Each year we programme a range of exciting and diverse courses which can be enjoyed either as a resident, or a non-residential guest. There’s nothing like partaking in stimulating debate and discussion in the daytime and gathering for a glass of wine and social time around the fire each evening, before enjoying a tasty homecooked meal!
The courses all centre around the Library’s core subject areas of Theology and Religion, History and Politics, and Literature / Culture, and you can be sure to find fellow enthusiasts on all manner of areas of interest here!
Read on to find out more about the courses we have coming up over the next few months…
Blue Sky God: the Evolution of Science and Christianity
16th – 17th March
Based on his book of the same title which joins up current scientific views of reality with Christian theology, this course with Don MacGregor looks at some of the big questions around how we think about God and Jesus.
Sessions include ‘Science, Consciousness and Christianity’ and ‘Global Shift and the Evolution of Christianity’ amongst others and a film screening of The Lost Gospels (2009) directed by Annie Azzariti.
Don MacGregor is an Anglican Priest living in Fishguard, West Wales. He has an MA in Theology and has been a university chaplain, a science teacher and a youth worker. Don’s Christian journey has moved from evangelical and charismatic to mystical and esoteric with aspects of contemporary holistic spirituality, and an emphasis on meditation and contemplative prayer. He is an active member of CANA (Christians Awakening to a New Awareness) and PCN (Progressive Christian Network).
Click here to view the full programme.
Residential prices start from £125, non-residential from £90. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
Utterly Human: Art, Faith and Failure
6th – 8th April
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Faith and doubt, folly and failure go together in the stories of Jesus’s disciples, both in any meaningful creative endeavour and in any real life. Using these perspectives, Deborah Lewer explores great and lesser works of visual art from the Middle Ages to the present day, seeing in art’s traitors, doubters, fools and bunglers where wisdom comes of folly, beauty of imperfection and of failure, grace.
Sessions include ‘The Tyranny of Success’ and ‘Meeting Judas in Art’ amongst others and a film screening of The Way (2010) directed by Emilio Estevez.
Anyone with an interest in art and/or faith is very welcome.
The weekend is led by Deborah Lewer, Senior Lecturer in History of Art at the University of Glasgow.
Click here to view the full programme.
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
Celtic Christianity: Deconstructed and Reconstructed
13th – 15th April
25 years on from the publication of his best-selling book, The Celtic Way, Ian Bradley re-assesses Celtic Christianity; exploring the current revival, its manifestations and motivation, establishing what we do know and can say about the faith and practice of Early Medieval insular Christian communities in the British Isles, and considering themes that can be helpful today.
Sessions include ‘Defining the Celtic Way: Stripping away the myths and redefining Celtic Christianity’ and ‘Following the Celtic Way: Penitence, pastoral presence and peace-making’ amongst others as well as a Celtic Evening Service
Ian Bradley grew up in South East England and has lived in Scotland for the last 24 years. Educated at Oxford University, he was for eight years a features writer on The Times. He has also been Head of Religious Broadcasting for BBC Scotland and taught at Aberdeen University. He is currently Reader in Church History and Practical Theology in the School of Divinity at St Andrews University, associate minister of Holy Trinity Church, St Andrews and honorary Church of Scotland chaplain at St Andrews University. He is a frequent broadcaster and contributes regularly to the Guardian, Tablet, the Church Times and History Today.
Click here to view the draft programme.
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
You’ve Got to Have a Dream: the Theology of the Musicals – FINAL PLACES
27th – 29th April
Building on 25 years of teaching the world’s only university course on the theology and spirituality of musical theatre, Ian Bradley explores the extent to which modern musicals focus on deep ‘God talk’ as well as moral, spiritual and pastoral issues and how they have helped people shape their beliefs. Among the musicals considered are The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Godspell, Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Misérables. Participants will be invited to share their own favourite songs and moments from musical theatre and to take part in singalongs. There will also be screenings of Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Sessions include ‘Shaping Belief Through Musicals’ and ‘The Use of Musicals’ and a singalong screening of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
This course is led by Ian Bradley.
