United Reformed Church National Synod of Scotland

The URC and the Congregational Federation has organised Courage, Conscience and Conviction – a conference to reflect on the contemporary relevance of 350 years of dissenting history. It will take place at Mansfield College, Oxford, 16-18 March 2012.

Provocative interjections will be a feature of a gathering to discuss the inheritance of dissent today. Guest speakers, including Baroness Helena Kennedy QC (pictured), one of Britain’s top lawyers, will offer brief, thoughtful and provocative interventions to punctuate round table conversations.

This autumn Helena Kennedy has taken up the post of principal of Mansfield College. She said: “The glory of Mansfield for me is its dissenting tradition – providing education for those originally excluded from Oxford.” Her contributions to the conference will be on the politics of dissent.

Other provocations will come from: the Revd Dr Alan Argent, former president of the Congregational Federation, who will speak on the history of dissent; The Revd Neil Thorogood, director of pastoral studies at Westminster College, one of the URC’s resource centres for learning, on the art of dissent; and the Revd Dr Graham Adams Congregational minister and member of the Congregational Federation Training Board, on the Christology of dissent.

The Act of Uniformity of 1662 ruled that to hold any office in government or the Church it was necessary to conform to the Book of Common Prayer.  Many clergy chose not to do so – or did not want to be ordained by a bishop – and left the Church of England, in what became known as the Great Ejection.  Although there were already some ministers outside the established church, this significantly increased the number of dissenters, and from this began the independent tradition, now represented in the United Reformed Church and the Congregational Federation.

More details of the conference are available from Philippa Linton at

Described as “not your usual kind of theological conference” it promises to excite, annoy, challenge and provoke those who attend. It will end with an invitation to participants to worship on Mothering Sunday at a Congregational Church with a United Reformed Church preacher or vice versa, having spent the weekend together in conversation about God and public life and reflecting on dissent in history, art, Christology and politics. The cost is £200/£90 for residential/non-residential attendance. Further details can be found here

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