Press Releases03 Feb 10

Archbishop of York Gives 2010 Theological Lectures at QUB

L-R: Rt Revd Alan Abernethy; Most Revd Dr John Sentamu; Vice Chancellor, Prof. Peter Gregson (photo: Paul Harron) 

The Most Revd Dr John Sentamu, the Church of England’s second most senior figure, was the celebrated guest lecturer for this year’s prestigious Church of Ireland public lectures at Queen’s University on 1st and 2nd of February.

The 2010 lectures were the largest since the inaugural lecture of 1957 attracting over 200-strong audiences on both evenings. The Vice-Chancellor of Queen’s, Professor Peter Gregson, welcomed the Archbishop warmly on the first evening while on the second, the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, was host, describing Dr Sentamu as someone with ‘the ability to think theologically and to behave pastorally’.

A charismatic figure, Archbishop Sentamu’s talks were characteristically lively and engaging, the first on the theme ‘Conflict and Reconciliation: A Theological Perspective’; the second entitled ‘A Ugandan Perspective on the Mission of the Church in Modern Britain’.

On conflict, his thesis was that conflict between human beings is inevitable, but that rather than avoid it at all costs, the question is how to understand and handle it and reach a position of mediation. He argued that in cross-cultural conflict mediation must recognise the reality of views and values in cultural contexts and honour expectations from both sides. In terms of personal, inner conflict meanwhile, insecure in our own identity, we find love, acceptance and recognition of our worth only through a personal relationship with God.

He also recalled the African maxim, ‘I am because I participate’, or, ‘a person is a person through other persons’. Ending on a culturally appropriate note, he quoted from Seamus Heaney’s poem ‘The Bridge’ – ‘steady under strain and strong through tension’.

The second lecture called on people to ‘put love where love isn’t’. He concluded with the challenge to ‘together make Christ visible … letting his love be conspicuous and contagious through us.’

ENDS