'All We Restless Travellers': A Conference on Pilgrimage

'All We Restless Travellers': A conference on pilgrimage

Join us at Christ Church Cathedral for a celebration and exploration of the past, present, and future of Christian pilgrimage.

Discover new perspectives with practitioners, scholars, and all those interested in pilgrimage, as we gather in the beautiful surroundings of Christ Church for discussion and learning.

Talks in the Chapter House will explore the history of pilgrimage in Oxford, different ways of being a pilgrim in the modern period, and the theology and spirituality of pilgrimage. The keynote speaker is Dr Andrew Dunning, R.W. Hunt Curator of Medieval Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library. He will give the main address on the experiences of medieval pilgrims coming to St Frideswide’s shrine in Oxford, an important aspect of local history. Dr Dunning is preparing new editions and translations of the medieval Lives of Frideswide and the Miracles of Frideswide.

Further speakers include historians, theologians, ministers, and practitioners from English and Welsh cathedrals, the British Pilgrimage Trust, the Confraternity of St James, and from academic departments and museums in London, Manchester, and Oxford: including Mark Clavier, Guy Hayward, William Griffiths, Kathryn Hurlock, Anne Bailey, Andrew Christensen, Catherine Clarke, Peter Doll, and Sally Welch.

The day after the conference, the cathedral team will inaugurate the St Frideswide Way, which runs down the River Thames and joins with the Camino Ingles and its route to Santiago de Compostela. Anne Bailey, Sally Welch, and Zachary Guiliano will lead a group of pilgrims on the four-day journey from Oxford to Reading, stopping in churches and sacred sites along the way. The Rt Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford, will bless the walkers as they set out from Christ Church, and others will meet and send them along their way each day with prayers of blessing.

Please sign up for the conference via this Eventbrite page, but click here to register your interest for the walk.

Host or Publisher The Lord-Lieutenant of Oxfordshire and the Chapter of Christ Church