2021 Annual Conference – Practical Theology as Ecotheology
Practical Theology as Ecotheology
In an era when scientists warn there is limited time left in which to reverse the most catastrophic effects of climate change, BIAPT 2021 will turn its attention to this most urgent of issues and to wide-ranging engagement with ecological thinking. How do we interpret and respond to our contemporary ecological crisis in the light of our diverse faith traditions? What theological resources, practices and convictions will enable us to respond most creatively and prophetically to planetary changes? What kinds of conversations between science and theology do we need to encourage and enable?
Please consider supporting either of our Conference Bursary scheme or our BAME Bursary scheme by making a donation. You can find further information by following the links.
Booking for this event has now closed
Welcome to our 2021 Conference pages which we hope will provide all the information you need to book a place at the conference, and/or to offer a paper, workshop or art exhibit to the conference.
If anything, the subject of climate change and religious responses to climate crisis, has become even more urgent and topical since last year, when we were hoping to have had our face-to-face conference. The crisis of COVID-19 has highlighted for the world the risks of human hubris which does not respect the boundaries between different orders of creation, different habitats and species. Lockdowns around the world have offered a kind of breathing space to humans and the planet, and we have seen the positive benefits of this in a variety of ways. As we emerge out of the pandemic (God willing), it is vital that we do not revert to ‘business as usual’ if that means continuing to act with disregard towards the consequences of our actions on the planet. We expect our conference to help us all engage in this vital topic in a range of ways and with the help of an excellent line-up of speakers and conversation partners.
Professor Nicola Slee, Chair of BIAPT
We are planning the conference, using the Whova platform, as an online experience which will be flexible across different time-zones and as varied and creative as possible. This won’t simply be the conference we might have had face to face converted to online delivery, but a different kind of online experience. The Whova platform enables many different kinds of engagement over the course of our conference, from informal chats between colleagues and friends (which can be set up spontaneously once the conference is live), keynote sessions, workshops and papers, along with a new feature this year: an online gallery space which replicates on-line the experience of walking around a gallery and enjoying different works of art.
BIAPT 2021 Laptop and Desktop Access
BIAPT 2021 Smartphone App Access
Coupled with keeping the cost of the conference low – only £50 for the whole programme – we very much hope that the flexibility of the programme will enable larger numbers of international students and colleagues to participate than ever before. We are also working closely with those who plan the annual Professional Doctorate Summer School to embed their programme into our 5-day conference in a way that will bring the doctoral students more fully into the life of our conference.
Information about our keynote speakers, poet in residence and panelists has been up on the website for some time, but do take a look if you have not already seen this. We are delighted to be welcoming Dr Seforosa Carroll, a Fiji-born Pacifica theologian who recently moved to Geneva to take up her role as Programme Executive for Mission from the Margins. Sef will be sharing with us something of her experience of climate change in the Pacific, and consider faith responses to the challenges of climate change.
Dr Hilary Marlow, a biblical scholar and freelance researcher and writer on faith and the environment, will explore humanity’s role within creation from biblical perspectives, acknowledging some of the unhelpful ways in which Christian tradition has interpreted the Hebrew scriptures as well as calling upon biblical traditions in more helpful and positive ways.
Our third keynote session will be offered by a panel of climate change activists and artists convened by Dr Anna Fisk, lecturer in theology and religious studies at the University of Glasgow and member of Extinction Rebellion Scotland. Joining Dr Fisk, layla-roxanne hill is a writer/curator-artist/organiser who has been involved in investigative journalism and many other avenues of socio-political action. Zarina Ahmad combines concerns around climate change with an equalities agenda, raising a sometimes neglected voice from Ethnic Minorities to address issues of faith and climate justice. The panel will bring distinctive perspectives to our learning and engagement as they share reflections on their practice, both artistic and political.
