BIAPT 2026 Annual Conference – Power and the Common Good
Welcome to our 2026 Annual Conference (7-9 July) page. We hope this will provide all the information you need to book a place at the conference.
The theme for this year’s event is Power and the Common Good and our our keynote contributors are Beth Phillips, Eric Stoddart, Raj Patta and June Boyce Tillman.
All around the world, from diverse local and national contexts to large-scale international conflicts, we see power being exercised in troubling ways, from exclusionary populist politics to military aggression. Equally, there are examples of power being exercised for good by a whole range of actors, both individual and collective. Whether at the local level or on a global stage, we may ask who has what sort of power and how it is being used? And if we want to analyse power in relation to a shared vision of the common good, how might we negotiate that in an increasingly divided and polarised world? As theologians, how do considerations of God’s power inform our ideas about its nature and use?
This year’s BIAPT conference is an opportunity to bring the wide-ranging resources of practical theology to bear on these important questions of public and political significance. It also gives us a chance to reflect on how practical theology is shaped by power dynamics, how methodologies that pay attention to lived experience can both critique and exercise power, and how our discipline can contribute to the common good in a world of powerful and divisive forces.
We will be gathering at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hertfordshire.
Stephen Roberts, Chair of BIAPT
Elizabeth Phillips
Keynote Title: The Power of Attention
Tuesday 7th July
Dr Elizabeth Phillips is Director of Education and Engagement at the Woolf Institute, where she has oversight of interfaith offerings in the Cambridge Theological Federation; of public engagement programmes in schools, health care, community organising, and public policy; and of the Woolf Institute Cambridge Scholarship, funding and mentoring postgraduates in the University of Cambridge. She is a lecturer in political theology, interfaith relations, and conflict transformation.
Beth’s doctorate was an ethnographic study of Christian Zionism in an American congregation which explored the relationship between eschatology and politics. Her previous roles include Lecturer in Christian Ethics at Westcott House, Research Fellow with the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, and Visiting Scholar with the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Criminology. She co-convened and ethnographically researched a course on ‘The Good Life and the Good Society’ inside a high security prison, and led the Flourishing Inside project, researching the intersections of Catholic social thought and prison chaplaincy.
Her publications include Apocalyptic Theopolitics: Essays and Sermons on Eschatology, Ethics, and Politics (2022), Political Theology: A Guide for the Perplexed (2012), and the co-edited volumes, T&T Clark Reader in Political Theology (2021), The Cambridge Companion to Political Theology (2015), and Catholic Social Thought and Prison Ministry: Resourcing Theory and Practice (2024).
Eric Stoddart
Keynote Title: Where’s the power in the common good?
Wednesday 8 July
Eric Stoddart has been teaching practical theology at the University of St Andrews in Scotland since 2005. His research interests focus on social justice issues that arise around contemporary surveillance systems. Eric is a former editor of Practical Theology (2011-2013) as well as having been a previous co-chair of the BIAPT Executive Committee (2006-2009).
He has published: Theological Perspectives on a Surveillance Society: Watching and being Watched (2011); Advancing Practical Theology : Critical Discipleship for Disturbing Times (2014) and The Common Gaze: Surveillance and the Common Good (2021). Eric is currently completing two further books for publication in early 2027: Queer Surveillance (SCM) and Theology of Surveillance: An Introduction (Routledge).
Rev. Dr. Raj Bharat Patta
Keynote Title: Liberating Christianity from the captivity of the far-right’s claim: Sanctuary, the common good, and the power of the subaltern voice.
Thursday 9 July
Raj Bharat Patta, celebrates his identity in multiple belongings, which include Dalit, Christian, Asian, (Im)migrant, theology, ministry, Lutheran, Methodist, Indian, British, church, academy, postcolonial, public sphere, husband, father and friend. Though an ordained Lutheran minister from India, he currently serves as a recognised and regarded minister of the Methodist Church in Britain at the United Stockport Circuit. He has pioneered a Telugu Methodist Fellowship in Manchester, which is a multicultural Christian fellowship offering pastoral and practical support to Indian migrant communities. He completed his PhD from the University of Manchester. He is a member of the Interfaith theological advisory group of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI). He chairs the Stockport Multifaith Network. He is the author of the book Subaltern Public Theology (Palgrave: 2023)
June Boyce Tillman
Conference Musician
The Rev Professor June Boyce-Tillman MBE is an international performer, composer, workshop leader and keynote speaker. She is an Emerita Professor of Applied Music at Winchester University, an Extra-ordinary Professor at North West University, South Africa and an Associate of the Institute for Theology and the Arts at St Andrews University. Her doctoral research into children’s musical development has been translated into five languages. She has held visiting fellowships at Indiana University and the Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts, US. She has published widely in the area of education, spirituality/liminality and eudaimonia. Her large scale works for cathedrals such as Winchester, Southwark and Norwich involve professional musicians, community choirs, people with disabilities and school children. She is editing the series on Music and Spirituality for Peter Lang which includes her book, Experiencing Music-Restoring the Spiritual; Music as Wellbeing, the edited collection Queering Freedom: Music, Identity and Spirituality: Perspectives from Ten Countries and her autobiography Freedom Song: Faith, Abuse, Music and Spirituality: A Lived Experience. She founded MSW – Music, Spirituality and Wellbeing – an international network sharing expertise and experience in this area. She is a hymn writer with a collection published by Stainer and Bell of inclusive language and ecological hymns – A Rainbow to Heaven. These are used internationally. She is an Anglican priest serving All Saints Church, Tooting, UK.
