The Holy Spirit is integral to our understanding of God the Holy Trinity. Thinking about the power and the presence of Holy Spirit features strongly in some traditions, e.g. Pentecostals, and is seen more as part of the Trinity in other traditions, e.g. Orthodox and Reformed. There is an underlying issue with regard to the separated traditions of the church and the way each one points to the life and work of the one Holy Spirit.
How do we learn from one another as to where the Holy Spirit is leading each of us today? How do we let the Holy Spirit draw us closer together, even while we recognised the diversity of the Spirit’s presence? How do we offer the gift of the immediacy of the Spirit’s presence, bringing peace and healing in a broken world?
This webinar’s distinguished speakers will offer a reflection on the work of the Spirit in their own tradition, and the implications of this for what we learn from other traditions. The speakers are:
Rev Dr Brandon Gallaher
Brandon is a lecturer in Theology at the University of Exeter and is the university’s Orthodox chaplain. He studied at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, New York. He was ordained Deacon in July 2018 and serves at the Orthodox Parish of the Holy Prophet Elias in Exeter.
Rev Dr Elizabeth Welch
Elizabeth Welch grew up in South Africa, daughter of a Congregational minister. She was ordained in the United Reformed Church, UK, in 1976, serving for twenty years in two Local Ecumenical Partnerships, with Anglicans, Baptists, Methodists, Roman Catholics and the United Reformed Church. She has served as a regional Moderator for the URC (1996 – 2008), and as Moderator of the URC General Assembly (2000-2001). She has served on the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, 1991-1998, and as co-chair of the International Reformed Anglican Dialogue (2015-2020) She chairs the Society for Ecumenical Studies, UK. Her PhD The Holy Spirit and Worship was published at the end of 2020.
Dr Richard Adekoya
Richard Ayo Adekoya pastors the Halleluyah Assembly, Quinton, Birmingham, a parish of the Redeemed Christian Church of God. He is a practical theologian, seasoned minister of the gospel and published author with diverse experiences in teaching, leadership, interpersonal and operations management skills. He’s currently a PhD student at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education, Birmingham. Richard’s research interest includes Mission, the Church and Society, Social Development, Religious leadership and the interface between religion, politics, and community development. His most recent publication is The Church of Nigeria as Agent of Social and Political Change. He holds a Doctor of Ministry degree (DMin) from Bangor University, Wales.
This event, on Thursday 17 November 2022 from 6-7.30 pm, is co-hosted by The Tablet.