Our poet in residence, Dr Sam Tongue, has two pamphlet publications of poetry and is also a theologian based in the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Glasgow. Sam lectures on theology through creative practice, and some of us enjoyed working with him in a workshop he offered last summer as part of our ‘Summer gathering’ events.
Alongside keynote sessions and shorter reflective sessions from Sam, our conference will offer a variety of opportunities for smaller group reflection, through mixed reflection groups and meetings of Special Interest Groups on the Bible and Practical Theology, Mission, Spirituality, Chaplaincy and Theological Education. Worship from different geographical locations and traditions will be offered as spaces for a different kind of engagement throughout the conference. We expect a number of publishers to be present in virtual form, offering discounts on their publications.
We have deliberately extended the length of our conference from the normal two and a half days to five, given that there are no extra costs associated with extending an online platform. We will be limiting the main events each day from 11:30 to 16:30 BST, and their equivalents in North America and Asia, recognising that long days online are exhausting. Delegates will have the freedom to opt in and out as they choose
We are excited to have secured some excellent contributors for our 2021 conference, including:
Keynote speaker: Dr Seforosa Carroll
Seforosa (Sef) is a Fiji born Rotuman who spent her formative years growing up in Lautoka, the Western side of Viti Levu in Fiji. These formative experiences continue to inform Sef’s theological reflections on interfaith and cross-cultural relationships, and gender and culture from a diasporic perspective of a migrant who calls Australia one of her homes. Sef graduated with a PhD in theology at Charles Sturt University in 2015. Sef is a Research Fellow of the Public and Contextual Theology Research Center (PaCT), Charles Sturt University, Australia and was formerly a visiting lecturer with the School of Theology, United Theological College Charles Sturt University in theology. Sef is a CTI Fellow and was a resident member of the 2017-2018 Inquiry into Religion and Migration at the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton. Sef will complete her time with UnitingWorld at the end of October where she worked as a theological researcher (climate and gender) and facilitating church partner relationships in Australia and the Pacific. Sef’s research interests are in the challengers of gender based violence, climate migration/displacement and justice, and religious pluralism/interfaith dialogue. Sef is a great believer in the powerful role theology can play in bringing about transformative change. Sef began a new role with the World Council of Churches based in Geneva on January 1 2020 as the Programme Executive for Mission from the Margins.
Climate Change, Faith and Theology in the Pacific (Oceania)
The Pacific, ‘the liquid continent’, is among a number of countries in the world on the forefront of climate change. For the low lying atoll communities of Tuvalu, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Tokelau and the Maldives time is already running out. The rising sea level, the ‘overflowing ocean’ (Pilkey, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, & Pilkey, 2016) is drowning them out. Within the last five years Tonga, Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa have experienced destructive category 4 and 5 cyclones. The effects of El Nino are currently being experienced in the highlands of PNG, parts of Vanuatu and Fiji. Many continue to die of hunger due to famine. It is expected that 4.37 million people in the Pacific are likely to be affected and at risk from drought (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). The communities of the Pacific are already suffering the effects of climate change. The changes to the environment are having an impact on the spiritual and cultural lives of communities. The church and faith are critical pillars for Pacific Island communities and an important aspect of cultural identity. These pillars are now being challenged by the impact of climate change. This paper will consider the theological and spiritual implications of climate change as experienced by communities in the Pacific. The paper will consider how and why theology can either be transforming or disempowering mediators for change and therefore cannot be ignored in the conversations on climate change in the Pacific. The paper will explore the theological questions people are asking, the challenges communities are facing, and the role of theology and faith in building resilient communities.
