THIS year’s annual St Martin-in-the-Fields Autumn Lecture Series will once again take the title “Here I Stand”.
The series, run in partnership with the Church Times, begins on Sunday 14 September with the Bishop of Washington, the Rt Revd Mariann Edgar Budde, who came to global attention for her address during a post-inauguration prayer service for President Trump (News, 24 January). Her lecture will be followed the next day by one delivered by the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Williams.
On 22 September, the Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Revd Dr Sam Wells, will be interviewed by the BBC journalist Julian Worricker.
On 29 September, Cassa Pancho will be speaking about her work as the founder and artistic director of Ballet Black.
On 6 October, Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Professor of the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College, London, will deliver the Christian Aid lecture.
On 13 October, Dr Gwen Adshead, forensic psychiatrist and psychotherapist, whose work has taken her into prisons and secure hospitals such as Broadmoor, will be speaking. She delivered the BBC’s 2024 Reith Lectures (Radio, 20/27 December 2024).
The speaker on 20 October is Sir Chris Bryant MP, a former Anglican priest, who left the Church in 1991 because of his sexuality. On 28 October, the Canadian academic and former politician Michael Ignatieff will be speaking in defence of liberal democracy.
The poet, storyteller, and radio presenter Michael Rosen will be speaking on 3 November, followed by the Turkish-British novelist, essayist, academic, and activist, Elif Shafak, on 10 November. The public intellectual and TV presenter Dame Mary Beard will deliver a lecture on 17 November; and on 24 November the lecturer will be Caroline Lucas, who was the first MP for the Green Party.
“As the world faces an increasing threat from the erosion of democracy, trust, and truth, and the rise of populism and nationalism, our 2025 lecture series addresses a world divided by conflict and a planet in crisis,” Dr Wells says.
“We believe there is something inspiring and transformative about listening to a person explain, simply and humbly, ‘These are the principles on which I have built my life, and these are the values I will not forsake.’”
