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. 

The 39th Eric Symes Abbott Memorial Lecture took place on Thursday 22 May 2025 at Westminster Abbey, and was repeated on Friday 23 May 2025 at Keble College, Oxford. The lecture was given by Rhidian Brook, writer and broadcaster, on the theme of Writing in good faith: a pilgrimage in fiction, film and thought.  

The next lecture will be delivered by Francis Spufford, author, on Thursday 21 May 2026 at Westminster Abbey and repeated on Friday 22 May 2026 at Keble College, Oxford.  The title of his lecture is: ‘Why aren’t there more beautiful places?’.

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.