The Assault on the Free Press: A Conversation between two Journalists

Sion College is excited to host a conversation between two leading journalists on the pressures facing the free press around the world. They will discuss the increasing pressure and threat that the free press is under including: Russia, Putin, the war in Ukraine and the wrongful detention and recent release of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. We are honoured to be joined by Luke Harding and Gráinne McCarthy, who will have a conversation about this important topic and then open up for questions. A glass of wine will be available on arrival from 7pm, with their talk starting promptly at 7:30pm. Afterwards, there will be time for further drinks and canapés.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

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Vincent van Gogh - Faith, Love and Poetry with Marc Woodhead

This talk will offer an introduction to the blockbuster National Gallery exhibition Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers (14th Sept 2024 -19th Jan 2025), the flagship autumn event to celebrate the National Gallery’s 200th birthday. This ambitious show will include 50 paintings and drawings from the artist’s extraordinary period in Arles (Feb 1888-May 1889) and at the asylum just outside Saint-Rémy-de-Provence (May 1889-May 1890).

Marc Woodhead studied Fine Art Painting at Carlisle College of Art and Design, and Cheltenham College of Art and Design, and lectures at the National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery and Wallace Collection in London, and has also established his own company, Art History for Independent Travelers, leading tours of Italy, Spain, Holland and Germany for groups from the UK. Marc has a special interest in light, colour and line in Early Renaissance and Early Modernist painting.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

Click here, once you have logged in, to access the online application and payment form.

Jim Shannon MP - International Freedom of Religion or Belief

At a time when there are serious tensions in several parts of the world where freedom of religion or belief can be a casualty, at this supper seminar Jim Shannon offers his perspective on the situation in the climate of 2024.

Jim Shannon has been the Democratic Unionist Party MP for Strangford since 2010. He had previously sat in the Northern Ireland Assembly from 1998 to 2010 as the MLA for Strangford. Shannon is one of the most active contributors to Parliamentary debates, intervening in debates on a wide range of matters, with his contributions often relating to freedom of religious belief.  He is a particularly assiduous attender at Commons’ Business Question where he frequently raises this issue.  Recent topics have included religious toleration in Tibet, Vietnam, Nepal and Mexico. He was a strong supporter of the private member’s Bill to put the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief on a statutory footing, one of the measures lost when the last general election was called. The bill was promoted following the review by the Bishop of Winchester (then Bishop of Truro) on persecution of Christians commissioned by Jeremy Hunt when Foreign Secretary.

Until the election he was Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Freedom of Religion and Belief, a cross-party group of parliamentarians who believe that international freedom of religion or belief is a crucial human right. Shannon seeks to raise its profile both in government and Parliament.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

Click here, once you have logged in, to access the online application and payment form.

Nick Spencer - AI and humans: What does the Future Hold?

Hardly a day goes by without another AI story in the news. Because AI affects, well, pretty much everything… from how we will work to what we will do in old age. Somewhere near the heart of these stories is the fear that AI will replace us, because it is smarter or faster or less prone to errors or less in need of downtime or upkeep than we are.

Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at Theos. He is the author of a number of books, most recently (with Hannah Waite) Playing God: Science, Religion and the Future of Humanity (SPCK, 2024) and Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion (Oneworld, 2023). He is host of the podcast Reading Our Times, which talks to some of the leading thinkers in the world about the books and ideas that are shaping us today.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

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Sion College Founder’s Day Lecture – Populism: Conflict and Hope. Speaker: Rory Stewart

Rory Stewart is the Brady-Johnson Professor of Grand Strategy at Yale University. A former UK cabinet minister and diplomat and Member of Parliament for Penrith and the Border, he served as an Infantry Officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, was a professor at Harvard University and has written a number of bestselling books. His book The Marches and his BBC documentary Borderland focus on the history of Cumbria. He co-presents the UK’s top podcast, The Rest Is Politics, with Alastair Campbell, and is also a Senior Advisor to GiveDirectly - the fastest growing non-profit in the world last year, specialising in cash transfers to the extreme poor, particularly in Africa.

Previously, Rory was Secretary of State for International Development, Minister of State for Justice, Minister of State in Foreign Office and DFID, Minister for the Environment and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. After the army he joined the UK Diplomatic Service, serving in Jakarta, as British representative to Montenegro in the wake of the Kosovo crisis, and as the coalition Deputy-Governor of two provinces of Southern Iraq following the intervention of 2003. He left the diplomatic service to undertake a two-year walk across Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal.

Rory’s books also include: The Places in Between, Occupational Hazards or The Prince of the Marshes, Can Intervention Work? and The Marches. His most recent book, published in September 2023, is Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within.

Entry to the Dutch Church will be from 5:15pm, with Evening Prayer at 5:30pm. After this there will be a drinks reception downstairs, followed by the lecture in the Church at 6:30pm and a buffet dinner at 7:45pm. The evening will finish with departure by 9:30pm.

Fellows and members are invited to apply for places for guests (maximum one guest each). However, please note that guest applications can only be accepted if there is space after applications from fellows and members.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

Click here, once you have logged in, to access the online application and payment form.

The Sion College Afternoon at the Panto: Potted Panto at Wilton’s Music Hall

The West End’s longest running pantomime returns to the East End for 2024 due to popular demand! Potted Panto brings you seven classic pantomimes in 80 hilarious minutes! Wilton’s Music Hall welcomes back the Olivier Award nominated festive celebration following last year’s hit season. In a madcap ride through the biggest stories and best-loved characters from the wonderful world of pantomime, our dastardly double act dash from rubbing Aladdin’s lamp to roaming the golden streets of Dick Whittington’s London and making sure that Cinderella gets to the Ball.

As always, this pantomime outing is heavily subsidised with the cost to Sion College members and their parties held yet again at just £10 for adults, with no charge for school-age children. We have bought Stalls tickets, and as always drinks or ice creams will also be provided for everyone. The number of tickets is strictly limited. Priority in allocating places will be given to those with school-age children, and specifically to children and grandchildren of Members & Fellows. There is a provisional limit of 4 children per Member/ Fellow.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

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Sion College Lecture Series on Ecclesiology: Archbishop Stephen Cottrell - The church and its purpose

Present debates and divisions within the Church of England point to a crisis in ecclesiology. What is the purpose of the church, as we have inherited it, in the present day and for the future? This lecture will be the second in the Sion College Lecture Series on Ecclesiology and we are thrilled to be joined by the Archbishop of York, Steven Cottrell, who will speak to this valuable topic of the church and its purpose.

Online application and payment is available for this event. To apply and pay online you will first need to register if you haven't done so already. Once the Administrator has approved your registration, you will be able to log in and access the online application/payment. You will only need to register once, and for any applications for subsequent events you will need only to log in.

Click here, once you have logged in, to access the online application and payment form.