Click here to view the draft programme.
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
Taming Shakespeare
11th – 13th May
The poet Ben Jonson was uncannily prescient when, in the preface to the First Folio of 1623, he declared that Shakespeare was ‘not of an age but for all time’. But why have Shakespeare’s plays endured? And what is it about the idea of ‘Shakespeare’ that continues to signify good taste and highbrow status? Why and how did Shakespeare become – for some people at least – a sort of intellectual cough medicine: necessary, but not enjoyable? Whether you already love Shakespeare’s plays, or whether they’re a source of frustration to you, this course will enrich your understanding and enjoyment of them. It will be a weekend of Shakespeare without fear, with just one play – The Taming of the Shrew (c. 1594) – to read or watch in advance, and with all other materials provided for you.
Sessions include ‘’Shakespeare’s Sisters’: From Scolds’ Bridles to Rooms of their Own’ and ‘Shakespeare for the 21st Century’ and a film screening of The Taming of the Shrew (1967) directed by Franco Zeffirelli.
Emma Rees was Gladstone’s Library’s Political Writer in Residence in 2016. She is Professor of Literature and Gender Studies at the University of Chester and has taught Shakespeare and Renaissance literature in universities for over 20 years. In 2017 she finally achieved her goal of seeing every one of Shakespeare’s 37 plays live on stage at least once and came out of the experience with a better understanding of why some of them are so very rarely performed.
To read an interview with Emma about the course, click here.
Click here to view the full programme.
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
The Prophets: A Different Perspective
24th – 26th June
Deuteronomic theology forms the foundation of all the prophetic books in the Old Testament, and Christianity has used several Isaiah passages to point to the coming of Jesus. Is this appropriate, in light of his portrayal in the Gospels?
Consider selected passages from the books of Isaiah, Micah, Amos and Hosea with Lyn Bechtel.
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
The Gladstone Umbrella
13th – 15th July
A firm favourite of the Gladstone’s Library calendar returns for another year!
Whether you’ve grown up with a love of history and Victoriana or you’re an academic with a penchant for the ‘Grand Old Man’, no matter your background the Gladstone Umbrella is the conference for you.
This year's programme will be circulated upon confirmation of papers but you can view last year's programme here.
David Brooks was educated at Bedford School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, of which he later became a Fellow. His doctoral thesis was on Gladstone’s Fourth Ministry, 1892-94, and his published works include The Destruction of Lord Rosebery, 1894 - 95 and The Age of Upheaval: Edwardian politics, 1899 - 1914. For most of his career he has taught in the School of History at Queen Mary University of London.
Offers of papers should be sent to [email protected].
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
Seeing Christ in Human Rights
27th – 29th July
Virtually all of the world’s great religions have endorsed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Within the various Christian traditions, affirmations are commonplace, but what is it that Christians see when they engage with the Declaration through a Christ-centered lens? This course will explore the affirmation of dignity, community, and right relationship in the Declaration and question how its principles apply within the church. A goal of the weekend will be the cooperative creation of a PowerPoint presentation on human rights suitable for use in Christian education settings.
Donn Mitchell teaches at Berkeley College in New York and has taught at Princeton Theological Seminary. He formerly headed the Fellows Program at the Episcopal Church Foundation. He is the author of Tread the City’s Streets Again: The Theology and Vocation of Frances Perkins and serves as editor of The Anglican Examiner, a religion and public affairs website. Donn’s work has appeared in the Anglican Theological Review, the Christian Century and elsewhere. He has been an activist on behalf of the environment, LGBT rights, and the labor movement.
Click here to view the draft programme.
Residential prices start from £230, non-residential from £160. Discount rates for clergy and students apply.
For more information or to book, please call 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
For further information about any of the above events or to book, please call Reception on 01244 532350 or email [email protected].
Download a handy PDF events programme to your tablet or smartphone!