
The God Illusion: Christ and the Temple Curtain
In the beginning there was a sacred object that promised us satisfaction and wholeness; a sacred object that continues to make its presence felt in various religious and secular forms. In this talk...

Bluestone 42 and The Sacred Art of Swearing
James Cary talks about writing Bluestone 42 (BBC3) and the ethics of comedy, swearing and telling people to generally get stuffed in entertaining ways. Warning: session contains swearing. But we know...
Speaker(s): James Cary
Why does the Left have all the best jokes?
Britain is not short of comedians, many of whom talk about ethics and politics. But almost all of these comedians are on the Left. James Cary, a comedy writer who is not a Leftie, thinks about why...
Speaker(s): James Cary
Our Lady of Greenbelt
What does Mary, the mother of Jesus have to do with Greenbelt? Are doctrines such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary examples of the Roman Catholic fear of sex and deification of...
Speaker(s): Pádraig Ó Tuama
Taking it to the Streets
You don't believe in the latest war and you can't accept the cuts. Politicians are out of touch and out of reach. But will marching on Westminster make any difference? Is direct action a vital...
Speaker(s): Niall Cooper
Poetry as a dream of peace
The Corrymeela Community tells a story of a woman who came to its house for refuge. In her luggage she brought a small hatchet. She was ready to believe they were people of peace, but just in case,...
Speaker(s): Pádraig Ó Tuama
Children’s & family lineup for GB17
Greenbelt is an inter-generational festival like no other. It's not just that we have lots of children and families onsite. We do. It's that as well as their parents and carers, often their...

Exclusivity & hope: a view from Bethlehem
This blog is a long read. You might want to grab a cuppa. It's written by Greenbelt's Creative Director, Paul Northup. I'm writing it from the little town of Bethlehem; the place where, as a...

A Woman’s Place is in the House… of Bishops
It's time to finish what we started and consecrate women as bishops in the Church of England. But how should we navigate these tricky waters? What will be the fall out? Joy has been working under the...

Theologian as Poet: Poet as Theologian
Brian explores, and reads from, some poems by C.S.Lewis and Wendell Berry. Brian McLaren has been active in networking church planters and pastors since the mid 1980s. His first book, The Church on...
Speaker(s): Brian McLaren
The Complex Christ: Signs of Emergence in the Urban Church
Speaker(s): Kester Brewin

Four Quartets and the Spirituality of Regeneration
‘The point of intersection of the timeless with time, is an occupation for the saint.' How the poetry of TS Eliot shows that community regeneration is spiritual work. Alastair McIntosh grew up...
Speaker(s): Alastair McIntosh
Rhythm of the Saints
Exploring the traditional cycle of the Church year, from Advent to Lent, Easter to Ordinary Time, Maggi asks what contemporary relevance it has for emerging spirituality. Maggi Dawn is a former...

The greatest environmentalists in history
What on earth has heaven got to do with earth? John sets out why we need another. Apostles Creed, and why creationism misses the point. John Smith is the founding director of Concern Australia and...

How do you spell hell?
Dante's Vision of Hell has more mainstages than Greenbelt, and yet, at the pit of it all, there is an image of Luficer frozen in a lake of his own tears. This talk will use poetry, story and...
Speaker(s): Pádraig Ó Tuama
