Harrogate School of Theology & Mission

Lecture - John Bell
2026-09-19 10:00 - 12:00 (Europe/London) | St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate, HG2 8AY, United Kingdom
The Imagination as a Key to Unlocking Scripture

Venue:
St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate (& Zoom option)
Date:
Saturday 19th September 2026, 10.00 – 12.00 noon with breakfast available from 9.30 am
Tickets:
£10 (including breakfast and refreshments)
Students: £7; Under 18s free.
Zoom live-stream: £5 per person, must be purchased online in advance.
Buy Tickets

The Imagination is” sometimes regarded as being an unreliable or mischievous faculty, more of a danger to faith than an aid. But given that it is commonly employed by the prophets in their writings and Jesus in his parables, it deserves serious consideration. In this lecture, John Bell will argue that the imagination is an essential aid not only to interpreting scripture but also an ally in pastoral work and preaching, as it offers an alternative to rigid thinking and dull speech.
Biography
John Bell has worked for over 30 years in the areas of music, worship, spirituality and social justice. He conducts workshops and seminars across the globe and, with his colleagues, develops new and accessible liturgical materials. He is an occasional broadcaster and for over 20 years was a regular contributor to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day.
Publications
To date, John has published 17 collections of original and global songs, and numerous collections of liturgical material. His most recent books are:
Ten Things They Never Told Me About Jesus (Wild Goose Publications)
Living with the Psalms (SPCK)
And Then She Said (Wild Good Publications)
Buy Tickets

Lecture - Paul Kunert
2026-11-21 10:00 - 12:00
Jesus Died to save the planet

Venue:
St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate (& Zoom option)
Date:
Saturday 21st November 2026, 10.00 – 12.00 noon with breakfast available from 9.30 am
Tickets:
£10 (including breakfast and refreshments)
Students: £7; Under 18s free.
Zoom live-stream: £5 per person, must be purchased online in advance.
Buy Tickets

In this lecture we’ll consider how a full biblical account of the death and resurrection of Jesus compels us to make a response to the climate and nature crises a central part of our response to the Gospel. We’ll set out that account, focusing on Jesus’ work of redemption, reconciliation, renewal and restoration of all things; see what it means for the renewal of humanity and our role and purpose; and then what it demands of the church. We’ll also diagnose why the flourishing of creation remains stubbornly peripheral – against the purposes of God – to the life of most churches and set out a way forward for any church that wants to see following Jesus for the flourishing of all creation – human society and non-human creation – integrated into the everyday lives of its people.
Biography
Born and bred in the UK, Paul has been working in Africa’s electricity sector for the last 25 years in various senior leadership roles, developing, financing, building, and managing major power plants in countries all over the continent. He is a chartered accountant and has a degree in economics and politics. He is married to Tara and they have three grown-up children.
For a long time – far too long – he’d seen ‘climate change’ as a secondary concern, not something very high on God’s to-do list. Either world leaders were on top of it, or it wasn’t that big of an issue anyway. Or worse still, maybe God wasn’t that bothered.
When the truth about climate and ecological breakdown – and God’s purpose for his creation and the full extent of the work of Christ on the cross – finally hit home, he realised he couldn’t have been more wrong. Jesus Died to Save the Planet was published last year.
Buy Tickets

Lecture - Alex Harris
2027-01-23 10:00 - 12:00
Unhindered – From Acts to Today: discovered an unhindered faith and an unhindered church

Venue:
St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate (& Zoom option)
Date:
Saturday 23st January 2027, 10.00 – 12.00 noon with breakfast available from 9.30 am
Tickets:
£10 (including breakfast and refreshments)
Students: £7; Under 18s free.
Buy Tickets

Alex will use the book of Acts to explore what it means for everyone everywhere to have a faith and share a faith that is unhindered? What, according to Acts, are those core traits in an unhindered faith and church? How do we find that ancient record of Acts as a living experience today in our churches, our lives and in our communities. Alex’s session will be interactive, using both discussion and lecture styles and accessible for both long term Christians, church leaders and ministers, and those just starting out on their Christian or theological journey.
Speaker Bio
After growing up in West Africa, Alex met Jesus while studying at University in the UK. After time in America, he was an evangelist for Christians in Sport for 7 years. This was initially amongst university students in the UK, but ultimately across Asia. After 5 years in China, Alex planted a new church on the edge of London, before leading Beacon Church in Stafford for 10 years, which both grew and evolved into a scattered approach to church planting, growing to numerous expressions.
Alongside being Director of the St Hild Centre for Church Planting, Alex is Yorkshire Baptist Association Regional Minister for Pioneering and Church Planting, specifically responsible for empowering and releasing pioneering, experimentation and innovation in gospel-planting and church creation. He is also co-leader of the Firestarters Network of growing churches helping churches to grow. Alex acts as a co-convener for the National Church Planting Network uniting denominations, networks, and streams in a collaborative desire to reach England together through planting new churches, revitalising existing churches and reimagining what church for the future will look like. As a family, they are planting Lydia House in the centre of Leeds.
Alex has a BSc (Hons) in Geography, a BTh and MA from Spurgeons College, and a DMin from Asbury Seminary, USA. His doctorate studies are in ‘Church Planting in post-Christendom Europe’.
Alex has authored or co-authored a number of books including On this Rock: Simple Lessons and Achievable Habits for Church Growth (2023), Scattered not Small: Empowering Ordinary Churches to Become Disciple-Making Communities (2024) and due out in 2025 ‘How to Start New, Simple Churches Right Where They are Needed: A Guide for Everyone and Everywhere’.
Buy Tickets

Lecture - Chine McDonald
2027-03-13 10:00 - 12:00
Strange times and unknown gods: engaging with culture in a time of searching

Venue:
St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate (& Zoom option)
Date:
Saturday 13th March 2027, 10.00 – 12.00 noon with breakfast available from 9.30 am
Tickets:
£10 (including breakfast and refreshments)
Students: £7; Under 18s free.
Buy Tickets

From manifesting and mindfulness to AI and identity, ours is a culture full of altars to “unknown gods”. We live in an age of anxiety and fragmentation, but also one of renewed spiritual searching. Acts 17 offers a compelling vision of Christian engagement that neither withdraws from culture nor simply accommodates it. Instead, Paul models deep cultural attentiveness, generous connection and bold witness. As strange things happen in our world, what might it mean to bear witness to the God in whom “we live and move and have our being”?
Biography
Chine McDonald is a writer, broadcaster, author and Director of Theos, the religion and society think tank. She was previously Head of Public Engagement at Christian Aid. She speaks and writes regularly on issues of race, faith and gender, and is the author of God is not a white man: and other revelations and Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood. Chine has written for the Financial Times, the Guardian, The Independent, The Big Issue, Prospect, The Mirror and contributes to TV and radio programmes such as regularly presenting the BBC’s Thought for the Day on Radio 4’s Today programme, Moral Maze, Sunday programme and BBC Sunday Morning Live. She is also vice–chair of Greenbelt Festival and a trustee of Christian Aid and Demos. She is on the Advisory board for Cambridge University Library, and is a Canon Theologian at Chester Cathedral.
www.chinemcdonald.com
Buy Tickets

Lecture - Isabelle Hamley
2028-03-11 10:00 - 12:00
Judges

Venue:
St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate (& Zoom option)
Date:
Saturday 11th March 2028, 10.00 – 12.00 noon with breakfast available from 9.30 am

Tickets available nearer the time

We are delighted to invite Isabelle Hamley back to HST&M in March 2028, to deliver a lecture on the book of Judges.
Further details to follow.
