Past Programmes
2020-
2022-2023
President James `Blackhall
Oct 14th “I will give you all this land”: Exploring the Biblical Land Promise
(Montgomery Trust Lecture)
Dr Meg Warner Tutor in Old Testament and Biblical Hebrew at Northern College teaching in Manchester’s Luther King Centre
Nov 11th Reading the Janam Sakhis as a Christian
The Revd Dr Tom Wilson
Director, The St Philip’s Centre, Leicester
Dec 9th Even the dogs.... reading scripture from a place of exclusion
James Blackhall President of the Society
Jan 13th Thomas a Kempis' Imitation of Christ : a spiritual classic for the modern age ?
Peter Kilty
Feb 10th The Moravian Church: past and present challenges
The Rt Revd Joachim Kreusel
Minister for Ockbrook and Leicester Moravian Church
Mar 10th Mapping theology in the 21st century
Prof Rachael Muers Chair of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
2021-2022
President Michael Sweeney
Prof. Richard Bauckham Professor emeritus, University of St Andrews
Why is John's gospel different?
Members' evening
God and the pandemic
Revd Canon Dr Johannes Arens Priest in Charge of St Andrew, Jarrom Street, Leicester
Music and Revelation (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Revd Andrew Quigley Vicar, St James the Greater, Leicester
God and Gollum: Tolkien's theology
Michael Sweeney President of the Society
A Medieval Mystical Tour with the Seraphic Doctor, St Bonaventure
Dr Elaine Storkey Experienced writer and speaker in relating the Christian gospel to contemporary culture
Is Christianity dying in the West? The secularisation thesis revisited (Montgomery Trust Lecture)
2020-2021
President: Ian Dutton
Who holds the child? An explorative of Devotional Christology
Rt Revd Dr Martin Warner Bishop of Chichester
It’s on the wall: lifelong lay learning and medieval murals
Dr Miriam Gill University of Leicester and Vaughan College
Mary - ideal woman, impossible saint or feminine divine? (Montgomery Trust Lecture)
Prof. Nicola Slee Director of Research at the Queen's Foundation; Professor of Feminist Practical Theology, VU Amsterdam
Architecture and Theology: the Shard, the Tower of Babel, and more
Ian Dutton President of the Society
Male and Female He Created Them: An investigation of the pedagogy of gender rigidity in faith and secular schools
Dr Claire Jenkins Senior Fellow, Margaret Beaufort Institute
Newman and Science (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Prof. Patrick Boylan Professor Emeritus, City, University of London
2010-2020
2019-2020
President: Fr Matthew Jarvis OP
Interreligious theology: pipe dream or emerging reality?
Revd Dr Alan Race Chair of World Congress of Faiths and Editor of ‘Interreligious Insight’
Mark … a classical tragedy?
Revd Canon Dr Stephen Foster Canon Emeritus, Leicester Cathedral
Can you see an angel? (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Revd Dr Oliver James Keenan OP Dominican Friar
Holy Cross: our only hope?
Fr Matthew Jarvis OP President of the Society
Inclusive Religious Education in the publicly funded schools of democratic societies
Professor Robert Jackson Founding Director, Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, University of Warwick
Evolutions of Christian Faith
Professor Teresa Morgan Professor of Graeco-Roman History, University of Oxford
2018-2019
President: Revd Alan Hawker
Reclaiming Doctrines
Revd David Paterson Retired Anglican Priest
Christian Approaches to Judaism
Dr Angela Jagger Former President of the Society
Kidnapped by the Vatican? Edgardo Mortara and the Meaning of Baptism (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Fr Matthew Jarvis OP Dominican Friar and Chaplain to Leicester Catholic Students
The mind of William Wilberforce: Religion, Politics and Historical Progress
Professor John Coffey Professor of Early Modern History, University of Leicester
Women in Christianity and Islam: a reflection
Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani Bishop of Loughborough
The sound of Heaven is laughter
Revd Alan Hawker President of the Society
2017-2018
President: Revd William F Myers
Some theological reflections on the ad limina visit by the Bishops of England and Wales to Rome in 2018 (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Rt Revd Patrick McKinney Bishop of Nottingham
Women and Men after Christendom
Dr Fran Porter Research Fellow at The Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education
A journey through ecumenism to the wider ecumenism and from Theology to Religious Studies
Peggy Morgan Lecturer in the Study of Religions, Mansfield College, Oxford
The Gospel according to Mark: editor and eye witness
Revd William F Myers President of the Society
Divine Violence and Salvation
Dr Martyn J Smith Teacher of Philosophy, Ethics and RE
What is Christian mission?
