All We Restless Travellers: A Conference on Christian Pilgrimage
This one-day conference celebrates and explores the the past, present, and future of Christian pilgrimage. Practitioners, scholars, and all those interested in pilgrimage will be able to gather in the beautiful surroundings of Christ Church for discussion and learning.
The talks will explore the history of pilgrimage in Oxford, different ways of being a pilgrim in the modern period, and the theology and spirituality of pilgrimage. The keynote speaker is Dr Andrew Dunning, R.W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library. He will give the main address on the experiences of medieval pilgrims coming to St Frideswide’s shrine in Oxford, an important aspect of local and Cathedral history. The address will also mark the publication of his new edition and translation of the medieval Lives of Frideswide and the Miracles of Frideswide.
Further speakers include historians, theologians, ministers, and practitioners from English cathedrals, the British Pilgrimage Trust, the Confraternity of St James, and from academic departments and museums in London, Manchester, and Oxford: including Mark Clavier, Guy Hayward, William Griffiths, Kathryn Hurlock, Anne Bailey, Catherine Clarke, Peter Doll, and Sally Welch.
Tickets for the event cost £30, and include lunch and refreshments. For more information and booking, please visit our Eventbrite page for the event:
This event precedes the launch of the St Frideswide Way on the following day, a new walking pilgrimage route from Oxford to Reading which then connects to the Camino Ingles and the Camino de Santiago.
Programme
09:30 - 10:00: Registration and coffee
10:00 - 10:10: Welcome and introduction
10:10 - 11:00: Keynote by Dr Andrew Dunning: 'Experiences of pilgrims to St Frideswide'
11:00 - 12:30: Panel 1: Solvitur ambulando (Clavier, Hayward, Griffiths)
12:30 - 13:15: Lunch
13:15 - 14:45: Panel 2: Rain, steam, and speed (Hurlock, Bailey, Christensen, Clarke)
14:45 - 15:00: Break
15:00 - 16:00: Panel 3: Pilgrimage for the next generation (Doll, Welch)
16:00 - 17:30: Q/A, with Tea in the Sub-Dean's Gardens
18:00 - 19:00: Evensong
