SWF Annual Conference 2024

Dr Munyurangabo Benda is a Tutor at the Centre for Black Theology at the Queen’s Theological Foundation in Birmingham. While studying law, the genocide against the Tutsi broke out in Rwanda and it led him to study theology to ask what a person seeking to do right ought to do when the foundations of law and order have been shattered. His PhD thesis from the University of Manchester used postcolonial analysis to critically compare the agency of Muslim and Christian communities in the genocide of 1994.

His current research interests in Theology revolve around the various intersections between active/practical faith and the public/political sphere.

Plenary presentation: Living and/as Learning Hope

Once, so Ernst Bloch tells us, people travelled far and wide to learn fear. However, in our time, fear comes easier, ever closer, more suffocating. At times, the very landscape of life feels like a work of creators of fear, a vast manufactory of anxieties. As a result, the toll on the health of our minds and souls is increasingly stretching into the realm of the catastrophic. In the circumstances, to speak of hope is daring, dangerous even. Yet, I want to suggest that this is indeed the feeling that suits us better, and serious intellectual-spiritual reflection on it is long overdue.

In my contribution to this conference, I will draw heavily on my personal experience of living through and after the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda (April-July 1994); reflecting on it as a journey of learning hope. In prose and poetry, I look into the despair of dehumanizing cruelty, the disappointment of institutional collapse – with the family, the church and the state at the forefront of my thinking, and the sheer hopelessness of absurd death. To have lived through, known and experienced that world is to truly understand failure, even the failure of understanding. To live after that world is no less spiritually and mentally exhausting.

To chart an exodus out of it is, has been a work of hope; one that has demanded of me to seek the love of success rather than failure. I do so by grounding individuals as sites of resilient hope, a hope that proved superior to fear and therefore unlocked possibilities for life in that world and the world that came after. By sharing the stories of those individuals that stood against fear and its creators on my behalf and others who were in my position, I hope – there goes that word again – to make a case for hope as a thing of this world, to be found in this world and to help this world.

The Revd Dr Jo Cox-Darling is a Methodist minister and practical theologian. She researches congregations in the midst of transition and creative change and is interested in questions of mission through the lens of leadership, innovation, and culture. She is the author of ‘Finding God in a Culture of Fear: discovering hope in God’s kingdom‘ (BRF, 2019). Jo is a Trustee of Southlands Methodist Trust.

Jo will bring our conference to a close with a reflection and poetry.

Bill Crooks is an artist and lifelong doodler with a background in international and community development. He has cartooned and illustrated for the charity and private sector and is currently working on anti-human trafficking and modern slavery issues. He also frequently facilitates therapeutic art workshops with asylum seekers and refugees and is passionate about enabling others to discover their creative gifts.

Bill will be capturing the day through cartoons that he will share with us.

Tazim Fatima is College Engagement and Activities Officer at Southlands College, University of Roehampton. She is a former Teach for India fellow, a part of the global Teach for All network. Tazim is passionate about educational equity and has initiated various empowerment projects in underserved communities in India. At Southlands College, she has led the Spreading Kindness project and a social language learning initiative named London Life. She is committed to serving underprivileged sections of society and promoting peace and harmony worldwide.

Plenary presentation: Planting Peace, Growing Hope

In this session, Tazim will discuss the Peace Pole project she initiated at Southlands College. Standing tall at the front of the college, the Peace Pole is adorned with the universal message, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” inscribed in multiple languages. This serves as a poignant reminder of our shared commitment to fostering a campus culture rooted in diversity, understanding, and cooperation. There are estimated to be over 250,000 Peace Poles across the world. The idea to introduce a Peace Pole was born out of a desire to create a physical symbol that embodies Southlands’ core values. As we navigate the challenges of our fast-paced lives, the Peace Pole stands as a steadfast reminder of the importance of peace, unity, and respect for all.

Rachel Griffiths is a participative theatre-maker, working in socially engaged practice, using theatre as a way to enable communities, often those on the social margins, to articulate a message, or a story that they want to tell, using the Theatre of the Oppressed methodology of Augusto Boal.

