The Kingdom and the Power: Legacies of empire in scripture and beyond.

Join the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, in partnership with Cateclesia Institute for our sixth annual research conference.

This event starts with an afternoon session at 2pm BST on Monday 3rd June, followed by a dinner and a book launch of "Blessed Are the Peacemakers" book by Helen Paynter at 7.30pm. Morning and afternoon sessions are scheduled on Tuesday 4th June, with lunch included. The final morning session will run on Wednesday 5th June.

Venue: WOODLANDS Church Bristol, Woodlands Rd. BS8 2AA

Tickets available

General Admission: £120

Clergy: £80

Students: £ 80

Online: £60

Global South (online): £5

Conference schedule

MONDAY 3rd JUNE

2pm Welcome and opening address. Dr Helen Paynter/Dr Trevor Laurence

2.40-5.00 pm (Mis)appropriation of Empire. Chair: Dr Trevor Laurence
Keynote Speaker: Dr Helen Paynter

5.30pm Buffet dinner

7.30-9.00pm ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers’ Book Launch Chair: Dr Ashley Hibbard
Author: Dr Helen Paynter

TUESDAY 4th JUNE

9:30am Devotions (optional)

10.00am-12.30pm Nuance of Empire. Chair: Dr Ashley Hibbard
Keynote Speaker: Dr Peter Hatton

12.30-2.00pm Lunch

2.00-3.30pm Esther 8-9: Difficult text workshop. Chair: Dr Brandon Hurlbert

3.45-4.45pm A Postcolonial Reading of Empire .Chair: Kristin Speaker: Dr Zac Niringiye

5:30pm Dinner (only dessert and drinks will be provided)

7.30-9.30pm The Church, the Far Right, and the Claim to Christianity. Chair: Dr Maria Power

WEDNESDAY 5th JUNE

9.00am Devotions (optional)

9.30am The Holy Spirit, Christian Faithfulness, and Empire (Practical Theology)Chair: Francis Mathew Contributors including Dr Oleksandr Geychenko

12 noon Close

Event Speakers

Bishop Dr Zac Niringiye

Bishop Zac is a theologian and pastor and a civic-political activist in Uganda, involved in several civil society-led social justice and peace campaigns as a Citizens’ Manifesto Ambassador, an initiative under the Uganda Governance Monitoring Platform coordinated by the Uganda National NGO Forum, notably the Anti-Corruption advocacy in the Black Monday Movement. In addition, a Senior Fellow in a budding think tank - The Institute of Religion, Faith and Culture in Public Life (INTERFACE). Currently researching and writing on The Uganda Crisis and Christian Witness and the Common Good, Bishop Zac holds a PhD in Theology and Mission History from Edinburgh University.

Dr Oleksandr Geychenko

Oleksandr Geychenko is rector of Odesa Theological Seminary, Ukraine, where he got his undergraduate education and then served as senior librarian and academic dean. Oleksandr is the issuing editor of Theological Reflections: Eastern European Journal of Theology and has served on multiple editorial boards, including for the Journal of European Baptist Studies and the Slavic Bible Commentary (E-AAA, 2016). He has a PhD in theology from the University of St. Andrews, UK.

Revd Dr Helen Paynter

Helen is the founding director of the College’s Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence, which exists to facilitate cutting-edge research in the areas of hermeneutics of biblical violence and the abuse of the Bible in a violent world, and to serve the churches by providing resources in these areas. Helen is passionate about the Bible and its power, through the Spirit, to transform lives. Conversely, she is very concerned about the ways that it is sometimes used to cause harm, in a variety of settings. She loves teaching and preaching, and helping others to learn to do so. Her most recent publication is Blessed are the Peacemakers: A biblical theology of human violence (Zondervan, 2023).

Revd Dr Peter Hatton

Peter an associate lecturer at Trinity College and Bristol Baptist College and a former Methodist Minister. He earned his PhD at the University of Birmingham at the Book of Proverbs and his research interests are in Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament and the Intertestamental Period; Literary approaches to the Old Testament and Biblical Theology. Peter believes profoundly that all inspired Scripture is a reliable, authoritative guide for Christian discipleship.