'Shepherding away from Home': The Role of the Prison Chaplain (Faith in Public Life Lecture)


The Revd Dr Rosalind Lane was a Prison Chaplain from 1996-2012. She was awarded her Doctorate in 2016 for a thesis entitled 'Imprisoned Grief: A theological, Spiritual and Practical Response'. In her research, she highlights the role of the Prison Chaplain as one who 'shepherds away from home' and argues that Chaplains are uniquely placed to support those who are disenfranchised in their grief whilst in prison. Her epistemological standpoint is one of a practitioner/researcher as a practical theologian, and arises from theological reflection on the experiences of those in her care.

'Reparations: Slavery and the Tyranny of Imaginary Guilty' (Faith in Public Life Lecture)

'Guilt as a response to personal wrongdoing is healthy. But false guilt is not. ... Today we are again succumbing to a fresh and more general bout of false guilt about our colonial past, which is misshaping the policies of our governments and cultural institutions and weakening our international standing.' — Lord Biggar, Reparations: The Tyranny of Imaginary Guilt.

Lord Biggar will speak about his latest book, why he chose to write it, what its argument is, how it builds on his previous book, Colonial: A Moral Reckoning, and what impact he hopes it will have.

Day 2: Conference - The Past and Future of Anglo-Catholic Socialism

*2-day Conference: The Past and Future of Anglo-Catholic Socialism*
*Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February 2026*

An impressive number of socialist priests and intellectuals were formed by the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the first half of the twentieth century, including Percy Dearmer, F.D. Maurice, R.H. Tawney, J. N. Figgis, Henry Scott Holland, Frank Weston, Conrad Noel, Albert Mansbridge, Charles Gore, Ken Leech, and John Hughes.

Day 1: Conference - The Past and Future of Anglo-Catholic Socialism

*2-day Conference: The Past and Future of Anglo-Catholic Socialism*
*Tuesday 10 and Wednesday 11 February 2026*

An impressive number of socialist priests and intellectuals were formed by the Anglo-Catholic tradition in the first half of the twentieth century, including Percy Dearmer, F.D. Maurice, R.H. Tawney, J. N. Figgis, Henry Scott Holland, Frank Weston, Conrad Noel, Albert Mansbridge, Charles Gore, Ken Leech, and John Hughes.

Reading the Old Testament through the lens of the Icelandic Sagas (Recollection Lecture)

The Icelandic sagas have been used as a comparative literature for the narratives in the Old Testament ever since they became accessible in editions and translations towards the end of the nineteenth century. Scholars such as Hermann Gunkel, Gerhard von Rad, George Coats, Meir Sternberg and John Barton have all used the sagas to reflect on stories in the Hebrew Bible, ranging from single episodes like Jacob wrestling with an angel, to the entire span of the ‘saga’ of King David.

Jerusalem in Early Christian Hope (Recollection Lecture)

Nineteenth-century scholarship often argued that Christianity succeeded through the Hellenization of its theology, replacing Jewish national and terrestrial eschatology with Platonic spiritual interpretation. Robert Wilken's The Land Called Holy (1992) fundamentally disrupted this narrative for the patristic period, demonstrating that Christian engagement with Jerusalem and sacred geography intensified after the fourth century rather than disappearing.

Spiritual Renewal Through Friendship at Pusey House and Keble College (Recollection Lecture)

Tractarianism was famous, in its own period, for the intensity of its friendships. Notably, the founding of the theological movement grew out of the friendship of John Keble with several of his students and his determination to help them develop in godliness and good learning. Several of these students, when they themselves became Oxford tutors, attempted to formalise Keble’s method of instruction; notably under Robert Wilberforce and Hurrell Froude at Oriel and under Isaac Williams at Trinity.

Dani Shahzada

I joined as a Research Facilitation Officer in January 2026. Before joining DPIR, I worked previously as a Programme Coordinator at the Agile Initiative at Oxford Martin School, where I helped manage the financial and programme administration for a £10 million UKRI grant, and Administrative Officer at Young Lives at the Oxford Department of International Development. I hold a BSc in International Development and have prior experience with Non-Governmental Organisations.

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