Plenary presentation: Living between two worlds

The act of challenging hope requires us to be present to the world as it is, and active in shaping the world as it should be. How do we find freedom as we live in this tension between these two worlds? This opening session will help us arrive well, awakening our imaginations to the reality and possibility of challenging hope. We will also have the chance to begin ‘doing’ some hope.

Breakout workshop: Theatre for Transformation: of ourself, our neighbour, our world

In this practical workshop we will use techniques from Theatre of the Oppressed and the language of Community Organising, to acknowledge the world as it is, and explore how we can collectively imagine the world as it should be. Participants will be invited to consider issues of injustice they feel passionate about and as a group, via theatre games and exercises, we will work towards seeing and crafting a way to address those injustices. 

No theatre or performance experience is necessary. Participants will be invited to take an active role, although no one will be obliged to do so. All activities will be within the realm of day-to-day activity. 

Steven van den Heuvel, PhD, is Director of the Institute of Leadership and Social Ethics at Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium, researching for a just and sustainable society. He leads the Hope Project, an interdisciplinary research project into the importance of ‘hope’, as a foundational human drive.

He is editor of Historical and Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Hope (Cham: Springer Open, 2020) and is co-editing the upcoming Oxford Compendium of Hope (2024). Find him too in two of our SWF podcast episodes (here and here).

Breakout workshop: Activating Hope in the Climate Justice Crisis

Elin Kelsey, PhD & Steven C. van den Heuvel, PhD

The climate justice crisis is often discussed in negative, doom-filled terms, leading many people to either frantic (and often disruptive) activism – making them prone to burn-out – or leading them to resignation and passivity. However, the apocalypticism of doomism is premature; while climate change is an urgent, global issue, there is evidence for and a necessity for hope. Hope creates the conditions through which empowerment and meaningful engagement with the climate justice crisis can occur.

In exploring this hope, Steven and Elin draw on new biological insights in the resilience and wisdom inherent in other species, from which we can learn. The session also includes a new look at the Christian virtue of hope, exploring its relevance for the context of the climate justice crisis.

In this session, Steven and Elin will not take a top-down approach, but rather one based on radical equality, whereby we will listen to each other, discovering the wisdom we all have, as we tease out hope-strategies in the context of the climate justice crisis.

Elin Kelsey, PhD, is a leading spokesperson, scholar and educator in the area of evidence-based hope. Elin’s work focuses on the reciprocal relationship between humans and the rest of nature, particularly in relation to the emotional implications of the narrative of environmental doom and gloom on children and adults. She is the author of Hope Matters: Why Changing the Way We Think Is Critical to Solving the Environmental Crisis (Greystone, 2020). Find her too in two of our SWF podcast episodes (here and here).

Breakout workshop: Activating Hope in the Climate Justice Crisis

Elin Kelsey, PhD & Steven C. van den Heuvel, PhD

The climate justice crisis is often discussed in negative, doom-filled terms, leading many people to either frantic (and often disruptive) activism – making them prone to burn-out – or leading them to resignation and passivity. However, the apocalypticism of doomism is premature; while climate change is an urgent, global issue, there is evidence for and a necessity for hope. Hope creates the conditions through which empowerment and meaningful engagement with the climate justice crisis can occur.

In exploring this hope, Elin and Steven draw on new biological insights in the resilience and wisdom inherent in other species, from which we can learn. The session also includes a new look at the Christian virtue of hope, exploring its relevance for the context of the climate justice crisis.

In this session, Elin and Steven will not take a top-down approach, but rather one based on radical equality, whereby we will listen to each other, discovering the wisdom we all have, as we tease out hope-strategies in the context of the climate justice crisis.

