within the University of Divinity. She has published on Revelation, the gospels, and feminist biblical studies. Robyn frequently writes on issues relating to gender, sexuality, politics, and the Bible in popular and mainstream media outlets. You can find some of her articles here.

Sean Winter

Sean is a Baptist Minister, Head of Pilgrim Theological College, and Associate Professor at the University of Divinity. Sean teaches New Testament with a particular focus on Pauline theology and letters. He has published in the areas of Pauline studies, the life and theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and the task of hermeneutics. You can read some of Sean's published works here.

Monica Melancthon

Monica is a Lutheran minister and Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament studies at the Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity, Melbourne. Monica positions herself as a feminist advocate and a liberation theologian, committed to producing reflections and texts that resist cultures and languages of dominance that exclude the voices of the oppressed. You can view Monica's research and publications here.

Sally Douglas

Sally is a Uniting Church Minister serving an inner city parish, an Associate Lecturer at Pilgrim Theological College, and an Honorary Research Associate within the University of Divinity. Sally has published on christology, gender, discipleship and soteriology in the biblical text, early church and in contemporary theology. Sally also regularly writes on topics of spirituality, church, gender and theology for popular audiences. You can find some of these articles here.

Kylie Crabbe

Kylie is Senior Research Fellow in Biblical and Early Christian Studies at Australian Catholic University, a Uniting Church Minister, and an Associate Teacher at Pilgrim Theological College. Kylie has particular interests in understandings of time, hope, and eschatology in antiquity, emotions in historical work, and disability and intersectionality in biblical studies and ancient and contemporary settings. See her publications here.

Howard Wallace

Howard is a (retired) Professor of Old Testament and Uniting Church Minister. He did his doctoral work at Harvard before returning to Australia to teach in Sydney and Melbourne. Howard provides lectionary-based reflections and other biblical resources on his website.

U-Wen Low

U-Wen received his PhD from the University of Divinity in 2018. His research focuses on the Book of Revelation, with interests in performance criticism, visual exegesis, and postcolonial criticism. He is particularly interested in helping diaspora students to explore their cultural identities via their engagement with biblical texts. He is currently employed as a pastor at a non-denominational church in Melbourne, and was formerly a Senior Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Alphacrucis College.