Elżbieta Łazarewicz-Wyrzykowska
Elżbieta Łazarewicz-Wyrzykowska is a biblical scholar and practical theologian. Her current work focuses on developing theological measures, methodologically rigorous tools shaped by the life and language of the Church.
Education and Posts
• MA, Polish Philology, University of Warsaw
• PhD, Biblical Studies, University of Manchester
She has taught or held research posts at Cambridge Theological Federation (Assistant Director, MA in Pastoral Theology 2009–13), Tel Aviv University (Visiting Lecturer, 2017), and Margaret Beaufort Institute (Research Associate, 2018–21). A fellow in the Templeton-funded Psychology Cross-Training Programme for Theologians at the University of Birmingham (2023–25), she also collaborates with the IDEAS Lab at the University of Warsaw.
Research and Teaching
Elżbieta’s commitment to interdisciplinarity began with her dissertation on Bakhtin and the Book of Amos and continued in biblical reception projects. Today she pursues science-engaged theology, integrating empirical methods with theological questions.
She teaches courses in communication and burnout prevention at the Medical University of Warsaw.
Her research and teaching are informed by experience in coaching, mentoring, and training, and shaped by a desire to support the healthy, sustainable growth of individuals, communities, and organisations in a fast-changing, technology-driven world.
Current Interests
- Catholics’ perceptions of God’s Where-Being
- New expressions of contemplative prayer in contemporary Christian practice
- Spiritual practices, human flourishing, emotional resources
Select Publications
“Samson: Masculinity Lost (and Regained?),” in Men and Masculinity in the Hebrew Bible and Beyond, edited by Ovidiu Creanga (Sheffield Phoenix, 2010), 171–88.
“Davidic Narratives in the Contemporary Roman Catholic Liturgical Readings in The Character of David in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Warrior, Poet, Prophet and King, edited by Marzena Zawanowska and Mateusz Wilk (Brill, 2021), 523–53.
“Invisible Solidarity,” Journal of Catholic Social Thought 19/1 (2022): 105–26.
“The Soul and Essence of Religion: A Critique of Psychological Measures of Prayer from the Perspective of Theology in Four Voices,” Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology (forthcoming).
With S. Watanabe et al., “Voices in the (Interdisciplinary) Wilderness: Reflections from a Psychology Cross-Training Project for Theologians,” Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology (forthcoming).
Beyond Academia
In addition to academic publications, she is the author of an essay about a Swedish children’s author Astrid Lindgren and a theologically informed picture book for children and adults alike (in Polish).
In 2019, with the support of the Margaret Beaufort Institute, she organised a symposium entitled New Vision of Biblical Formation in the Roman Catholic Church. Its conclusions were published in her editor-reviewed article, “Imagining a New Vision of Biblical Formation in the Catholic Church,” Pastoral Review (January/February/March 2020).
She divides her time between Warsaw and rural southern Poland, sharing life with her astronomer husband, three children, and Alpha, a Welsh Springer Spaniel.