IONA COMMUNITY LEARN
Iona Community Learn is an umbrella body that gathers together, in one space, our learning, equipping and resourcing programmes.
You may attend one of our online or in person training or workshop events. You might meet us at a festival or a seminar. You may join us at one of our islands centres as a volunteer or a research student. Perhaps you’re curious about our Common Concern Networks. Through Iona Community Learn we will bring together resources, materials and opportunities to support your journey of faith and life.
We work in partnership with the Theology and Religious Studies Department of the University of Glasgow, with the School of Divinity (New College) at the University of Edinburgh, and with the Student Christian Movement.
‘Postcards from a Listening Pilgrimage’
Iona Community Lecture 2024 – How do we live together.
Spanning continents and drawing on our shared Christian faith through the lens of the stories that shape us, we will explore the powerful pull of reconciliation in a world falling apart. Ruth Harvey in conversation with Lisa Wriley, Co-Leader of the Wellspring Community, Australia, and Brooke Prentis, “an Aboriginal Christian Leader, Aboriginal & Education Consultant, Keynote Speaker, and Company Director with a vision to build an Australia built on Truth, Justice, Love and Hope”(www.brookeprentis.com)
Watch the lecture recorded on 3rd October 2024 and the live introduction and response to the lecture, by Brooke, Ruth and Lisa, on the 24th October here:
Recommended reading:
Denise Champion: Yarta Wabatha (2023) and ANADITJ (2021)
Eugene Stockton: The Aboriginal gift – Spirituality for a Nation (revised 2023)
Delphine Delphin-Stanford and John Brown: Committed to Change – Covenanting in the Uniting Church in Australia (1994)
Bruce Pascoe: Dark Emu
The Celtic Connection is a series of conversations to assist in the preparation and reflection on Ruth Harvey’s Care for Creation pilgrimage, with the Wellspring Community in Australia – details above.
These conversations, with thinkers, theologians, activists, weavers of story and song will help us all reflect on the big questions of today. Pondering the core question – what wisdom does our Christian/Celtic heritage offer us for today and tomorrow?
Explore The Celtic Connection and join the conversation – details below.
The Celtic Connection 1: Who are we? With John Bell 28th March - watch here:
The Celtic Connection 1: Who are we?
The Webinar series started on March 28th with John Bell in conversation with Ruth Harvey, exploring questions of identity. You can watch a recording of this, below.
Questions for reflection: What are the myths and the rituals from our Celtic past that remind us of who we are today? What are the stories that describe our roots, where we have come from? How do these stories, this sense of belonging point us to a more than sustainable future?
The Celtic Connection 2: Where do we belong? June 27th 2023 7:30pm – 9pm BST: Watch again here:
Scotland’s islands, and indeed the islands of these four nations, evoke the sense of ‘a thin place’, where ‘the veil between things material and things spiritual is as thin as gossamer’ (George MacLeod). What is the politics of land, of Earth? What is the language of ‘ownership’ and ‘stewardship’ that reflects a right relationship with all of God’s creation?
Ruth Harvey in conversation with Sarah Hills (Vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Lindisfarne, the Holy Island) and Trevor Williams (Bishop in the Church of Ireland, and past Leader of the Corrymeela Community).
Watch again here:
The Celtic Connection 3: What do we believe? September 12th 2023, 7:30pm - 9pm BST: Watch again here:
What are the threads of theologies, from Columba to Kentigern, from Pelagius to MacLeod, that help weave, and make sense of the fabric of our theological thought for the sake of the planet? What new language must we curate? What renewed rituals must we borrow?
Ruth Harvey in conversation with Ian Bradley, Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History at the University of St Andrews, and author of, among other works, ‘Following the Celtic Way: a new assessment of Celtic Spirituality’ and ‘Columba: politician, penitent and pilgrim.’
Watch again here:
The Celtic Connection 4: How shall we live together? October 24th 2023 7:30pm BST - The Iona Community Lecture 2023
In the face of cancel culture, climate catastrophe, protracted wars and the escalation of aggressive politics, how are we to live together?
