Vagabonds at St James's
THE VAGABONDS is a group of mainly Christian spiritual enquirers. We meet informally once a month in a pub close to St. James' to discuss a topic of interest. We take our name from William Blake's poem The Little Vagabond, a character who prefers the alehouse to the church (Blake was baptised at St James’)
See foot of page for videos of the Blake poem.
[KEY: 'Chair' usually means the person introducing the topic; 'Chair Leg' is the person who moderates the subsequent discussion]
Programme for 2012
January 15th – Eschatology
Eschatology is the theology of the end times. We will explore what eschatology meant for the original writers and what eschatology means for us today.
Chair – Lucy Winkett Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
February 19th – How Do You Love the Ones You Hate?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructs us to love our enemies. But, if you hate someone, how do you love them? How is it possible to love one’s enemies?
Chair – Lindsay Meader Chair Leg– Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain's Cabin Pub
March 18th – St. Teresa of Avila
Teresa of Avila was an extraordinary 16th century Spanish nun who together with St John of the Cross was responsible for reforming the Carmelite order. She needed great courage to do so as she had many enemies within the Church. We shall concentrate on her life as an example of faith in action and on her mystical writings as interpreted by contemporary feminists.
Chair – Verity Smith Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
April 7th – Passover Seder at Beit Klal Yisrael
We have been invited to take part in the Passover at the Beit Klal Yisrael Synagogue.
Chair – Rabbi Judith Rosen Berry Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Beit Klal Yisrael - The Montagu Centre 21 Maple Street London W1T 4BE
April 15th – Passover
We typically use Passover as a jumping off point for the Last Supper. However, for this session, we will look at Passover from the Jewish theological point of view.
Chair – Rabbi Judith Rosen Berry Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
May 20th – Science, Faith, Ecology: being at home on the earth
Ecology derives from the Greek 'oikos' meaning 'home'. We will explore how science and faith are contributing to a transformation of the way we live on the earth in the 21st century. This is an interactive session - there will be things to do as well as ideas to discuss. An opportunity to free your inner scientist as a spiritual practice!
Chair – Deborah Colvin Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
June 17th – Spiritual but Not Religious
June will examine the origins and the development of the idea of being spiritual without being attached to a formal religion. It will trace its origins from late nineteenth and early twentieth century theologians to such popular figures as Oprah Winfrey. It will look at the implications for organised and formalised religion as well as the lives of individuals and the wider ecology.
Chair – June Boyce Tillman Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
July 15th – The History of the Organisation of the Church of England
Have you ever wondered why the Church of England is organised the way it is? Do you know the difference between a rector and a vicar? Why do we have an Archbishop of Canterbury who is superior to the Archbishop of York? Finally, if we were to start again with a clean sheet, how would we organise the church?
Chair – Mercia McMahon Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
August 19th – Healing
Our Cantor will be leading this session on spiritual healing with a look at how to overcome the obstacles the 21st century puts up to emotional, physical and spiritual healing.
Chair – Elizabeth Lil Chair Leg: Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
September 16th – God, Life, Love Music: within, between, beyond
We will together explore music’s animating, grounding and transcending powers. When we say explore, we mean ... bring your singing voices.
Co-Chair – Mercedes Pavlicevic –Co-Chair – Lucy Winkett
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
October 21st – Process Theology
Instead of using static, spatial models alone, such as the being of God, the natures of Christ, and the substance of bread and wine, Process Theology is concerned with dynamic models, such as change in God, Jesus Christ becoming divine, and the on-going process of revelation.
Chair – David Carter Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain's Cabin Pub
November 18th – Can you, should you, forgive after abuse?
Once again, we are looking at how to actually obey Jesus’ command to love and to forgive. This time it is within the context of abuse. Does forgiveness rest with the victim, or the church, or with God? This is especially pertinent given all of the church scandals of abuse, but can apply more widely to any situation of abuse.
Chair – Elizabeth Hall Chair Leg – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
December 16th - Vagabonds Christmas Party & 2013 Planning Session
Come to the celebration with ideas for next year
Chair – Cornell Jackson
Location: Captain’s Cabin Pub
Past topics have included
Usury: An Act of Bad faith in a Flawed Economy
Seeking the Divine through the Language of Eros
A Spiritual Basis for Human Rights
Early Church History
Does the Church Enable or Infantilise?
Eat, Pray, Love
Wandering Judaism
The Spiritual View from Down Under
Feminist Theology
William Blake
Monetary Reform: An Economy without Interest Rates
The Secret Life of Bees (discussion of the novel)
Common Ground between Secular Humanists and Liberal Christians?
Meister Eckhart
William Stringfellow: No distant prophet (Speaker's hand-out on William Stringfellow)
Seekers Trust: A Spiritual Healing Community
The Happiness Hypothesis
The Theology of Migration
Madness, Mystery and the Survival of God
Quantum Theology
Meeting Structure
We generally start our pub sessions with a lunch and fellowship time starting at 13:00. We usually split our sessions into two periods, although this may vary, with a break in between. Our session ends no later than 16:00.
Location: Most of our meetings take place at the Captain’s Cabin Pub near Piccadilly Circus: Captain's Cabin 4 Norris Street London SW1Y 4RJ
Hope to see you there!
Videos inspired by/of The Little Vagabond poem by Mr William Blake