15th International Conference on Children's Spirituality

Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK

Tuesday 26 July – Friday 29 July 2016

Please join us in the historic city of Lincoln to explore children’s spirituality from a range of perspectives. The conference provides a forum for those engaged in education, social work, health care, counselling, psychology, chaplaincy, practical theology, the arts, humanities and anthropology amongst others to share their latest research and practice. The conference will explore the ways in which spirituality is conceived in and across cultures, and how more connections between different disciplines can be made to advance understanding of this important element of children’s lives.

Key themes of the conference include:

• Explorations of the spiritual in the context of the whole child
• Why children’s spirituality is important across different disciplines and cultures
• How different theoretical and practical perspectives contribute to understandings of “children’s spirituality”
• Interdisciplinary approaches to developing research methodologies in the field
• Interdisciplinary approaches to enhancing practice for children’s spirituality across the professions

We also welcome proposals on wider topics related to children’s spirituality.

For more details, including costs and how to submit proposals for papers, panels and workshops, please visit our website http://www.bishopg.ac.uk/childspirituality or email iccs@bishopg.ac.uk.

Conference host :

Dr Kate Adams, Vice-Chair, International Association of Children’s Spirituality

Conference venue :

Bishop Grosseteste University, Longdales Road, Lincoln, LN1 3DY, UK

Conference report:

The 15th International Conference on Children’s Spirituality – Spirituality and the whole child: interdisciplinary approaches, hosted by Dr Kate Adams, took place at Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, from Tuesday 26 July – Friday 29 July 2016.

Over seventy participants from thirteen countries explored children’s spirituality from a range of perspectives. The conference provided a forum for those engaged in education, social work, health care, counselling, psychology, chaplaincy, practical theology, the arts, humanities and anthropology amongst others to share their latest research and practice. The conference explored the ways in which spirituality is conceived in and across cultures, and how more connections between different disciplines could be made to advance understanding of this important element of children’s lives.

International keynote speakers included:

• John (Jack) Miller, University of Toronto, Canada
  Equinox Holistic Alternative School: an integrated approach to learning
• Joyce Ann Mercer, PhD., LCSW, Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care, Yale Divinity School, USA
  Restorative Spirituality: hope for traumatized children
• Jacqueline Watson, PhD., Visiting Fellow, University of Exeter and University of East Anglia, UK
  Every Child Still Matters: interdisciplinary approaches to the spirituality of the child