Research Faculty

Sarah C. Williams is a historian, writer, and storyteller. Sarah trained as a historian at the University of Oxford, where she subsequently taught as Fellow and Tutor in Modern History at Harris Manchester College, Lecturer at Trinity College, and Praelector at Lincoln College. At Oxford, she taught British and European political and cultural history from 1685 to 1939 and supervised graduates working on nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century religion and culture in the British context. 

In 2005, Sarah moved with her family to Vancouver to teach the History of Christianity at Regent College. After teaching at Regent full-time for over a decade, Sarah returned to the UK with her husband, Paul, to live in the Cotswolds, close to the city of Oxford, where she continues to write and research. She remains a Research Professor at Regent and returns regularly to teach during Regent’s Summer Programs.

Sarah is a passionate and committed teacher who is much loved by her students. She thinks deeply about pedagogy and classroom practice and is devoted to telling the story of the church to diverse audiences all over the world. She has written and edited numerous academic articles and books, including the acclaimed monograph Religious Belief and Popular Culture; 1880–1939 (OUP, 1999). She is also the author of a widely-read spiritual autobiography titled The Shaming of the Strong (Kingsway, 2006), re-released as Perfectly Human: Nine Months with Cerian (Plough, 2018). Her most recent book is When Courage Calls: Josephine Butler and the Radical Pursuit of Justice for Women (Hodder & Stoughton, 2024).