"Of Fellowships and Rings: The Role of Friendship and Community in the Christian Life"
St. Giles Church, Oxford, England
Sunday evening, July 21 - Friday evening, July 26, 2019
Registration Form (.pdf)
The last night he spent with his disciples, Jesus said that he did not call them his servants, but his friends. God called Abraham, the father of faith, his friend. Friendship is one of the greatest blessings of life and a precious thing to experience between people. C. S. Lewis wrote about it in The Four Loves and J. R. R. Tolkien created a picture of it in The Lord of the Rings. Join us as we consider and celebrate the marvelous gift of friendship and how we can better be a friend in a lonely world.
Workshop Overview
Morning Sessions
Morning sessions will be held at St. Giles Church, situated in its own grounds across the street from The Eagle and Child pub where the Inklings met every Tuesday morning for many decades. Just down the street is Somerville College where Dorothy L. Sayers studied. Our speakers will include Colin Duriez, Nigel Goodwin, Rebecca Poe Hays, Malcolm Guite, Darin Davis, Paul Wadell, Don King, Harry Lee Poe, Taylor Holleyman, Gisela Kreglinger, Ben Mitchell, Sharon Jebb Smith, Cindy Zudys, and Samuel Still.
Afternoons in Oxford
The afternoons will be given over to relishing all that Oxford offers. Discover the town that fueled the imaginations behind Narnia and Middle Earth. Visit the colleges where the Inklings taught and thought. Walk the gardens and stroll the river paths. Visit the museums and the bookstores. Then go punting on the same river where Jack Lewis spent time in his undergraduate days, and where Rattie and Mole went boating near Toad Hall.
Christianity in the Academy
In the afternoons, we will conduct a summer session of the Christianity in the Academy Conference for college and university faculty members that will allow an opportunity for participants to present academic papers that focus on a faith issue within the presenter's academic discipline. Faculty members are invited to propose paper topics. More information is available in our Call for Papers (.pdf).
Evenings in Oxford
In the evenings, Oxford itself will provide the opportunity to experience the cultural feast available to Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings with a variety of concerts and plays. Orchestral concerts, Shakespearean plays, Oscar Wilde revivals, and more fill the summer evenings.
Eating in Oxford
The most important of all social occasions is the meal, and the Inklings certainly did their best to make the most of it, as might be expected of Hobbits. Eat at the favorite haunts of the Inklings, and at some new additions to the Oxford far since their time. And don't miss the sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream!