Rev. Dr George Bailey
George joined Cliff in September 2014.
George is a Methodist minister with seven years’ experience in urban and suburban churches in Leeds. As well as lecturing at the college, he spends half of his time as a minister in the Leeds North and East Circuit of the Methodist Church. Before entering ministry he worked as a primary school teacher and for the Probation Service. However, prior to these roles, he began as a student of theology, and seeking a systematic, relevant, contextual theology to underpin and shape the mission of the Church and his own various roles within it is a consistent passion. George has an MA in Contextual Theology, and developing themes from within his research for this degree, which was associated with his Probation Service context and the rehabilitation of offenders, explored deeper into the contours of Wesleyan theology. This led to a PhD thesis on the systematic relationships between the experience and theology of sanctification, in discussion with John Wesley on perfection and Gregory Palamas on deification. He continues to develop research interests in Wesleyan theology, and theologies of sanctification and holiness across a spectrum of Christian traditions. For four years, George was a District Ecumenical Officer for the Methodist Church, and has been minister for three Local Ecumenical Partnership churches; he is committed to establishing practical and theological partnerships for mission and holiness.