Rt Revd Martyn Snow Bishop of Leicester
2016-2017
President: Dr Thomas Bartsch
God In-Action - does God act?
Canon David Jennings Canon Theologian Leicester Cathedral
Clergywomen: The cost of a calling? Reflections on ministry as a professional job
Prof Anne-marie Greene Professor of Employment Relations, De Montfort University
Do angels push the planets? And does it matter to modern science?
Dr Thomas Bartsch Lecturer in Applied Mathematics, Loughborough University & President of the Society
'The Call to Holiness': A Methodist-Catholic Dialogue (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
The Right Reverend John Sherrington Auxilliary Bishop of Westminster
Christian Inculturation in India
Dr Laura Johnson Independent Interfaith Consultant
Time to burn Santa in effigy? What Christians should make of the phenomenon of interpassive believing
Revd Dr Peter Green Dean of Chapel and Chaplain, Bishop Grosseteste University
2015-2016
President: Dr Angela Jagger
Richard III: theological issues
The Very Revd David Monteith The Dean of Leicester
Good, Happy and Free: Aquinas and Newman (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Revd William F Myers Author of 'The Thoughtful Heart: The Metaphysics of John Henry Newman'
Theology and the Media: Evil communications and corrupt good manners
Dr John Florance Faith Advisor, Radio Leicester
Radical Orthodoxy - 14th century style: Piers Plowman
Dr John Young Trustee, St Philip's Centre
Why is religion controversial?
Dr Angela Jagger President of the Society
Moses and the life of prayer
Dr Ann Conway-Jones Honorary Research Fellow, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham
Their eyes were opened: Christology in St Luke's Gospel
Revd Fr Simon Gillespie Parish Priest St Mary and St Augustine, Stamford
2014-2015
President: Richard Gill
Mark, the Controlling Gospel
Fr Neil Ferguson OP Lecturer in Scripture at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford
God's Mission in a land of many faiths
Rt Revd Dr Michael Ipgrave Bishop of Woolwich
Art, History and Faith - Learning to look Teaching Art with a Religious Dimension
Dr Miriam Gill Lecturer in the History of Art, University of Leicester
Radical Orthodoxy - 14th Century Style - Piers Plowman
Dr John Young Trustee, St Philip's Centre
Parables
Richard Gill President of the Society
Theresa of Avila and Thomas Merton: two anniversaries
The Rt Rev and Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams The Lord Williams of Oystermounth, Former Archbishop of Canterbury
2013-2014
President: Rev Michael C King
Hebrew and Greek and English Translation (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Ian Robinson Literary critic and publisher - author of "Who killed the Bible?"
Antitheism, Atheism and Reflexive Secularisation
Roland Robertson Sociologist (specialising in sociology of religion)
Sacred Art - expressions of the Faith - illustrations in the Catholic Compendium
David Lamb Theologian and Reader at St Mary de Castro
Is RE in schools a theological quest?
