Durham Conference September 2026 (update: Conference Registration Now Open)

Ecclesiology and Ethnography Conference 2026

This is the annual conference for the network bringing together scholars working on ethnographic approaches to theology and the study of religion. It is is a wide ranging conference, and part of the joy is discovering a diversity of specialisms and learning. Past papers have included approaches rooted in and drawing on practical theology, ethnography, systematic theology, ethics, ecclesiology, and social science. Attendees range from senior scholars to local ministers and this is an excellent place to present as a postgraduate or early career researcher, or as a pastor/scholar in ministry. Learning is generously shared and critiques are supportive. We encourage single and multi-authored papers.

We are delighted to announce that registration for the Ecclesiology and Ethnography conference 2026 in Durham is now open! See also the conference timetable below.

Conference Timetable Conference Registration

Important Information on Conference Registration (Please Read Carefully)

• We have recently onboarded a new booking system. Thank you for your patience, and please contact us with any issues at johns.conferences@durham.ac.uk.
• When booking, please select only the dates you require. This link is exclusively for EE conference delegates and covers Sunday 6 September to Friday 11 September. For additional dates, please email us.
• A range of room types is available. Please note that en‑suite rooms tend to sell out quickly.
• A £50 conference fee will be automatically added to each booking.
• For twin or double rooms, please ensure you indicate the correct number of occupants, as the conference fee will be applied per person.
• Room rates are discounted for the core conference period; standard B&B rates apply on shoulder dates.
  • After selecting your room and clicking “Book Now”, you will be asked to choose between Full meal package (£110), or Refreshments Only (£18). Please choose the option that best suits your needs. Please do not skip this option as this will cause more admin work down the line. Catering cards for the full meal package will be issued at check‑in.
• A 15% deposit is required at the time of booking. The remaining balance will be charged 14 days prior to arrival. Full cancellation terms and payment details are available within the booking link.
• If you do not require accommodation, please choose NO ACCOMMODATION on list of rooms. It charges £1 per day and gives you options to choose your meal package and pay conference fee.

🔗 Accommodation booking link:
https://us2.cloudbeds.com/reservation/4gwFLr?allotment_block_code=b714183

More Information

The Conference is run in association with The Department of Theology and Religion and St John’s College, Durham University and is based in St John’s College, in the centre of historic Durham. Our meals and accommodation will also be within the college. A limited number of en-suite rooms are available, allocated on a first come, first served basis. St John’s College is about a fifteen minute walk from Durham Rail Station. From Newcastle airport you can ride the Metro to Newcastle Central Station, where you can find frequent trains to Durham. Otherwise, you can book a car with Airport Express to take you from the airport directly to St John’s College.

The Durham Conference is particularly friendly which is helped by the conversations in the college bar, and folk music night on the Wednesday. Bring your instruments and join in!

Draft Timetable of the Ecclesiology and Ethnography Conference Durham (8-10 September 2026, St John’s College, Durham)

Note that some changes may be made to this draft; please check back in early September for the final programme.

(latest update: 7 July 2026)

Information for Presenters

• Please let Susanna Snyder know if there are typos or you cannot make your paper slot by emailing her at susanna.snyder@theology.ox.ac.uk. Please only request a time change if you absolutely cannot make the allocated slot.
• Please upload your 10-15 page paper via this paper submission form by Wednesday 2 September.
• Seminar Paper slots are 30 minutes; Track Paper slots are 45 minutes. Please remember only to speak for half of this allotted time, leaving the rest for discussion and Q&A.

Tuesday 8 September

11.30am         Arrivals, Tea and Coffee

1.00pm           Lunch (Dining Room)

2.00pm           Plenary Session (Learning Resource Centre (LRC))

Welcome: Pete Ward; Chair: Susanna Snyder

• Heather Walton and Wren Radford—Creative and Arts-Based Methods (title TBC)
• Panel: Heather Walton, Wren Radford, Robert Song and Christian Scharen—Creativity in Times of Crisis

4.00pm           Tea (Dining Room)

4.30pm           Track Session (45 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Sabrina Müller—Grounded Theology: Rethinking the Theological Work within Grounded Theory
• Deborah Hancox—“Following to Make a Way”: A classic grounded theory of a nascent missional ecclesial pattern discovered within Christian development organisations in Cape Town, South Africa.