http://www.impulsemusic.co.uk/juneboyce-tillman/
She will get the conference singing, surrounding them with a variety of sounds and leading improvisatory sessions; she hopes that these will inspire participants in the pursuit of practical theology through musicking, releasing their own inner musicking power for the Common Good.
Standard & Concession ticket includes:
- From 6 June, residential bookings will be subject to room availability.
- Access to full conference programme from Tuesday 14:00 to Thursday 13:00.
- En-suite accommodation & all meals and refreshments.
- All meals – breakfast (Weds/Thu), lunch (Weds/Thu) & dinner (Tue/Wed)
- Morning coffee with biscuits and afternoon tea with cake
- Access to tea, coffee and hot chocolate from our communal areas between 8am and 8pm
- Wi-Fi
- Free onsite parking
- Disabled access
Please note:
- Bookings are on the basis of single-room occupancy and we cannot offer a shared room concession (though twin / double rooms are available if you would prefer to share).
- We are unable to accept bookings for families / children using on-site accommodation and we cannot facilitate children being on-site during the conference (there may be an exception for very young infants) – day delegate tickets will be available for those wishing to stay off-site with families.
- Additional guests (carers/assistants) will be required to pay the standard early bird price for residential or day delegate rate.
- Concession rate for unwaged or minimally-waged delegates.
- A number of subsidised places are available through two bursary schemes: The BIAPT Bursary and the BIAPT BAME Bursary.
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Refunds: We cannot guarantee a refund in light of any cancellation. In most circumstances, however, we will endeavour to offer a fair refund proportionate to financial commitments of organising the conference.Until 31 May: We will normally offer a refund of £325 (i.e. the ticket cost minus a £130 non-refundable deposit on full ticket prices; and a refund of £200 (i.e. the concession price minus a £55 non-refundable deposit) on concession prices.From 1 June: we will normally offer a refund of £230 on full ticket prices and £50 on concessions.
- Full payment must be made by the end of the relevant discount period or the higher rate will be charged.
BIAPT 2026 Call for Papers
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.
BIAPT 2026 Call for Workshops
We welcome 200 – 300 word abstracts for workshops of 40 or 80 mins duration.
Deadline for all submissions: 28 February 2026, 17:00 GMT
For further information about High Leigh as a venue, please visit: https://www.cct.org.uk/high-leigh/high-leigh-conference-centre
For transport and travel information, please visit: https://www.cct.org.uk/high-leigh/how-to-find-us
Feedback from delegates at previous BIAPT conferences:
“I was so pleased to be able to connect with others interested in research in a similar area”
“Thoroughly enjoyed it as a first timer – I can’t emphasise that enough!”
“This has been a brilliant experience for me as somebody who was involved at the beginning of BIAPT.”
“The culture of active reflective practitioners – both listening to others and presenting their own research and reflections on experience.”
“I found it a most thought-provoking, challenging and yet reflective experience.”
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: BIAPT Conference Bursary Application Form 2026
- BAME Bursaries may be applied for by anyone of BAME & BAME heritage: BIAPT BAME Bursary Application Form 2026
If you wish to support either of our Conference Bursary scheme or our BAME Bursary scheme by making a donation, please find further information following the links.
For further details about our BAME Bursary scheme, 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 offers a bursary 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. If you are a BIAPT member, consider making an additional application for a BIAPT Conference Bursary in the event you are not successful in your BAME Bursary application. Successful applicants will be awarded bursaries towards the cost of a concession conference ticket. Please note, if you are successful in your BIAPT BAME Bursary application, you will not also be awarded a BIAPT Conference Bursary.
Professional Doctorate Summer School – 6-7 July 2026
We will be gathering in person at High Leigh. The summer school is from 2pm Monday 6 July – 2 pm Tuesday 7 July.
We are delighted to confirm our keynote speaker as Revd Dr David Kirk Beedon, whose work reflects the main conference theme, and will also be able to share expert insight on professional doctorate journeys having published his own DProf research after its successful conclusion: Pastoral Care for the Incarcerated (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2022). The keynotes will take as their themes ‘Penal Power and the Common Good’ and ‘Pastorally Dwelling in Lands of Lament: Seeking hopeful practices for desperate times and places’.
This event is for students working for a Professional Doctorate in Practical Theology through Anglia Ruskin University/The Cambridge Theological Federation; University of Birmingham; University of Chester; Glasgow University; University of Roehampton
Full programme details will be available here shortly. In the meantime, here is some information about the keynote speaker and those presentations.
Book your ticket here.