Keynote speaker: Dr Hilary Marlow
Hilary is a Biblical scholar and a freelance researcher and writer on faith and the environment. She works part-time as Graduate Tutor and Director of Studies at Girton College, Cambridge, and teaches Hebrew Bible in the Faculty of Divinity. Hilary has honours degrees in Social Sciences (University of Manchester) and Biblical Studies (King’s College London), and her 2007 PhD from the University of Cambridge was published as Biblical Prophets and Contemporary Environmental Ethics (Oxford 2009). Her primary research focus continues to be eco-critical readings of biblical texts, and she also incorporates insights from critical spatiality and new materialism into her work. She also speaks on faith and the environment to other faith groups (in particular Jewish and Muslim). Hilary is a member of the Editorial Committee of the Grove Books Biblical Series and a member of the Steering Group for the Society of Biblical Literature’s Ecological Hermeneutics Programme Unit. For many years she has been actively involved in the Christian conservation charity A Rocha and speaks regularly on environmental concerns to lay and specialist audiences.
Creation, Humanity and Hubris in the Hebrew Scriptures
In the context of ever-worsening environmental degradation, scientists as well as religious leaders increasingly recognise the role of moral and spiritual values as drivers of people’s behaviour, and have drawn attention to the role of religion in moderating and transforming community attitudes towards nature. But the Western Christian tradition has come under criticism for legitimising the exploitative use of earth’s resources, based on an exclusive focus on Genesis 1 and misleading interpretations of it. This paper will explore a number of other ways in which the Hebrew scriptures can support a robust environmental theology and praxis. It will first consider some neglected aspects of creation theology rooted in the scriptures and in the insights of the church fathers. The paper will then explore humanity’s role within creation including biblical injunctions against hubris and injustice, before discussing some Hebrew scriptures ethical principles and their implications for ecotheological praxis.
Activist Responses to Climate and Ecological Crisis
Three panelists engaged with climate justice activism share reflections on their practice and its intersections with religion, including discussion of faith as a motivation for action, how aspects of Christian theology may be deployed for activism in problematic ways, and decolonising the climate movement.
Dr Anna Fisk is Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of 
Glasgow, and an activist with Extinction Rebellion Scotland. As an academic, she writes and teaches on feminist theology and the intersection of religion with culture, weaving autobiography into her theological reflection and religious scholarship. As an activist, Anna organises with the climate justice movement in Scotland, taking direct action against fossil fuel corporations and calling for a just transition for oil and gas workers.
layla-roxanne hill is a writer/curator-artist/. She advocates for non-commodifiable collective liberation and is also active within
the trade union movement, holding positions within the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Scottish TUC. She has curated- exhibited at shows and has been a public speaker at a range of events, including Glasgow International and Edinburgh International Festivals, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) and the Wellcome Collection, as well as leading and contributing to other (inter)national multi-media, collective-organising and creative activities. layla-roxanne currently writes for Bella Caledonia, is curator at enough! scotland and has a forthcoming co-authored book, Black Oot Here: Black Lives in Scotland to be published in 2022 by Bloomsbury.
Zarina Ahmad’s work as Climate Change & Environmentalist, CEMVO Scotland, combines two important social justice issues: Equalities and Climate Change. She aims to change the landscape of the environmental sector with more engagement with diverse communities, raising the voice from the Ethnic Minority sector. Her expertise is behaviour change and community action, empowering the marginalised, primarily through connecting faith to the protection of the earth. Zarina is responsible for establishing many EM projects across Scotland, particularly in faith-based communities and inter-faith groups. She is a regular voice discussing environmental issues on both BBC Scotland and the community Radio Awaz. Zarina also delivers training specialising on Climate Change, Climate Leadership, Climate Justice, Eco Feminism, and Equalities & Diversity.
Dr Sam Tongue A poet and theologian, Sam is based in the 
Faculty of Theology at the University of Glasgow. He is a widely published poet with two pamphlet collections: Stitch (Tapsalteerie, 2018) and Hauling-Out (Eyewear, 2016) and his first full collection, Sacrifice Zones (Red Squirrel Press, February 2020). Sam is also project coordinator at the Scottish Poetry Library and regularly chairs and leads panels and workshops at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Sam holds a PhD in Religion, Literature, and Culture and lectures in ‘Theology Through Creative Practice’ at the University of Glasgow.