Room 2: All Churches Room (LRC)

• Kylyn Brad Taylor—Not at My Table: The Peter Paradigm and Boundary-Crossing Leadership in Post-Pandemic Black Baptist Ecclesiology
• Leah Kadwell—Geneological Dignity and the Majority World: Honoring Rooted Heritage

Room 3: Leech Hall (The College)

• Tomas Ray—Churches’ Response to the Celebration of Lunar New Year
• Maria Ledstam—When Listening Is the Form of Action: Probing an Ecclesiology of Interreligious Common Life

Room 4: Tristram Room (The College)

• Janos Kovacs-Biro— Navigating Faith and Identity: Religious Commitment, Departure, and Belief Negotiation within the Seventh-day Adventist Community
• Joel Agpalo Tejedo—The Face of Charismatic Leadership of Pentecostal Megachurch in Singapore: A Case Study of the Life and Ministry of Kong Hee and Sun Ho

6.00pm           Evening Meal (Dining Room)

7.00pm           Seminar Session (30 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Lisa Granberg—Learning from Abrahamic Leaders
• Clara-Marie Rymatzki—Prompting Theology: How Church Actors Use and Interpret AI

Room 2: All Churches Room (LRC)

• Ann Logie—The Church of Migrants in the United Arab Emirates: A Model for Religious Coexistence and Social Cohesion?
• Tim Wong—Re-Forming Ecclesiology in Migratory Britain: A Theological Ethnography of Chinese Christian Communities in Hybridity

Room 3: Leech Hall (The College)

• Lizzy Peach—Autistic Christians in evangelical churches: putting faith into practice
• Monica Jones—Images of the Congregation: Congregational Ecclesiology in Autistic Experiences

Room 4: Tristram Room (The College)

• Mike MacKenzie—Swaying and Staggering: A (provisional) theological rehabilitation of doubt
• Amin Josua—Searching for Success. A Practical-Theological Framework for the Communication of the Gospel with Young People

8.30pm           College Bar Open

Wednesday 9 September

8.00am           Breakfast (Dining Room)

9.00am           Track Session (45 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Susanna Snyder—Textures of Hope: Community, Agency and Creativity
• Tone Stangeland Kaufman—Entangled Experience as Source in Theological Reflection

Room 2: All Churches Room (LRC)

• Victoria Turner—Teaching the Legacies of Slavery in TEI’s: Confronting Complicit and Entangled Trans-Atlantic Histories in Theological Pedagogies
• Ruth Perrin—Behind the anecdotes. An exploration of the conversion of young British men to Christianity

Room 3: Leech Hall (The College)

• Ian Terry—An autoethnographic exploration of how a church school can empower student voice which facilitates mentoring, upbuilding agency, forgiveness and encouraging the school to be a community of Christian love.
• Léon van Ommen—Praying with Your Feet: Speechless Spirituality of Non-Speaking Autistic Christians

10.30am         Coffee (Dining Room)

11.00am         Track Session (45 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Eddie A. Rosa Fuentes—The Flesh That Argues: Decolonial Theoperformance as Methodological Horizon
• Christine Wenona Hoffmann—Learning by Doing: Participatory Citizen Science and Spiritual Care

Room 2:  All Churches Room (LRC)

• James Butler and Ash Cocksworth—Renewing the theology of Holy Communion through online practice: a theological action research project into Holy Communion Online in the Methodist Church
• Sophia Zhang—Sacrifice or Weakness? Gen Z Audience Reception of Holy Horror

Room 3:  Leech Hall (The College)

• Sanjee Perera—A Contested Ecclesiology: Belonging, Identity and Ethno-social disenfranchisement in the Church of England
• Jayabalan Murthy—Swedish Mission and Kallar Lutheran in Tamil Nadu: from Subaltern, Ethnographic, and Ecclesiological Perspectives

Room 4: Tristram Room (The College)

• Richard Saunders-Hindley—Renewal or Schism? Catholicity and the Practice of Contemporary Church Planting
• Enrique José Grez-López—Flickering Embers: The Legacy of Charismatic Remittances after the Pallottine-Schoenstatt Split

12.30pm         Lunch (Dining Room)

