In 2026 Oxford will host the Ecologies of Care conference jointly organised by Ed Chan-Stroud, Joshua Hordern, Warren Kinghorn and Daniel Maughan. The conference will use theological anthropology to explore the relationality, ‘the ecologies of care’, which allow mental health care professionals and clergy to thrive.
We use the language of ‘ecologies of care’ in an attempt to step outside of dualistic descriptions of relationships that rely on an active-passive binary in which the mental health care professional/priest is active and the patient/parishioner is a passive recipient of care. The conference will develop an explicitly theological analysis of the relationality which allows both vocations to thrive, rooting an account of this relationality in a theological anthropology.
As the conference progresses we hope speakers will explore the barriers to the development of this kind of relationality. In doing so our hope remains constructive, recognising that diagnosis is often the first act of the physician. Finally, the conference will explore how ecologies of care might flourish amidst compromised systems. Drawing on the image of Israel in a ‘strange land’ (Ps. 137) and Jeremiah’s exhortation for Israel to plant gardens in exile (Jer. 29:35) we will encourage speakers to reflect on how ecologies of care might be cultivated in a strange land.
In preparation for the conference, we plan to run several online seminars, with the hope of building a community of academics and practitioners who are committed to supporting both clergy and mental health professionals to thrive, and to sharing knowledge from across disciplines.
