In 2018 we celebrate 100 years since Stuart Blanch was born.

the 2018 lecture

Wednesday 17 October 2018 at 7.00 pm
Venue: Liverpool Hope University, Hope Park, Taggart Avenue, Liverpool L16 9JD
Tickets, which are free, should be booked here.

What can we learn from the spread of Christianity in the earliest centuries?
speaker: the Revd Frances Young, Emeritus Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham

Renewal through engagement with the past or how knowing a bit of history can assist Christian identity and mission in this post-Christian culture.

Interested in discovering how Christianity spread in its earliest centuries, despite being an underground minority facing opposition and persecution? Or finding out what was its distinctive character in a Roman world of competing gods and idols? Then join us for this year’s Archbishop Blanch Memorial Lecture on 17th October.

You’ll hear Rev Frances Young explain how by answering such questions it’s possible to find a renewed confidence in what we have to communicate and guidance on how to embody it.

Emeritus Professor of Theology at the University of Birmingham, Rev Frances will uncover how this is a vital task for mission as we attempt to reconnect with a Western society where norms of behaviour and belief seem far removed from the Christian vision.

Please join us for drinks from 6.30 pm in the area outside the back of the Chapel.

You'll also have the opportunity to buy a selection of books from Liverpool Cathedral Shop. We are also delighted to announce that Hope University has reprinted the book 'World Our Orphanage: Studies in the Theology of the Bible' by Archbishop Stuart Blanch, which will be on sale at the Lecture for the reduced price of £5 (normal price £6).

Professor Young shares the main themes of her lecture here.

speaker: the Revd Frances Young

Frances Young is Emeritus Professor of Theology, University of Birmingham, where she held the Edward Cadbury Chair from 1986 to 2005. She taught New Testament and early Christian studies in Birmingham from 1971. She was ordained as a Methodist minister in 1984, and regularly leads worship locally, as well as responding to preaching invitations from various denominations across the country. She has always endeavoured to bridge academia and the life of the churches, engaging particularly in ecumenical activities and conferences, including the World Faith and Order Conference in Santiago di Compostela in 1993. For 45 years she and her husband cared for a son born with profound learning disabilities, now aged 50; Jean Vanier and the L’Arche communities have been an important influence.

A video of the lecture is available.