Spanning continents and drawing on our shared Christian faith through the lens of the stories that shape us, we will explore the powerful pull of reconciliation in a world falling apart. Ruth Harvey in conversation with Lisa Wriley, Co-Leader of the Wellspring Community, Australia, and Brooke Prentis, “an Aboriginal Christian Leader, Aboriginal & Education Consultant, Keynote Speaker, and Company Director with a vision to build an Australia built on Truth, Justice, Love and Hope”(www.brookeprentis.com)
The Celtic Connection 5: What songs must we sing? Now January 2024 - details T.B.C.
Ballad or love song; hymn or lament; folk, rock or jazz – what are the ‘songlines’ we sing as we navigate a way of being in the world that honours creation and points to hope, what songs of resilience, survival, hope and courage can we sing, for the sake of the planet?
With contemporary Scottish folk trio, Siskin Green, drawing on themes of faith, feminism and justice, and others tbc
Recordings will be made of all sessions and will be available to view on this page a few days after each event.
The Celtic Connection reading list:
Interested in delving deeper into Celtic Spirituality? Click here for a selection of books as recommended by Wild Goose Publications.
Christ of the Celts by J. Philip Newell, also available as an ebook.Each Day & Each Night, by J. Philip Newell, also available as an ebook.Columba, by Ian Bradley, also available as an ebook.St Cuthbert’s Way by Mary Low, also available as an ebook.Eternity Dipping Into Time by Kathy Galloway. (ebook only)The Kentigern Way, by Stephen G Wright, also available as an ebook.
Invisible We See You, by Nancy Cocks. Against the Tide, by Warren Bardsley, also available as an ebook.
2022 Lectures and webinars:
Wellspring Community Webinar
Identity and Country in a First Nations Context – Insights from Young Indigenous Leaders
This webinar provides a listening space to hear about the relationship between these two critical concerns of First Nations people, as a prequel to Wellspring’s 2023 dialogue on Care for Creation from Celtic and First Nations Christian perspectives, with events culminating in the visit of Iona Community Leader Rev. Ruth Harvey through October 2023.
Webinar curator: Brooke Prentis, Wakka Wakka QLD woman, noted Aboriginal Christian speaker and writer, with media roles including hosting ABC Radio National’s Soul Search.
Speakers:
Rhanee Lester, Adnyamathanha woman, SA researcher and practitioner in Indigenous kidney care, children’s author, cultural educator, writer, and artist. Member of the Uniting Church National Aboriginal & Islander Congress.
Naomi Wolfe, Trawloolway woman, TAS, lecturer in Indigenous Studies, withspecial interests in Indigenous pedagogies and theology. Climate Change and Justice for First Nations people are currently national concerns.
Both call for deep listening to wisdom from our First Nations people and other faith traditions to uncover the roots of the alienation from the care of creation that they both represent. As part of our contribution to fostering the growth of an Australian Spirituality,
The Wellspring Community is hosting a year of dialogue around “Care for Creation” involving Australian First Nations Leaders and Celtic thinkers from the Iona Community in Scotland. See further www.wellspring-community.com.
Iona Community Lecture 2022
Iona Community Lecture 2022
“These stones will shout aloud”
Alison Phipps, Hyab Yohannes and Pinar Aksu presented global voices and perspectives on themes of climate justice, hospitality, faith and the integration of the whole of life. This lecture was first recorded on 10th June at the University of Glasgow Chapel.
The recording of this lecture is available here.
Heartfulness webinar - weaving contemplation and action in the face of suffering
Heartfulness – weaving contemplation and action in the face of suffering.
A webinar given by Stephen Wright on the 11th May 2022.
In this session Stephen Wright shares how contemplation is not ‘dropping out’ but diving in, how it helps us to participate more not less deeply, how we can keep our hearts open – and serve the One in ‘whom we live and move and have our being.’
Stephen is a Member of the Iona Community and his latest work with Wild Goose Publications, The Kentigern Way, focuses on the life of Kentigern/Mungo and offers a pilgrimage route around the Northern Fells of Cumbria.
Watch the webinar below:
You might also be interested in:
- Our Common Concern Networks where our Members and Associate Members meet in prayer and action
- Routes into our Volunteering Programmes (including apprenticeships in due course)
- Ways to join our global New Members Programme
- News about our partnerships with universities and learning institutions
- Resources from our Wild Goose Resource and Wild Goose Publications teams
- Open access to our archive for study and reflection
- News about open learning opportunities throughout the year, including the annual Iona Community Lecture
Through Iona Community Learn, we hope to
