Current Lectures
Summer 2023 Friday Night Lectures
7:30pm Tea & Coffee | 8:00pm Lecture
Join us for our autumn lectures in-person or on Zoom. If you are attending in person, please come to the Manor House at 7:30pm for coffee and dessert. Otherwise, click the link below to join us on Zoom (password is 'Lecture').
For a printable version of this lecture schedule, click here.
27th January
When the person becomes a soul - reflections on biblical anthropology, embodiment and Christian mission
Jim Paul, L’Abri Worker
3rd February
What has Christianity Ever Done for Us? The importance of understanding history with regard to the soul of the West.
Peter Merz, L'Abri Worker
In this lecture we will be thinking about the (still) deeply Christian nature of what we could call the soul of western culture, and the importance of having a robust sense of this in light of the challenges of our time.
10th February
A Wild Whisper of Something Originally Wise: Restoring the Plausibility of Transcendence through the Arts
Mark Meynell, Author. Langham Partnership
We will explore how to understand the impact of living in a secular context for Christian witness and to show how the Arts are crucial for breaking through the intellectual barriers that secularism uses to prevent people grasping the gospel.
17th February
The Arts as a Means to Love
Mary McCampbell, Author, Associate Professor of humanities at Lee University
We will look at how the arts expand our imaginations and, in so doing, embolden our ability to love our neighbours as ourselves.
24th February
NO LECTURE
25th February
Film Festival: Longing To Be Great
One-day film festival hosted by English L'Abri
Greatness and the journey towards it are everywhere on screen; underdogs climbing to the top, heroes sacrificing all to become ‘the best’, characters plucked from obscurity to reveal great talent….Why do we find these stories so compelling? What longings do they stir up in us and what do they tell us about what humans need? At the same time, the Christian worldview has some deeply counter cultural things to say about what true greatness actually is. Should we accept the criteria for greatness that we are constantly absorbing? How does the Biblical view of greatness compare? Could it actually prove to be a more spacious, meaningful and even approachable alternative for us?
(More info will be coming out in February)
3rd March
Redeeming Love, Authority and Freedom For the Children’s Sake
Merran Paul, L'Abri Worker
10th March
TBA
Joel Barricklow, L’Abri Worker
17th March
The Race to Connectedness
Priscilla Leigh, Life Coach, Youth Leader HTB
Like many other “isms”, racism is often a touchy subject. The culture has responded to it in a variety of ways, sometimes in fear, sometimes in anger, often in offence. What does the biblical narrative have to say about our response to this issue, both in our own lives and in society?
24th March
Critical Theory: the ‘cancer of cultural marxism’ or ‘a longing for something other than this world'?
Dr. Philip Sampson
The phrase ‘critical theory’ is used in a variety of senses; among evangelicals, many of these are pejorative.. Yet the term has its origins in a European tradition of emancipatory philosophy which owes more to biblical Christianity than is often supposed. This lecture aims to discuss this complex field of meanings within a biblical framework.