The Ebor Lectures 2020 (14th series)
2020 Vision(s): Sharpening our Focus

Below we are pleased to publish a number of short reflections inspired by this year's Ebor Lectures theme. You can also find these videos on our YouTube channel, and we invite you to share your thoughts with us.

2020 Vision(s): Reflections

Lord Singh of Wimbledon
Indarjit Singh, Baron Singh of Wimbledon, CBE, is a British journalist and broadcaster, a prominent British Asian active in Sikh and interfaith activities, and a member of the House of Lords.

Christopher Lamb
Christopher Lamb is a journalist, and Rome Correspondent for The Tablet.

In his Ebor Lectures reflection he suggests four characteristics that the Catholic Church must aspire to develop if it is to respond effectively to the Covid-19 crisis. First, the Church must be missionary. The second characteristic is a Church much more focussed on the poor. The third is a renewed relationship to the natural world, and science. The fourth mark of the Church during and after the pandemic must be liturgical and pastoral creativity. Covid-19’s spread coincided with Easter. New life is emerging, despite the restrictions of the pandemic, and this affords the Church the opportunity to re-focus on its core mission.

Reverend Doctor Jane Leach
Jane Leach is the Principal of Wesley House, Cambridge, and the President of the Cambridge Theological Federation. She teaches and supervises in practical theology. She is a member of the British Methodist Conference and the Faith and Order Committee of the British Methodist Church. She broadcasts regularly on Radio 4's "Thought for the Day". She is the managing editor of the online peer-reviewed journal "Holiness". She was the founding chair of the British Association of Pastoral Supervisors and Educators.

In her teaching at the University of Cambridge, Revd. Dr. Jane Leach employs an "embodied pedagogy". The human body is a repository of wisdom, and essential for learning and communicating. Covid-19 has "disembodied" teaching, pushing students and teachers to use the medium of online communication. During video conversations, Jane Leach has encouraged her students to find ways of using signs and gestures (such as giving a "high-five" to camera) to remind them that they're not just "talking heads" on screen. As a Christian, Leach believes in an embodied theology of the Incarnation, and argues that using our bodies is essential. Looking to the future, human interaction on screen is here to stay, and this may benefit the planet through a reduced global carbon footprint. However, digital technologies can also cut us off from our deepest wisdom as human beings, and we will need to find ways to connect as bodies and communities if we want to flourish and not just survive. High-five!

Professor William Willimon
William Willimon is one of America's best-known and respected preachers. He is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He is a bishop in the United Methodist Church. He has authored some 70 books which have sold over a million copies.

As he says in this stirring video, "We’ve been living through apocalyptic, visionary, revealing times. We’ve had our eyes opened." To see things properly, to truly perceive the realities around us, requires some disruption and refocussing. 2020's Covid-19 pandemic and "Black Lives Matter" protests against racism have disrupted our lives and opened our eyes. A virus has revealed how fragile and interconnected we all are. The filming of George Floyd's killing has exposed the evil of racism and prompted outrage. William Willimon asks: When "all this is over", do we want to go back to our “normal routine”, or is this a momentous turning point in history? Could this be an "apocalyptic" moment? The word "apocalypse" means “unveiling” or “revelation”. We are certainly seeing the world through newly-opened eyes at the present moment. Will we change for the better as a result? We will see.

Dr. Richard Vautrey
Richard Vautrey is the Chair of the British Medical Association's (BMA) General Practitioners Committee, and a GP in Leeds.

​The coronavirus pandemic has radically changed the way general practice operates, and these changes may be long-lasting. Since the outbreak of Covid-19 doctors, other medical staff, and patients have faced new realities: remote triage and diagnosis by phone or video; the shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment); changing advice about shielding at home; and a growing backlog of cases and routine care. The outbreak has exposed the particular vulnerability of BAME (black and minority ethnic) patients and staff, and the pandemic has had a major impact on mental health. Pending challenges include the annual winter outbreak of influenza, and the risk of health inequalities for those without access to technology. Doctor Vautrey says that despite continual adaptation, those with a "calling" to provide medical care will remain constant in their commitment to serve.

Gabriel Kanter-Webber
Gabriel Kanter-Webber is a student rabbi, based in the UK.

Gabriel discusses the problematic interpretations of the words "politics" and "religion", and how they mix, both in Jewish scriptures and contemporary society.

Alexander Coates
Alexander (AJ) Coates is a sixth form student at St Peter's School, York.

The switch to online learning prompted by Covid-19 has frustrated many students, but in his Ebor Lectures “2020 vision” reflection, Sixth-Former AJ Coates sees the pandemic as an opportunity for such learning to lift people in Kenya out of poverty.

Father Timothy Radcliffe, O.P.
Timothy Radcliffe is a Dominican Friar living at Blackfriars Priory in Oxford. He is former Master General of the Dominican Order.

The Right Reverend Doctor Helen-Ann Hartley​
Helen-Ann Hartley is Bishop of Ripon in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds in the UK.