Dr Oded Adomi Leshem is a political psychologist and peace activist who has been fascinated by the concept of hope for at least a decade. His interest in hope (and its absence) began in 2012 with his first experimental studies on hope inducement. Since then, he has published numerous articles and book chapters on hope and despair as political phenomena and lectured on hope to a wide range of academic and non-academic audiences. His new book Hope Amidst Conflict was recently published by Oxford University Press.

Oded teaches and conducts his research at the Hebrew University, where he serves as a Senior Research Associate. He is also Research Fellow at the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace.

Plenary talk: Hope as a catalyst for social change

Combining philosophical, historical, and psychological perspectives, the talk takes the audience on a journey into the depths of hope and its role as an instigator of political and social change. Based on research on hope in times of crisis, we will try to answer thought-provoking questions such as: What is hope, and how does it operate in the current era marked by uncertainty? The talk also introduces the bi-dimensional model of hope that has been instrumental in defining and measuring hope in a wide variety of contexts.

Dr Heather Major is Research Fellow in New Places for New People, Evangelism and Growth at Cliff College, a joint appointment with the Methodist Church in Britain where she is the lead researcher in the New Places for New People initiative. She holds a PhD in Practical Theology, Rural Church & Mission from the University of Glasgow and her research interests include rural mission and the place of lament.

Plenary talk: Lamenting Hope

Biblical lament is often ambiguous, messy and uncomfortable. There are threads of pain, suffering, doubt and anger which are rarely found in our regular practices of prayer and worship. There are also echoes of hope and confident expectation.  The act of lamenting can be, in itself, an expression of hope in the midst of despair.

In this session, Heather will explore lament through the dual lenses of academic research and personal experience, encouraging conference attendees to consider the place of lament in their own lives, congregations and contexts.

Breakout workshop: Expressing Lament

In this workshop, participants will have an opportunity to explore expressing their own laments in different ways. Heather will facilitate a space for people to engage in the authentic messiness of lament through words, silence and creative expressions of art and music.

The Revd Nicola Morrison is Chaplain to Southlands College and Methodist Chaplain to the University of Roehampton, where she has been since 2017. She has had hymns published in the US and UK, including for the Methodist hymn book Singing the Faith and, in collaboration with The Revd Jane Leach, Wesley House Principal, a hymn that celebrated both Southlands’ 150^th anniversary and Wesley House’s 100^th (2022). Nicola loves the collaborative, community nature of her chaplaincy role and is passionate about the enduring role of the Methodist ethos at Southlands College.

Nicola will be with us throughout the day and available for conversation in a quiet space.

Bevan Powell, MBE, is Director for Inclusion for the Methodist Church and a member of the Racial Justice Advocacy Forum. He is a lifelong campaigner for race equality and human rights, and worked mainly in the Metropolitan Police Service. He was a founding member of the UK National Black Police Association and former Chair of the Metropolitan Black Police Association. In 1998 Bevan gave crucial evidence to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and helped to shape the language of ‘Institutional Racism’ and in 2007 was awarded an MBE for his contribution to policing. In 2014 he was elected Labour Councillor for the Golborne Ward, North Kensington.

Plenary presentation: Hope for Justice

Bevan, founding member of the UK National Black Police Association, former Labour councillor, and current Director for Inclusion for the Methodist Church and member of the Racial Justice Advocacy Forum, will tell the story of his lifelong pursuit of justice and the lessons he has learned about hope and change.

Dr Lia Dong Shimada is Senior Research Officer at the Susanna Wesley Foundation where she has worked since 2015. Her projects include editing the book ‘Mapping Faith: Theologies of Migration and Community‘ (Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2020) and collaborating with Theos Thinktank on the research project and report detailed below. She established the Death Café programme at Brompton Cemetery, where her infant son is buried.

Breakout workshop: When hope is challenged: discussing death

In this workshop, Lia will draw on her own story, and the research she carried out with Theos ThinkTank around death, dying and the afterlife – see report ‘Ashes to Ashes: Beliefs, Trends and Practices in Dying, Death and the Afterlife’ – to explore how to facilitate conversations about death. She will showcase different types of resource and provide opportunities for participants to experience them.