Latimer Blaylock Editor of "RE Today"
From Hell to Hollywood - the trivilaisation of religion
Jim Green Author and broadcsater
Is God green? - theology and the environment
The Rt Rev Tom Butler Formerly Bishop of Leicester and Bishop of Southwark
2012-2013
President: Rev Fr Fabian Radcliffe OP
A Liberal Church in a Liberal Society
Revd Canon David Jennings Canon Theologian, Diocese of Leicester & Rector of Burbage with Aston Flamville
An evening with the Swedish Poet Tomas Tranströmer
Brigitta Sall
Is Spirituality replacing Religion?
Mary Warrener Past President of the Society
"Common as Muck" - the value of Tradition in Christian Worship and Ecclesiology
Professor Alison Milbank Professor of Theology, University of Nottingham
Is the Bible the Word of God? - Discuss
Revd Canon David Jennings Canon Theologian, Diocese of Leicester & Rector of Burbage with Aston Flamville
What is a Catholic?
Father Greg Murphy OP Author of "The hope of New Life", "Staying the Course" and "Blowing in the wind"
2011-2012
President: Rev Canon F David Jennings
Discipleship in troubled times
Ann Morisy Freelance community theologian & Author of "Beyond the Good Samaritan"
Jung and Christianity
Revd Dr Joe Dawson Deacon at St Thomas More, Knighton & Scholar in psychology and theology
Is the New Testament a reliable guide for moral conduct today?
Dr Anthony Harvey Formerly Lecturer in Theology, University of Oxford; Sub Dean of Westminster Abbey;
Author of "Something Overheard - Introduction to the New Testament"
Christ and Evolution - A Drama of Wisdom
Professor Celia Deane-Drummond Professor of Theology, University of Chester
Swords into Ploughshares - is lasting peace a possibility in the North of Ireland? (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Revd Canon David Jennings President of the Society; Canon Theologian, Diocese of Leicester; Rector of Burbage with Aston Flamville
Religious Experience, a Comparative Approach
Professor Paul Badham Emeritus Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David
2010-2011
President: Elizabeth Wayne
Saint Matthew's Gospel for Today (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Father Nicholas King SJ Theologian, Author and Translator of Scripture; Tutor in Biblical Studies, University of Oxford
Islam, citizenship and the nation state
Dilwar Hussain Head of the Policy Research Centre, The Islamic Foundation, Markfield, Leicestershire; Senior Adviser to the Institute of Community Cohesion
Education about Religions and Beliefs: European Policy Recommendations and Young People's Views
Professor Robert Jackson Professor of Religions and Education, University of Warwick; Director of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit
President's Evening: Let all the world in every corner sing - Reflections on Hymns
Elizabeth Wayne with Richard Gill and Neil Crutchley
You may as well throw your money into the sea: William Law, John Wesley and the Theology of Money
Revd Dr Ralph Waller Principal Harris Manchester College, Oxford; Director of the Farmington Institute of Christian Studies
Young Peoples' Religious and Spiritual Nurture in a Diverse Society
Professor Eleanor Nesbitt Professor of Religions and Education, Institute of Education, University of Warwick
2009-2010
President: Dan McEwan
The Dalit Issue in Hindu-Christian Dialogue: Promise for the Future of Religions
Professor Sathianathan Clarke Bishop Sundo Kim Professor in World Christianity, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington DC
I believe in God - the case for a Transcendental Atheism
Professor John Hoffman Emeritus Professor of Political Theory, University of Leicester
Entering into God's Rest (Newman Ecumenical Lecture)
Fr Richard Ounsworth OP Lecturer in Scripture, Blackfriars, Oxford
Young Peoples' Religious and Spiritual Nature in a Diverse Society
Professor Eleanor Nesbitt Professor in Religions and Education, Institute of Education, University of Warwick
President's Evening: Woman Bishops, Gay Bishops and Cultural Anxiety
Dan McEwan President of the Society; Retired Teacher - studied Theology in Louvain and Oxford, Cultural Studies in Birmingham
The Polyphonic Self and the Inter-religious Encounter
Dr David Cheetham Senior Lecturer in Theology and Inter-religious Relations, University of Birmingham