Dear Colleagues,
As you may be aware 2025 marks 50 years of the SRF. We are really proud that the Forum has managed to provide a friendly but critical space to foster the dialogue between science and all religion as well as provide valuable opportunities to new scholars in science and religion to find their feet and their voice.
To recognise the shared work and communities between SRF and ISSR- members of ISSR are being offered an exclusive discount – Please register at the SRF “member” rate (on line or or site).
The 50th Anniversary conference takes place at the end of the month and we’ve just released Day tickets and opportunity for Group/Education tickets. We know the value of coming together on site especially for networking and those follow on conversation and so we are hopeful that these changes will allow us to include more people in the conversation in our 50th year.
There are two opportunities to get involved:
- FREE Gowland Lecture Lecture by Bishop Richard Cheetham (Respondent Dr Muthuraj Swamy) Science and Religion – a vital engagement, but where next? Why context, community and communication really matter: Most of the literature on the relationship between science and religion has been produced in a Western context with an emphasis on the Christian religion. However, there is increasing awareness of the wisdom and insights generated in many different contexts, cultures and religions, including indigenous knowledge. There is also a growing appreciation that some of the major issues of the 21st century (e.g. AI, genetics, climate change and biodiversity loss etc) require far more than a narrow focus scientific analysis from a predominantly western viewpoint. In a globalized, hyper-connected world, these issues need to be explored with ethical, philosophical, spiritual and theological lenses. It is crucially important to pay close attention to the effect of context on how the science and religion relationship is understood. This lecture will explore how such an inter-contextual approach is working in the Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science (ECLAS) project and also in the work of the Anglican Communion Science Commission, and outline some principles for a genuinely fruitful science and religion relationship in the future.
The lecture is free to attend or stream but we ask people to register to ensure they receive the booking link and/or support rooming/catering for on site attendance.
- The main conference: Revisiting and Reimagining the Relationships between Science and Religion (28th – 31st May Halifax Hall Sheffield & Hybrid The 2025 Anniversary conference celebrates 50 years of the Science and Religion Forum. The conference doesn’t pose the question of whether science and religion can interact but how and where they are in dialogue. The conference is taking a broad look at the ongoing points of connection and dissonance between science and religion. This includes questions on the interaction of indigenous knowledge with science and technology, the role of religion in tackling global issues such as sustainability, and how questions of science-and-religion are addressed in education. We welcome papers that engage critically with established/historic positions on science-and-religion as well as those that look forward to the upcoming opportunities and challenges.
BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW: https://www.srforum.org/anniversary-booking-2025
Conference Rate RESIDENTIAL BOOKING DEADLINE 5th MAY 2025
On site DAY REGISTRATION 14th MAY
We are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Sheffield (or online) next month. Please continue to share with faculty colleagues and students as appropriate. For those local(ish) to Sheffield please note the Gowland Lecture on 28th May is FREE to attend/stream but we ask for registration for those attending on site to support catering (by 14th May).
Very Best
Finley (SRF Chair) and the SRF Committee
Here is a flyer and program of 23 pages (controls at bottom of PDF viewer).
