Being Missional Today
Disruption, Liminality & Reconciliation
A festival of ideas on missional thinking, with experiential learning opportunities, in dialogue with 22 different speakers and practitioners.
Being Missional Today is a conference being held on Tuesday, 10 June 2025, at Coventry Cathedral.
The conference is sponsored by four organizations:
Coventry Cathedral: recognised worldwide as a leading centre for reconciliation.
Church Urban Fund: ending poverty, together.
The Iona Community: an ecumenical Christian movement working for justice and peace, the rebuilding of community and the renewal of worship.
Reconciliation Initiatives: resourcing leaders and churches to address inequalities and strengthen community relationships.
Being Missional Today combines a festival of ideas on missional thinking, offered mostly by published authors, developed in conversation with participants. Experiential learning opportunities are woven into the gathering.
A significant proportion of the speakers are people of global majority heritage, along with others whose voices have historically been marginalised.
In dialogical pairs, speakers are invited to address one of these questions:
- How might social and political disruptions, and disruptions within the church, aid or frustrate our work for the kingdom of God?
- In what ways is this current season liminal, for the church and those amongst whom we serve? How might the church need to be reshaped such a season, and work differently?
- How might practices of reconciliation enable us to engage fruitfully in our local contexts today?
The hoped-for conference outcomes include:
- A renewed hope and sense of purpose and solidarity for participants engaging missionally in their local contexts;
- Better networking and encouragement of those seeking to learn from traditions and perspectives beyond dominant missional and church-planting models; and
- Accidental encounters between participants, who might learn from one another, collaborate in future or be inspired to explore new avenues.
The intended audience includes:
- Local church and parish clergy and lay ministers
- Relevant cathedral canons and large church missioners
- Those with responsibility for diocesan/area mission and ministry development
- Diocesan, area or regional missioners and resource people
- Those who are part of the sponsoring organisations’ networks
Cost
- £75 per participant.
- A group discount is available to organisations booking for at least 5 participants.
- £45 for those in part- or full-time theological education with a denominationally recognised college.
- A discounted rate is available for members of sponsoring organisations.
Keynote Speakers
Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani
Originally from Iran, Guli is the Bishop of Chelmsford and the Church of England’s Lead Bishop for Housing. She is also Chair of the Church Army and sits in the House of Lords as a member of the Lords Spiritual.
She is the author of Cries for a Lost Homeland: Reflections on Jesus’ Sayings from the Cross (2021).
Revd Dr Al Barrett
Al is the Vicar of Hodge Hill in east Birmingham, and since 2010 has been engaged in long-term journeys of community-building, and pursuing racial justice and creation care, with neighbours and congregation members. With Ruth Harley, he is the co-author of Being Interrupted: Reimagining the Church's Mission from the Outside, In (2020).
Seminar Speakers, in Dialogical Pairs:
Revd Canon Dr Carlton Turner
Carlton is Tutor in Contextual Theology and Mission Studies and Deputy Director of Research at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham. He is the author of Caribbean Contextual Theology: An Introduction (2024)
Revd Canon Dr Catherine Okoronkwo
Catherine serves as Canon Steward at St Paul's Cathedral, London. She is also a poet, and the author of Blood and Water / ọbara na mmiri (2020)
Prof. Robert Beckford
Robert is a scholar-activist and broadcaster, whose films include After the Flood: The Church, Slavery and Reconciliation (2022). He is the co-editor, with Rachel Starr, of Behold the Men: An Introduction to Critical Theologies of Masculinities (2025)
Revd Canon Dr Gale Richards
Gale serves as a regional Baptist minister for the Eastern Baptist Association, and also as a chaplain and researcher. She is the co-editor of Journeying to Justice: Contributions to the Baptist Tradition Across the Black Atlantic (2017)
