We are delighted to announce that we are taking bookings for this year’s Annual Conference.
More information about the packages and the costs for members booking at the early bird rate are available on the booking form. These rates range from £79 for Saturday only including lunch, to £259 for the full weekend. This year we also have double room sharing options though the venue has a non-discriminatory policy for sole occupancy so the cost is the same: £259 per person.
To find out more before filling in any of your personal details on the form:
- You MUST click the relevant option under Quest Membership.
- The Accommodation Options and Package Prices relevant to membership status will then appear. Click the drop down box to see the options.
Member benefits (early Bird Rate) – The members’ rate is discounted until the 28th February 2024. To join Quest, visit the relevant section of our website here.
Click to jump straight to the Booking Form. If you need a paper copy of the form email the conferences team conferences@questlgbti.uk telling us whether or not you are a Quest member.
You can find out about previous and future conferences here.
Read on to find out about
- The background to the conference theme
- Information about the Venue and the Contributors
Conference Dates: 5th to 7th July 2024 at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick
The background to the conference
In 2022, our conference ‘Walking Together’ saw the culmination of Quest’s contribution to the Synod process (the submission can be found here).
The 2023 conference saw us celebrating 50 years of ministry at the margins to our LGBT+ siblings. Keynote speaker, Sr Jeannine Gramick SL, shared a papal message of ‘greetings and blessing to the Quest group’: a recognition perhaps that for half a century we were already ‘walking together’.
2024 sees Catholics around the world in the 3rd phase of this Synodal journey and Quest considering what our next half century of ministry will look like.
Pope Francis, in the Apostolic Exhortation ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (p169, 2013), wrote: “The Church will have to initiate everyone – priests, religious and laity – into this “art of accompaniment” which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Exodus 3:5). The pace of this accompaniment must be steady and reassuring, reflecting our closeness and our compassionate gaze which also heals, liberates, and encourages growth in the Christian life.”
The synodal journey brings the realisation that we have been ‘walking together’, bringing our compassionate gaze, our healing, our desire for liberation and our hope for Christian growth to Christ’s table for 50 years. The 2024 conference will consider what it means for LGBT+ individuals, and Quest as a group, to continue to follow the call of the Gospel. How do we discern our part in the journey; who are the marginalised; and, as we evolve on that faith journey, what unique Gifts/Charisms do we bring to the table in service of our siblings as we learn the “art of accompaniment” at the intersections of our Church.
We are delighted to be joined by Clare Watkins and Chris Knowles.
The conference will take place over the weekend at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick from Friday evening 05/07/2024 to the afternoon of 07/07/2024. A number of buy-in options are available. Though the finer detail of the timetable isn’t yet finalised the main event sessions will likely be on Saturday morning and after lunch followed by afternoon activities or free time, catch up with old friends or make some new.
Bookings are not limited to Quest members or Catholics. Our inclusive liturgy is inspired by the morning and evening prayers of the Catholic faith and we will finish the weekend (after lunch) with a Catholic Mass.
The Venue
Quest returns to the Hayes Conference Centre, in Swanwick, near Alfreton, Derbyshire. It’s a few years since we were last here and much has changed. The building has seen lots of refurbishment with much of its former glory uncovered and restored. There has been a change in catering arrangements, and we had a very pleasant lunch when we visited to check out the venue.
There is a bar on site, and limitless coffee with freshly ground coffee machines situated around the conference centre.
We’ve managed to keep the prices low. The venue, like Quest, runs on a not-for-profit basis and therefore has less flexibility but room rates are cheaper. We have a set number of rooms held for us and will have to renegotiate numbers as we go along if demand is greater than the number we have reserved. Rooms will therefore be allocated on a first come, first served basis (the website registration form will timestamp your booking to ensure fairness). Book early and we may be able to extend the numbers if needs be, this is less likely the closer we get to the event.
Room shares are possible but there is no discount for this as the venue runs a fair rate policy for all.
Other things you need to know:
- There are beautiful grounds, two lakes,
- The nearest train station is Alfreton (currently pre-booked taxi fare of £8) or Derby (currently pre-booked taxi fare of £25). Rates are likely to change by next year.
- Plenty of free parking and there are electric charging points.
- It is not possible to book extra nights before or after the conference.
- Accessibility – we have reserved two fully accessible rooms and all rooms not on the ground floor are accessible by lift.
- We are unable to book a ‘gala dinner’ this year because of numbers so Saturday supper will be alongside other centre guests (in our designated area). There are plans afoot to do something after to mark the evening.
Guest Speakers / Contributors:
Clare Watkins, is a returning contributor having joined us in 2018 at Lincoln for the “A Ti
me to Build” conference and in 2019 day conference in London for the ‘Accompaniment-Discernment-Conscience’. She is Reader in Ecclesiology and Practical Theology at the University of Roehampton. A Roman Catholic, lay-woman theologian, committed to teaching and research in the areas of ecclesiology, sacramental and practical theology, Clare has a particular concern for working in ways that contribute to the integration of academic theology and faith practice, for the good of both. A co-originator of ‘theological action research’, Clare is now Director of the Theology and Action Research Network (TARN), Director of the UK Network of Catholic Practice-Engaged Theologians, and Principal Investigator on a theological action research project exploring the realities of faith learning. She has worked with a wide range of church providers of adult formation, as well as with agencies of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, and international ecumenical bodies. Her latest book, ‘Disclosing Church: an ecclesiology learned through conversations in practice’. (Routledge, 2020) reflects and develops these varied concerns.
Chris Knowles is the founder and co-director of the School for Synodality, a project which hopes to embed synodal practices in the local Church.
He has a wealth of experience across all walks of pastoral ministry, having worked with organisations such as Million Minutes, CAFOD and Caritas Social Action Network.
He’s also worked in 6th form chaplaincy and been a visiting lecturer at St Mary’s and Roehampton Universities.
Brendan Callaghan SJ is a Jesuit priest and psychologist. He has recently started a new role as the Superior of the Jesuit Community in Boscombe, Bournemouth, which consists mostly of elderly and frail Jesuits. Prior to this appointment he worked primarily with young people, in teaching and leadership positions at Heythrop and Campion Hall Oxford, as Jesuit Novice-Master, as a University Chaplain, and with various other responsibilities for Jesuits preparing for ordination. Alongside these ministries he has worked in spiritual accompaniment and retreat giving.
For many years he has been involved in ministry with LGBTQ+ Catholics, leading retreats at Loyola Hall and St Beuno’s, presiding at the “Soho Masses” from their early days in Camden to their arrival at Farm Street, and on at least one previous occasion (in 2018) acting as Chaplain at a Quest Annual Conference.
If you have questions then please email conferences@questlgbti.uk.
To book a place visit the Booking Form.