Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture
In 1985 the Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Fund was endowed by friends and former colleagues of The Very Revd Eric Symes Abbott to provide for an annual lecture on spirituality and pastoral theology, often interpreted in the widest sense, in memory of him.
In the same year, The Revd John Robson LVO gave the sermon at the Memorial Eucharist service for Eric Symes Abbott.
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.
In 2024, Dr Paula Gooder, a writer and lecturer in Biblical Studies, delivered the lecture on the theme, On Storytelling and Truth Telling on Thursday 23 May at Westminster Abbey and on Friday 24 May at Keble College.
The 39th Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture will take place on Thursday 22 May at Westminster Abbey, and will be repeated on Friday 23 May at Keble College, Oxford. The lecture will be given by Rhidian Brook, writer and broadcaster on the theme of Writing in good faith: a pilgrimage in fiction, film and thought. Tickets are required (free) for the Westminster Abbey lecture, and can be booked via this link (Eventbrite). All are welcome to attend the Keble College lecture without a booking.
Previous lecture texts are available to download, and there are links to the some lecture audio recordings where they were recorded. Should you require assistance in printing any of the lecture texts, please contact The Office of the Dean via email.
Email the Dean's Office to express an interest, or find out more.