Faith in the World Conference at Church House Conference Centre, 4 February 2010

The philosophy IB group joined students from Church of England schools from across the UK to take part in an afternoon with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, the Revd Richard Coles, Curate of St Paul’s Knightsbridge, and broadcaster and professor Elaine Graham, Professor of Practical Theology, University of Chester.

After the lecture and questions there was a poster session where the students showcased their answers to the question, “What does faith mean for society today?” and talked informally with other students and the speakers. Our young philosophers were lucky enough to have a conversation with Archbishop Rowan himself!

Ellie said of the day: “Revd Richard Coles taught us from his experience in the mainstream media that world issues such as poverty and war seem to be ignored because other issues are deemed more important, such as celebrity news and gossip. He was a dynamic and interesting speaker.”

Nour agreed: “Revd Coles was more liberal than I expected a reverend to be, and the Archbishop argued that the Church of England needed to be involved and putting forward the view of faith in parliament over matters like the equalities bill.”

The Archbishop quoted Dennis Potter who said, “Religion is the wound, it is not the bandage”, which raised lots of questions for our students about the purpose of religion. Detzi said, “The speakers challenged the stereotypical idea of faith and showed that human perceptions of the world don’t have to be limited to what we can see. Faith asks the question, what do I want my life to mean?”

Michael said, “The afternoon really helped me rethink my understanding of the Church of England, and the openness of the speakers impressed me.”