Chalmers Lectures 2024
Hope in today's world
The Chalmers Lectures series for 2024 will feature six online lectures, three delivered by Rev Professor John Swinton and three delivered by Dr Katie Cross both from Aberdeen University. There will also be a hybrid event (online and in-person) which will be a dialogue between the two theologians with Rev Professor Alison Jack facilitating the event and hosting a Question and Answer session at the end of the conversation.
The overarching theme for the Chalmers Lectures cycle 2022-2026 is ‘Hope in today's world'.
Dates for the lectures
Dr Katie Cross – 15, 17 and 29 October 2024 – online (7 to 8.30 pm)
Rev Professor John Swinton – 28 November, 3 and 5 December 2024 – online (7 to 8.30 pm)
Hybrid event in Aberdeen with Rev Professor Alison Jack facilitating a dialogue with the two lecturers plus a Question and Answer session – 9 December 2024 (7 to 8.30 pm) – King's College Conference Centre
Please book your attendance through the event listings below.
Rev Professor John Swinton – ‘Being present: finding friendship in a ‘hopeless' world.'
John's three lectures will offer a profound exploration of three interconnected themes crucial to navigating the complexities of modern life: presence, friendship, and hope.
The lectures will invite people on a transformative journey, weaving together theological insights, contemporary challenges, and practical wisdom. Using the unifying metaphor of a garden to represent our spiritual and relational lives, the series will explore how being present tends to the soil and plants the seeds of our existence, how friendship nurtures the soil that sustains the roots of our relationships, and how hope provides the essential sunlight for growth, flourishing and connection with God and one another.
Each lecture will delve deeply into its specific themes in the light of a concept: "gentle time" - a slower, more reflective approach to life that contrasts sharply with the frenetic pace of our digital age.
By embracing gentle time, attendees will be encouraged to cultivate deeper connections with God, themselves, and others. The lectures will blend biblical and theological foundations with personal stories and interdisciplinary insights from psychology, sociology, and neuroscience, providing a holistic understanding of each theme. Practical strategies and actionable steps will be developed in the hope of empowering participants to implement these concepts in their daily routines and relationships.
Throughout the series, the lectures will address contemporary challenges such as digital distraction, social isolation, and global uncertainty, offering a faith-based perspective on finding meaning and connection in a world that often feels fragmented and hopeless. By the conclusion of the series, attendees will have gained not only a deeper theological understanding of presence, friendship, and hope but also practical tools for living out these concepts in their communities and personal lives. The lectures aim to inspire a renewed sense of purpose, deeper relational connections, and a more grounded, hopeful approach to faith in the face of life's challenges.
Dr Katie Cross – "Hope is a verb: from witness to action in a traumatised world".
Katie's three lectures will consider hope as an action- a ‘doing word.' They will explore the scarcity of hope in the world today, and the way that trauma in particular challenges our ability to hope. Trauma is central to the Christian faith, so I will explore the cross and the way it has been interpreted both as a place of trauma and of hope. It is important to bear witness to trauma, so the second of my lectures will consider the practice of witness particularly in the Easter story. Using the story of the disciples on the Emmaus road, I will think through Jesus' actions as he appears alongside the traumatised disciples, bearing witness to their ongoing suffering. Finally, I draw this together in the last lecture by looking to the future. I question how it will be possible to generate hope in a traumatised world. In doing so I present hope not as a passive set of emotions but as an active and collaborative practice, one which draws on community, protest, and politics.
Biographies of speakers
Dr Katie Cross is Christ's College Lecturer in Practical Theology at the University of Aberdeen. Her research and teaching centre on contemporary theological questions, with a particular emphasis on the lived experiences of religion and spirituality.
Katie's first book explored the concept of suffering within the Sunday Assembly, a "godless congregation," and she has co-edited two volumes on trauma theology: Feminist Trauma Theologies and Bearing Witness (both with SCM Press). Her current research project is on the beliefs, practices, and futures of Christians who have left the church but retain their faith.
In addition to her academic work, Katie has collaborated with Press Red, a Christian education charity focused on the prevention of domestic abuse, and has contributed to resources on trauma for chaplains and those working in contexts of division and conflict.
Rev Professor John Swinton is Professor in Practical Theology and Pastoral Care and Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies at the University of Aberdeen. For more than a decade, John worked as a registered mental health nurse. He also worked for several years as a hospital and community mental health Chaplain alongside people with severe mental health challenges who were moving from the hospital into the community.
In 2004, he founded the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability. He has published widely in the areas of mental health, dementia, disability theology, spirituality and healthcare, end-of-life care, qualitative research, and pastoral care. John is the author of several monographs, including his recent book, Finding Jesus in the Storm: The Spiritual Lives of People with Mental Health Challenges. (Eerdmans 2020) His book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God won the Archbishop of Canterbury's Ramsey Prize for excellence in theological writing. John has a new album coming out this year titled: Beautiful Songs About Difficult Things.
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