Details of the 2012 Conference will be posted here over the
next few months as they are finalised.
Dates: 30th April to 4th May 2012
Cost: tbc
booking forms will be available
Title: Psst!.....Look who’s talking?
Follow this link for Presentations
‘Psst!’ says the voice, catching our attention. Curious,
we turn to see where it’s coming from, but it keeps on moving,
just on the edges of our awareness. Who does the voice belong to? What
would we hear if we stopped long enough to pay attention? What might
unfold if we did? And what might change?
Hearing voices – it’s something we associate with madness
– or mysticism. But hearing voices – particularly those
that people discount, discard, dismiss or disown – is central to
the work of pastor, social worker, politician, counsellor, priest,
spiritual director or social activist. Not all voices are easy to hear,
though, and we have to give conscious attention to the quiet ones, the
off-centre ones, the ones that unsettle us, the ones that we suppress
– both in others and within ourselves. And then there’s
that still, small voice which keeps on saying ‘Psst!’ just
when we thought we’d got everything sorted…
The 2010 Continuing the Journey conference invites you to stop for a
week and look to see who’s talking…
Meet the Speakers: our practice to invite four speakers to come
to our theme from different perspectives: theological/biblical,
social/pastoral, spirituality, psychology or therapy. Our speakers this
year are Bill Bazely, John Bell, Isabel Clarke and Margaret Silf
Bill
Bazely is a Mental Health Chaplain and an Anglican minister. He
much prefers listening to speaking and encourages people, organisations
and communities to spend more time listening to each other and to
themselves. In recent years he has tried to share his conviction that
spirituality is a vital component of good mental health. Part of his
work focuses on reducing stigma by enabling dialogue between and within
the NHS, the Church and the Community; on challenging taboos and
prejudices associated with mental health issues; on promoting respect
for the spiritual needs of the person, whether
‘professional’ or ‘patient’ or both. He
prioritises pastoral and spiritual care and counselling in his
chaplaincy work. His wife and present hobbies of photography and
tending an allotment plot help to keep him as sane as he thinks he can
be in a mad world.
John Bell is a native of
Kilmarnock, who lives in Glasgow where he studied Arts and Theology.
After spells of voluntary work in London and Amsterdam, and engagements
in student politics, he was ordained by the Church of Scotland. For ten
years he worked in youth ministry with his colleague, Graham Maule,
before transferring to concentrate on music and worship. He lectures,
preaches and conducts seminars across the denominations in Europe,
North America, Australasia, and more recently, in Southern Africa. He
is a hymn writer, author and occasional broadcaster on national radio
and television, but retains a primary passion for congregational song.
Isabel
Clarke is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist, currently employed as
Psychological Therapies Lead in a new NHS Acute Inpatient Unit
(Woodhaven, New Forest). She has a particular interest in the
psychology of spirituality, and in her most recent book, 'Madness,
Mystery and the Survival of God' ( O Books, 2008), she brings together
the themes of the persistence of religion and spirituality in a secular
age, and the experience of otherness, whether reported by mystics or
those diagnosed with psychosis. Over the last 10 years, she has
published, organised conferences and given talks in the area of
psychosis and spirituality as well as on CBT for severe mental health
problems and on therapy in inpatient settings. Details of her
publications and activities can be found on her web
site:www.isabelclarke.org
Margaret
Silf is an ecumenical lay Christian, committed to working across
and beyond the denominational divides. For most of her working life she
was employed in the computer industry and left paid employment in 2000
to devote herself to writing and accompanying others on their spiritual
journey, especially through retreats and days of reflection. She is the
author of a number of books on the spiritual journey for 21st century
pilgrims who may or may not identify with institutional religion, and a
regular columnist with “America” magazine.