Conference report written by the EHS Communications Officer Dr Emily Betz.
This year’s Summer Conference was held 18-20 July at the University of Warwick. The theme was ‘Margins and Peripheries’, chosen by our new president Peter Marshall (University of Warwick). This theme was chosen to encourage fresh and creative discussion of Christianity’s past, by considering it in relation to, and from the perspective of, a variety of things within it that historically have been considered marginal or peripheral. It turned out to be a captivating theme, and our speakers this year interpreted it in a variety of ways. From geographical peripheries to those whose history has been marginalised in Christianity, and even to the edges of theological ideologies, the papers this summer were creative and insightful.
The Society was thrilled to have three plenary lectures during the conference. As our incoming president, Professor Marshall started the conference on a brilliant note on Tuesday evening with his paper ‘Reformations and Resolutions in Britain’s Islands’. The following morning, we were treated to Professor Lesley Abrams (University of Oxford) as she spoke about conversion to Christianity on the margins in her lecture on ‘Locations of Encounter: The Scandinavian Diaspora in the Viking Age’. Following on a day full of papers, Professor John-Paul Ghobrial (University of Oxford) bravely took on the final plenary of the evening which started after 8pm. In spite of the late hour, his was a rousing talk on the history of Christian communities living in the Ottoman Empire, entitled ‘“A Babylon of Confusion”: Becoming Catholic in the Middle East, Early Modern Fantasies and Modern Myths’.
In addition to our wonderful plenary lectures, the conference featured over forty other papers. These ranged from early Christian theology to twentieth-century evangelism, from radical student beliefs in Korea to Mormon temple building in North America. The Society also had a chance to welcome Dr Kateryna Budz (University of Edinburgh) to the conference. As a Ukrainian scholar of church history, the Society is proud to have funded a fellowship for Dr Budz this year so that she could find a place of academic refuge in the UK. She spoke eloquently on ‘Life on the Margins: The Clandestine Ukrainian Greek Catholic Clergy in the Soviet Union (1946–1989)’.
As our conference drew to a close Thursday evening, the EHS Committee members graced us with a panel discussion to discuss the main themes of the conference (picture below). Overall, the theme for this year seemed to be quite a success, with people talking across geographic, chronological and thematic boundaries–a nice paradox in looking out to the periphery as a way of bringing people together. We look forward to what other perspectives on ‘Margins and Peripheries’ will be brought up in the online winter conference set for January 2024.
A special thanks to have our fantastic conference organiser Professor Liz Tingle, who planned a flawless conference for us, and the University of Warwick, which provided a wonderful background to learn and socialise with each other.
Ecclesiastical History Society 