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Religion and Science: old enemies or new friends?
Conference held 12-15 July 2005 at High Leigh
Chair: Rt Revd Richard Harries
Secretary: Revd Nicholas Henderson
Chaplain: Revd Dr Helen Orchard
The 19th Century controversies between religion and science, precipitated by Darwin's theories and other scientific developments, have left a visible scar on the religious world to this day. The rise of neo biblical fundamentalism in our own time and the sometimes startling developments in the scientific world associated with a range of disciplines seem to have halted the healing process.
But is this really the case? Theological thinking and Biblical criticism has come a long way since the time of the Victorians. Surely these old battles are to be consigned to history and the Church is now liberated to pursue the Gospel hand in hand with every modern tool available?
This conference ranged widely in its investigation into present religious and scientific understandings. Apart from the speakers there were also workshops on issues of the day.
2004
The God Experience ... who has it and why?
Joint conference held 13-16 July 2004 at High Leigh
with the Alister Hardy Society
Chair: Professor Paul Badham
Secretary: Revd John Goldsmith
Wishful thinking? Hallucinations? Real contact with a divine Other? Despite the claim of unbelievers that religion is on the way out, convincing religious experiences are reported by large numbers of people who think they have a relationship with the divine.
Are these stories credible? Do they fit the doctrines of the churches, or do they challenge them? This conference will explore what we can learn from the stories of religious experience today.
2003
Globalising God - the new internationalism
Conference held 15-18 July 2003 at High Leigh
Chair: Canon John Atherton
Secretary: Dr Simon Taylor
Chaplain: Revd Robin Dodge
What is the Good News for a world in the throes of globalisation? Where is God in a world of poverty, terrorism and consumerism? In the twenty-first century have we finally become one world, or are the divisions and inequalities greater than ever?
There are many challenges facing our world, and this conference aimed to bring them into contact with resources from Christianity and other faiths as we seek to live in a world where greater unity seems to come only at the cost of greater division.
2002
By Whose Authority?
Conference held 16 - 19 July 2002 at High Leigh
Chair: Rt Revd David Conner
Secretary: Revd Canon Richard Truss
Chaplain: Revd Ruth Tuschling
The conference explored the concept of authority in Church and society at the beginning of a new century. Traditional areas of biblical authority were examined together with more recent issues such as gender and the relationship between the secular world and the Church.
This is an age of intense focus on presentation and obsessed with communication. It is also a time when we may realistically expect an imminent change of leaders within the churches as well as in the political world. This conference was for anyone concerned with the future direction of the Church and its relationship with society.
Contributor notes from the time
John Atherton, Canon Theologian of Manchester Cathedral and a distinguished author. His books include Christianity and the Market and Public Theology for Changing Times.
Revd Professor Paul Badham studied theology at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham. For five years he was a Curate in Birmingham before moving to University of Wales Lampeter in 1973. He is currently Director of the Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre and a Vice President of the Modern Churchpeople's Union. He authored the centenary volume The Contemporary Challenge of Modernist Theology (1998).
Dr Sarah Jane Boss PhD (Bristol), Lecturer in Christian Theology at the University of Wales Lampeter, and Director of the Centre for Marian Studies. The CMS is an interdisciplinary education and resource centre for all matters relating to the Virgin Mary. Its teaching can include any relevant academic discipline, such as theology, the history of art, church history, literary studies, psychology and anthropology. Sarah Boss has degrees in Sociology and Theology. She is vice-president of the Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain, and has previously held pastoral as well as educational posts. She has had three books published on Marian topics: Empress and Handmaid (2000); Mary in the Continuum series "New Century Theology", (2004); and a children's book, Mary's Story (1999).
Dr Marion Bowman, Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University, having moved there in 2000 from Bath Spa University College where she had been Programme Director for the MA in Contemporary Religion. She is currently President of The Folklore Society. Her research interests include vernacular religion, contemporary spirituality, Celtic spirituality, healing and pilgrimage, and she has conducted a long term ethnological study of Glastonbury. In 2000 she co-edited Beyond New Age: Exploring Alternative Spirituality (Edinburgh University Press) with Steve Sutcliffe.
Professor June Boyce-Tillman BA, PhD, LRAM read music at St.Hugh's College, Oxford and was Professor of Applied Music at King Alfred's, Winchester and Visiting Professor at the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, USA. She is a composer and active in community music making, specialising in music and spirituality. She is Chair of the Hildegard Network and has spoken widely on Hildegard. Her most recent books are: Constructing Musical Healing - The Wounds that Sing (2000) and The Creative Spirit - Hildegard of Bingen (2000). She is Chair of the Alister Hardy Research Committee.
Andrew Bradstock, member of the United Reformed Church. Author of Radical Religion and the English Civil War, editor of Radical Christian Writings.
Professor John Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
Malcolm Brown, Principal of the East Anglican Ministerial Training Course.
