Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture
The Very Revd Eric Symes Abbott (1906 – 1983)
The Very Revd Eric Symes Abbott grew up in Nottingham and studied at Jesus College Cambridge. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1931.
He was Chaplain to King’s College London from 1932 to 1936, and also served as Chaplain to Lincoln’s Inn at the same time. Before returning to King’s as Dean in 1945 he was Warden of Lincoln Theological College for nine years (1936-1945).
Eric Abbott left King’s in 1955 and served as Warden of Keble College Oxford for four years, before being appointed Dean of Westminster in 1959, a post he held until his retirement in 1974. In many ways he exemplified the relationship between Church and State, acting as Chaplain to King George VI from 1948 until the King’s death, and then as Chaplain to Queen Elizabeth II from her succession until his move to Westminster (he was subsequently appointed an Extra Chaplain to Her Majesty on his retirement, a post he then held until his death). He was made a Fellow of King’s College London in 1946, a KCVO in 1966, and a Freeman of the City of Westminster in 1973. His funeral was held in Westminster Abbey, and he is buried in the nave, close to the nave altar and the place from which the lecture is given; the stone which marks his grave carries the epitaph ‘Friend and counsellor of many, he loved the Church of England, striving to make this House of Kings a place of pilgrimage and prayer for all peoples. Pastor Pastorum’.
His particular interest in matters of spirituality and pastoral theology was clear from early in his ministry, when in 1939 six of his addresses on prayer were published (as Escape or Freedom?). Further publications included Foothold of faith (1943), Education in the spiritual life (1961), and The Compassion of God and the Passion of Christ (1963). Generations of Anglican clergy owed much to Eric Abbott’s teaching and example, and following his death there was a strong feeling that there should be a lasting memorial to this influential figure, which should continue to encourage exploration of and reflection on issues which had been close to his heart.
In 1985 the Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Fund was therefore endowed by friends and former colleagues to provide for an annual lecture on spirituality and pastoral theology, often interpreted in the widest sense.
In the same year, The Revd John Robson LVO gave the sermon at the Memorial Eucharist service for Eric Symes Abbott. You can read the sermon here.
The first Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture was delivered by Cardinal Basil Hume in June 1986 in Westminster Abbey, and subsequent lectures have taken place every year since then ; while past venues have varied between London, Oxford, and Lincoln (to reflect Abbott’s appointments), the current pattern is for the Lecture to be delivered at Westminster Abbey and Keble College Oxford on successive days in May. The Lecture is now a regular part of the lecture programmes at both Westminster Abbey and Keble College Oxford, and has a growing constituency.
In 2006, the centenary year of Eric Symes Abbott's birth, his "The Mystery of the Transfiguration: Seven Meditations" booklet was reprinted. You can read the text here or order one of the remaining limited copies here.
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This year's lecture did not go ahead at Westminster Abbey on Thursday 14 May 2020 nor Keble College, Oxford, on Friday 15 May 2020, as planned, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Rt Hon. the Lord Adonis, will deliver his lecture on the theme of 'Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King: where next for Christianity and social justice?' in May 2022 instead. Loretta Minghella, First Church Estates Commissioner, will deliver the lecture in May 2021.
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Past copies of the lecture text booklets are available to purchase - though we are unable to fulfill orders at present due to the Coronavirus lockdown. The most recent year's lecture booklet costs £1 per booklet + £0.50 P&P per order. Past year's lecture booklets cost £0.50 per booklet + £0.50 P&P per order. A limited number of the past 10 years lecture booklets will be available to purchase at the lecture events. Contact the Office of the Dean to find out how you can buy any of the booklets.
Previous lectures in the series:
| 1986 |
I. Cardinal Basil Hume
[untitled]
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1987 |
II. The Rt Revd Simeon Nkoane CR
“Spirituality in a Violent Society”
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| 1988 |
III. Dame Janet Baker
“Spirituality and Music”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1989 |
IV. The Revd Professor Rowan Williams
“On Being Creatures”
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| 1990 |
V. The Very Revd Alan Jones
“For Their Sakes I Consecrate Myself: Priesthood and the search
for a credible Catholicism”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1991 |
VI. Timothy Schroder
“The Spiritual in Art”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1992 |
VII. The Revd John Fenton
“John of the Cross and the Gospel according to Mark”
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OUT OF PRINT
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| 1993 |
VIII. Angela Tilby
“He Made the Stars Also…”
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| 1994 |
IX. The Revd David Conner
“Christian Counsel and the Meaning of Wholeness”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1995 |
X. The Most Revd Richard Holloway DD
“Deconstructing the Church’s Ministry”
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| 1996 |
XI. David Hare
“When Shall We Live?”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1997 |
XII. The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Habgood
“Waiting for God”
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| 1998 |
XIII. Canon Eric James FKC
“Spirituality, Shakespeare and Royalty”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 1999 |
XIV. The Rt Hon Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
“Who is to judge? The role of the judiciary in ethical issues”
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| 2000 |
XV. The Revd Canon Dr Martyn Percy
“A Knowledge of Angles: How spiritual are the English?”
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| 2001 |
XVI. Professor Stephen Clark
“Deep Time: Does It Matter?”
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| 2002 |
XVII. The Revd Mark Oakley
“Spiritual Society, Secular Church? Private prayer and
public religion”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 2003 |
XVIII. The Revd Professor Duncan B Forrester
“Beyond Racism and Sectarianism: Is Religion the Problem or the Solution?”
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| 2004 |
XIX. Father Timothy Radcliffe OP
“The Crisis of Truth Telling in our Society”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 2005 |
XX. The Revd Nicholas Holtam
“A Room with a View: The Aspiration of a Parish Church”
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| 2006 |
XXI. The Very Revd Vivienne Faull
“A New Song in a Strange Land: the contribution of women to the priestly ministry of the Church”
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| 2007 |
XXII. The Revd Canon Prof Richard A. Burridge
“Being Biblical? Slavery, Sexuality, and the Inclusive Community”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 2008 |
XXIII. The Revd Canon Dr Jane Shaw
“The Mystical Turn: Religious Experience in the Modern World”
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| 2009 |
XXIV. The Revd Professor Alister McGrath
“Religious and Scientific Faith: The Case of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species”
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| 2010 |
XXV: The Rt Revd the Lord Harries of Pentregarth
“The End of the Permissive Society? Towards a Christian Understanding of the Common Good”
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| 2011 |
XXVI: The Rt Revd & Rt Hon Dr Richard Chartres KCVO
“The Word in Print: Does the King James Bible have a Future?”
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| 2012 |
XXVII: The Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby
“Mis-Establishment: Locating, and re-locating, the Church of England”
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OUT OF PRINT |
| 2013 |
XXVIII: Professor Dame Averil Cameron FBA FKC
“Constantine’s Vision and the Church Today: From the Battle of the
Milvian Bridge (AD312) to the Twenty-First Century”
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| 2014 |
XXIX: The Revd Dr Sam Wells
“Beyond Justice”
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| 2015 |
XXX: The Revd Lucy Winkett, Rector
“Blessed are the Hypocrites?”Saying sorry in a tell-all age
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| 2016 |
XXXI: Professor Sir Roger Scruton
"The Sacred, the Profane and the Desecrated"
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2017
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XXXII: Salley Vickers
'Faith & Imagination: How the Arts speak to the reality of the Unseen'
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2018
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XXXIII: The Revd Richard Coles FKC
'Beating the Bounds: Parish Ministry & Spirituality Today'
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2019
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XXXIV: Sir James MacMillan
'The Most Spiritual of the Arts: Music, Modernity, and the Search for the Sacred'
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