“My present academic and creative work questions whether humans are separate from the rest of creation; this idea is a major contributor to our multiple ecological crises. In part, ‘religion’ is to blame and theologies of human dominion or stewardship are extremely problematic; anthropogenic climate change is baked into these ideologies. At the Practical Theology as Ecotheology conference, I am looking forward to learning and reflecting with you on how theological and poetic alternatives may be found within the theologies that are available or that may be developed. During the present period of mass extinction, hope lies in whether these can be deployed for practical purposes, seeding radical political and social change.”
BIAPT is committed to helping those who might otherwise not feel able to attend our annual conference. We have 2 bursary schemes:
- Conference Bursaries may be applied for by any BIAPT member in financial need. All Conference Bursaries will be awarded subject to available funding, up to the value of £50. Apply here for a Conference Bursary.
- BAME Bursaries may be applied for by BAME & BAME heritage BIAPT members.
If you wish to support either of our Conference Bursary scheme or our BAME Bursary scheme by making a donation, please find further information by following the links.
For further details about our new BAME Bursary scheme, supported by the Susanna Wesley Foundation, please read on.
BIAPT is keen to facilitate Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) students, scholars and practitioners, and those of BAME heritage, to participate and contribute to its Annual Conference. [We understand that some prefer to identify as African, African Caribbean, Asian, Majority World Christians or Christians from the Majority World, or of Majority World heritage.] We want to address the marginalisation of their voices, questions, experiences and perspectives and to become a space for deeper and broader theological conversation.
To that end, BIAPT is partnering with the Society for the Study of Theology (SST), and with the Susanna Wesley Foundation, to introduce a bursary scheme for BAME scholars, students and practitioners that will cover much of the cost of attending the conference. . If you are BAME or someone of BAME heritage and would like to join us at the conference but the cost presents an obstacle to you doing so, please do apply. These funds are for those for whom the full conference cost would pose a financial difficulty.
There are a limited number of bursaries available, and bursaries will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. We anticipate that this scheme will be oversubscribed so we suggest you apply promptly and consider making an additional application for a BIAPT Conference Bursary in the event you are not successful in your BAME Bursary application.
Apply here for the BAME Bursary. Successful applicants will be awarded bursaries of £50 (supported by funding from the Susanna Wesley Foundation) which covers the full cost of the online conference.
Please note:
- Applicants who successfully applied for a BAME Bursary to attend the SST conference in the same calendar year will not be eligible to apply.
- If you are successful in your BIAPT BAME Bursary application, you will not also be awarded a BIAPT Conference Bursary.
- In order to receive a bursary, you must be a member of BIAPT. If you are not already a member, please follow this link.
We welcome 200 – 300 word abstracts for 20 minute papers, from a range of disciplines and religious and spiritual traditions and emerging themes in non-religion.
Because the conference this year is online and we are therefore not constrained by physical space, we can accommodate more papers and workshops than we currently have had submitted. Therefore we are extending the deadline for Paper & Workshop proposals to Sunday 16 May.
To learn more please click on the links below:
We welcome 200 – 300 word abstracts for workshops of 40 or 80 mins duration. To read more please click on the link below.
We are looking for a wide range of artistic exhibits to populate our conference virtual gallery. To learn more please click on the link below.
BIAPT has held an Annual Conference for the last 20 years. Here’s a selection of recent feedback from delegates:
“It was my first conference and I loved the culture of warmth & openness. I felt I could participate and that was lovely.” (Warwick 2018)
“Not so much a [best] moment as a consistently high level of experience.”
“Thank you to all involved in the organisation of this conference. I have had a challenging and stimulating time and am leaving with much to process.”
“My first time – why haven’t I come before? Great atmosphere and really relevant and thought-provoking material for this practical theologian. Thanks! I’ll be back!!” (London 2017)
“Thank you so much for all the input – my heart and head are reeling but there was so much that was moving, challenging, heartening!!!”