Rt Revd David Conner, Dean of Windsor.
Andrew Davey, Board of Social Responsibility, author of Urban Christianity and Global Order.
Grace Davie, Reader in Sociology at Exeter University and author of Believing without Belonging and Europe: the Exceptional Case.
Revd Hugh Dawes, Vicar of St Faith's North Dulwich, member of the Committee of the Centre for Progressive Christianity, former director of the Forum Christian Institute, Cambridge and author of Freeing the Faith.
Dr Wendy Dossett BA, PhD, PGCE (Wales), lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wales Lampeter, where she directed the MA Pathways in the World's Religions for Teachers, and Religious Experience. She is Principal Examiner for the AS/A2 specifications in Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism for the Welsh joint Education Committee. She has a particular interest in Japanese Pure land Buddhism and was currently researching this subject at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley under Professor Richard K Payne. Her publications include Buddhism for AS Students (2003), and Speaking for the Buddha: phenomenological and confessional approaches in teaching Buddhism Journal of Beliefs and Values (1996). She is a member of the Shap Working Party for World Religions in Education, and is an Associate Director of the Religious Experience Research Centre (University of Wales Lampeter).
Very Revd Dr David Edwards, former Dean of Norwich and Provost of Southwark.
Very Revd Vivienne Faull, Dean of Leicester Cathedral.
Dr Fleur Fisher, former Chair of the BMA Ethics Committee.
Duncan Forrester, Professor Emeritus of Theology and Public Issues at Edinburgh University and author of On Human Worth and Christian Justice and Human Policy.
Dr Mark Fox, lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at the Joseph Chamberlain College in Birmingham. His major research interest is in the area of Religious Experience, the subject of his Doctoral Thesis. He is a member of the Research Committee of the Religious Experience Research Centre and his publications include Religion, Spirituality and the Near-Death Experience (2003) and his most recent work Lightforms, which draws extensively on the RERC archives and examines unusual experiences of light was due for publication shortly.
Leslie Francis, Professor of Practical Theology at University of Wales, Bangor and Director of the Welsh National Centre for Religious Education. He is an Anglican priest and Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He holds doctorates from the University of Cambridge (PhD, ScD) and the University of Oxford (DD). His recent books included The Values Debate (2001), Psychological Perspectives on Prayer (2001), Exploring Luke's Gospel (2001), Exploring Mark's Gospel (2002), Children, Churches and Christian Learning (2002), Rural Mission (2002), His Spirit is With Us (2003), and The Naked Parish Priest (2003).
Philip Goodchild, lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham.
Rt Revd Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford.
Revd Canon Anthony Harvey, former lecturer in Theology at the University of Oxford and laterly Canon and Sub-Dean of Westminster. He is a Fellow of the George Bell Institute and author of many books.
Simon Hughes, MP for Southwark & Bermondsey, was unable to attend the 2002 conference. His place was taken by Lord Richard Newby.
Genista McIntosh, former Executive Director of the Royal National Theatre & Principal-designate of Guildhall School of Music & Drama. She is a member of the House of Lords.
Revd Dr John Polkinhorne, author and priest.
Andrew Shanks, author of Civil Society, Civil Religion and God and Modernity.
Revd Dr Jane Shaw, Dean of Divinity, Chaplain and Fellow of New College, Oxford.
Professor Aziz Sheikh, UMIST, Chair of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Research and Documentation Committee and a medical professor at Edinburgh University.
Wendy Tyndale, until recently the co-ordinator of the World Faiths Development Dialogue.
Professor Keith Ward, latterly Regius Professor of Divinity, Oxford.
Revd Dr Kenneth Wilson, Senior Research Fellow and former Director at Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education and a Methodist Minister.
Tom Wright, Canon Theologian of Westminster Abbey. A New Testament scholar and prolific author of books including The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, and the ... for Everyone series.
Xinzhong Yao, Professor of Chinese Religions at the University of Wales Lampeter. He has a PhD in Philosophy from the People's University Beijing and a PhD in Theology from Wales. He was formerly Deputy Director of the Institute of Ethics in Beijing and is currently a Visiting professor at two Chinese Universities. Most recently together with Professor Badham he gained a grant of £335,000 from the John Templeton Foundation for a comparative study of religious experiencing in China and Britain. His publications include Christianity and Confucianism, a comparative study of Jen and Agape (1996) and a two volume Encyclopedia of Confucianism (2003).
Dr Cafer S Yaran, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Theology, Istanbul University. He was awarded his BA and MA by the University of Ataturk, Erzurum, Turkey and his PhD by the University of Wales, Lampeter. His particular interest is in the philosophy of religion and has published in English Islamic Thought on the Existence of God: Contributions and Contrasts with Contemporary Western Philosophy of Religion (2003) and has written, contributed to and edited a number of other books in Turkish on the Philosophy of Religion.