Sea of Faith ~ Conference Change of Programme Regrettably, Huston Smith, author of Beyond the Postmodern Mind, will not be able to attend The Sea of Faith conference as planned.
But the good news is that Nigel Leaves is flying all the way in from Australia to take his place. Nigel is the author of Odyssey on the Sea of Faith: The Life & Writings of Don Cupitt (Polebridge Press, 2004), the first volume of a two-volume biography of Don Cupitt, with a second volume due to appear later this year. Look for a review of the first volume in the September SoF magazine; Nigel will be signing copies at the conference, and we’ll be taking advance orders for the second volume.
Nigel is Warden and Dean of Studies of John Wollaston Anglican Theological College, Perth, Western Australia, with special interests in radical theology, systematic theology and Australian spirituality. He is chair of the Perth branch of the Sea of Faith in Australia, and co-ordinator of the upcoming First National Sea of Faith Conference in Australia, scheduled for this September.
Don Cupitt will be speaking on The Return of the Great Questions, and we will have copies of his latest book Life, Life on hand for those of you who haven’t bought one yet. Keith Ward will be speaking on “Is Religion a Human Creation?”, with a follow-up workshop for those who want to debate the question in more detail; he will also be signing copies of his latest book, The Case for Religion, which is reviewed in this SoF magazine. Other features of the conference will be a repeat of Rob Wheeler’s 2002 Pilgrim's Progress installation featuring the cartoons of Michael Leunig, and the return of Noel Cheer as the MC of our final plenary.
Over 20 grassroots organisations and SoF-friendly — publishers have already signed up for our Saturday market-place where you will be able to see first-hand the range of activities and ideas on the radical theological landscape. The afternoon dialogue will be 2| Nigel Leaves led by Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester and Robert Forman, author of Grassroots Spirituality: what it is, why it is here, where it is going. Those of you who are already signed up for the conference will have seen this name on your list of workshops — the book is published by Imprint Books, headed by Anthony Freeman, and Anthony will be offering a workshop to discuss Forman’s research. Forman is the head of The Forge Institute, which seeks to build interest in new and non-dogmatic kinds of spirituality; his book documents the shift from religion to spirituality and argues that despite its different “dialects” the spirituality movement is far more coherent than anyone has realised.
Registration for the conference is going well but we are not yet sold out. If you’ve lost your registration form, you can get another one from our web site (www.sofn.org.uk) or from Patti Whaley (gingkoleaf@tiscali.org.uk or 01795 536 826).
Sof 66 july 2004 Send your letters to:
Sea of Faith: the first twenty years The Sea of Faith annual conference and AGM will be held on 22-24 July at Sheffield * Don Cupitt, author of (most recently) Life, Life ¢ Keith Ward, author of The Case for Religion * Nigel Leaves, author of Odyssey on The Sea of Faith Anchored or Fettered: does your spirituality need religion?
On Saturday we will be joined by the Roundtable and a wide range of other organisations exploring radical and progressive approaches to spirituality, for a one-day marketplace and debate featuring Robert Forman and Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester, chaired by Noel Cheer of SoF NZ.
Your SoF registration covers all fees for both conferences. Don’t miss this unusual event!