SoF Magazine No. 24, January 1996 SEA OF FAITH REGIONAL CONFERENCE ESSEX UNIVERSITY 21ST OCTOBER 1995 t is a tribute to SoF members’ route finding skills that all conference attenders found their way to the Anglican chaplaincy centre for their regional conference on Saturday 21st October.
Even with a map it was almost impossible. Is this another metaphor?
Morning talk Some sixty people from the eastern region and London met at 10.30 am. to hear Anthony Freeman. It was a relief to most of us that he began by urging us to avoid using the term Non-Realism, in view of its technical philosophical meaning and its tendency to drive a wedge between those who are acquainted with philosophy and those who are not. Instead, he proposed that we describe ourselves as non-theists — people for whom god talk still has meaning. Theists are those who believe in the existence of a god ‘out there’ who communicates with them , and atheists are those for whom god talk has no meaning.
Anthony then described how church members have been encouraged to think of 'the Faith' as a closed box to be protected and handed on to succeeding generations. His lucid exposition of church history helped all to see how the faith has never been fixed or closed, but changing and adapting for every age. Many began to feel we were in the mainstream of tradition! He was asked: Why prayer? Why churchgoing now? He revealed a love and need for the discipline of both. Using the sea metaphor, he spoke of the liberation of throwing everything out, but when you do that at sea, certain objects tend to wash back. The daily rhythm of the Anglican priest is something that has washed back. For him, the loss of the opportunity to officiate at Anglican worship is a personal deprivation.
Afternoon Workshops After lunch the conference divided into four workshops. There were two sessions for each one, so every person could attend two. Anthony discussed the situation for clergy and laity in the church; Maxine Green explored ‘awe, mystery and power’; while Mel Crossley’s group looked at what was meant by spirituality. (In this workshop, one person observed that in all her years in church nobody had ever asked her this question!) Trudi Newton examined power and authority through the model of Berne’s transactional analysis. It seemed a helpful way of understanding power structures in the churches.
The day ended with a plenary session, the four workshop leaders attempting to answer questions from the floor about possible alternative names for God, making SoF ideas understandable to the ‘person in the pew’, and living with the notion that we inhabit a morally neutral universe. A tall order in just half an hour!
Many said it would be a good idea to make this an annual event. What are other regions organising?