Dr Harvey Kwiyani
Harvey is the director of the Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration at the Church Mission Society, and a Malawian theologian. He is the author of Multicultural Kingdom: Ethnic Diversity, Mission and the Church (2020)
Revd Canon Dr Sharon Prentis
Sharon is the Deputy Director of the Church of England's Racial Justice Unit, with many years’ experience in education, community work and health settings. She is the editor of Every Tribe: Stories of Diverse Saints Serving a Diverse World (2019)
Revd Ruth Harley
Ruth is a vicar in the Diocese of Newcastle and a feminist practical theologian. She is the co-author with Al Barrett of Being Interrupted: Reimagining the Church’s Mission from the Outside, In (2020)
Revd Dr Al Barrett
Al is the vicar of Hodge Hill in east Birmingham. He is the author of a critique of the Church of England's vision and strategy: ‘Simpler, humbler, bolder? Smaller church theology’ in Crucible: The Journal of Christian Social Ethics, July 2024
Revd Canon Dr Peniel Rajkumar
Peniel is Global Theologian and Director of Global Mission with the United Society Partners in the Gospel (USPG). He is the co-editor, with Victoria Turner and others, of Lived Mission in 21st Century Britain: Ecumenical and Postcolonial Perspectives (2024)
Dr Victoria Turner
Victoria is a Lecturer in Theology and Mission at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and a member of the United Reformed Church. She is the editor of Emerging, Awake and Connected: Meditations on Justice from a Missing Generation (2024)
Dr David Brubaker
David is a mediator, organizational consultant and author, and Professor Emeritus of Organizational Studies at Eastern Mennonite University, Virginia. He is the co-author of Reconciling Mission: Realizing God’s Reign through Community Engagement (forthcoming: 2025)
Revd Dr Alastair McKay
Alastair is the director of Reconciliation Initiatives, an English charity facilitating learning and development work with church leaders. He is the co-author of Reconciling Mission: Realizing God’s Reign through Community Engagement (forthcoming: 2025)
Revd Rosy Fairhurst
Rosy is a Vicar of two Muslim-majority parishes in inner city Bradford, with a longstanding interest in liminality. She is the co-author of Crossing Thresholds: A Practical Theology of Liminality (2021)
Dialogue partner to be announced...
Revd Charlotte Gale
Charlotte is an Anglican Priest who co-leads St Clare's, a pioneer church community based at Coventry Cathedral, founded 7 years ago. She is the author of Simple, Generous, Open: Mission and Renewal in the Progressive Church (2024)
Very Revd John Witcombe
John is the Dean of Coventry, and leads Coventry Cathedral and its international reconciliation ministry through the Community of the Cross of Nails. He is the editor of The Curate's Guide: From Calling to First Parish (2014)
Dr Victoria Turner
Victoria is a Lecturer in Theology and Mission at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, and a member of the United Reformed Church. She is a contributor to Confounding the Mighty: Stories of Church, Social Class and Solidarity (2023)
Revd Ruth Harley
Ruth is a vicar in the Diocese of Newcastle and a feminist practical theologian. She is a contributor to Confounding the Mighty: Stories of Church, Social Class and Solidarity (2023)
Workshop Facilitators
Vicki Adamson
Vicki is a textile artist, specialising in liturgical paraments and vestments. She co-leads Crafty Café a weekly craft-based café with a focus on encouraging and supporting anyone struggling with their mental health.
Revd Graham Adamson
Graham is a Vicar near Stafford, in Lichfield Diocese. He is keen to find ways to use the creative arts to promote the healing we gain from our heavenly creator, and to help mark significant events in the story of a community.
Revd Mina Munns
Mina is an experienced priest, coach and facilitator, currently leading two churches in Derby. She is a certified facilitator of LEGO® Serious Play, and will introduce using LEGO® for vision. She is the author of We All Share: Introducing Holy Communion to Under 5s through Play, Exploration and Creativity (2018)
Conference Co-Chairs
Very Revd John Witcombe
Dean of Coventry
Revd Dr Alastair McKay
Director, Reconciliation Initiatives
Sponsors' Representatives
Revd Adam Edwards
Deputy CEO
Church Urban Fund