Ecclesial Practices Lunch Meeting

1.30pm           Plenary Session (Learning Resource Centre (LRC))

Chair: Knut Tveitereid

• Perzavia Praylow—Carrying the Load: Black Presbyterian Women, Mission Work, and the Sustainability of Rural Southern Presbyterian Congregations in the USA
• Pete Ward—Theological Ethnography: A Proposal

3.30pm           Tea/Break (Dining Room)

4.00pm           Seminar Session (30 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Johannes Fröh—Christian Non-Volunteers’ Theologies of Volunteering: A Grounded Theory Study
• Andreas Bernberg—The Theopolitical Character of the Church of Sweden

Room 2: All Churches Room (LRC)

• Jakob Svensson—Conversion, migration and freedom of religion. A discussion on leaving one religion for another
• Jarle Waldemar—The Spirit within Pentecostal Pastoral Care

Room 3 Leech Hall (The College)

• Lui Wai Shan—Conjoined Multilingual Ecclesiology: The Interpreter as a Site of Somatic Witness and Theological Renewal
• Lisa Kerry—The Use of Found Poems as a way of articulating Baptist Ministers’ experiences of leading funerals

Room 4: Tristram Room

• Aline Knapp—Rethinking Spirituality. Practical-theological Reflections on Postdigital Heterotopia
• Tobias Adam—Whose Flourishing? Wrestling with a tension in postdigital christian fieldwork on ecospirituality

5.00pm           Short Break

5.15pm           Seminar Session (30 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Mark Ord—And a second is like it: mission patterned on prayer
• Titti Kallio—Churchgoer Experiences of Sunday Services: Emotions and Psycho-physiological States Measured by Self-reports and Smart Rings

Room 2: All Churches Room (LRC)

• Louise Høgild Pedersen—An Atmospheric Experience of a Pastoral Care Room
• Anna Bishop—Does academic have to mean intellectual? Intuition as a challenge to brain-only methods of qualitative research in Practical Theology

Room 3: Leech Hall (The College)

• Jonna van den Berge-Bakker—TBC
• Hanne Therese Loftesnes—Making Space for Vulnerability: Healing Prayer in Norwegian Lutheran Congregations

Room 4: Tristram Room

• Mike Gammill—Practicing Faith, Leading Churches: A MacIntyrean Inquiry into Evangelical Clergy Virtue Narratives
• Grigol Bendeliani—The processes of raising and educating children in Georgian and ancient Eastern monasteries

6.45pm           Evening Meal

8.00pm               Bluegrass Session; College Bar Open

Thursday 10 September

8.00am           Breakfast

9.00am           Track Session (45 Minute Papers)

Room 1: Learning Resource Centre (LRC)

• Keith Chappell—Envisioning Recovery in the Context of Church-related Abuse: Findings of the Jagged Edges arts project
• Heleen Joziasse—Seen and Unseen: Sharing Lived Faith in Community-and-Church House Shalom

Room 2: All Churches Room (LRC)

• Katharina Freudenberg—Leadership and Participation in Messy Churches in German-speaking countries
• Sarah Dunlop—Using photographs to Examine a Threshold Concept: Should the Bible Feature in a Conversation about Mental Health?

Room 3: Leech Hall (The College)

• Henna Cundill—Constricting the ‘perfect’ ADHD Disciple
• Marten van der Meulen—The art of homemaking as lesson for the church

10.30am         Coffee (Dining Room)

11.00am         Plenary Session (Learning Resource Centre (LRC))

Chair: Pete Ward

• James Harding—Sacred Tattoo: Embodied Theology, Biblical Exegesis, and Lived Religion
• Edward David—The Spiritual Narratives of Generation Z: From Divine Disillusionment to Simple Faith

1.00pm           Lunch (Dining Room)

NOTES

• If you have any questions during the conference, please speak to the conferencing team via reception for practical matters, or Knut Tveitereid or Susie Snyder for programme-related issues.

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Conference Organising Group

Prof Pete Ward, Durham University; Dr Knut Tveitereid, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo; Dr Susanna Snyder, University of Oxford; Dr Jasper Bosman, Theological University Utrecht.

Conference Advisory Group

Prof. Paul Fiddes, Oxford University; Rev Dr Christian Scharen, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago; Dr Tone Kaufman, MF Norwegian School of Theology