Online Zoom Forum: John MacMurray: The Spiritual, Ethical, Social, and Humanitarian Vision on His Life and Work.
Date: Wednesday 24 June 2026.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be five talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by discussion among the speakers and the chair, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Dr Donald Smith:
Bio: Donald Smith is founding Director of the Scottish Storytelling Centre and of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival.
Donald Smith is a noted storyteller and performance poet in his own right, novelist, and playwright; and has authored a succession of books about Scottish culture, including Storytelling Scotland (2001) and Freedom and Faith (2013).
From 2012 to 2023 he was CEO of TRACS (Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland).
Donald was born in Glasgow to an Irish mother, and was brought up in Church of Scotland manses in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling.
In 2023 he was honoured to receive the Hamish Henderson Award for lifetime achievement.
Speakers:
Dr Marty Folsom:
Title: The Science of the Personal and Implications for Therapy.
Description: This talk engages John MacMurray's understanding of the person, in distinction from the individual, in a manner that opens a conversation regarding relational health rather than symptoms of disorder. The place of the emotions, especially love and fear, provides a possibility of pursuing health in a relationship and making disease a disorder of relatedness.
Bio: Marty Folsom, Ph.D. (Otago, NZ, 1994) My doctoral studies focused on what is meant by "free persons," comparing John MacMurray, John Zizioulas, and Karl Barth. I have been teaching theology for 30 years, using MacMurray's work, and counseling for 27 years. I am the author of the Face to Face trilogy (Wipf & Stock), Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics for Everyone series (Zondervan), and The Psalms: A Sanctuary for the Soul series (Morehouse). He is currently teaching Theology and Counseling in the PsyD and MA programs. He lives in Washington State in the Pacific Northwest.
Dr Eleanor M Godway:
Title: "Alone Together" with God: MacMurray on Religion, Community and the "Personal".
Description: MacMurray's account of what it is to be a person is integral to his understanding of religion, what it is for, its development and its possibilities. I unpack related ideas about community and society, his critique of politics and of the church of his day, his diagnosis of the international situation - not that different today from what he was contemplating 70 years ago - and his vision of the possibility of the salvation of the world.
Bio: Born in England, 1939, B.A.1961, M.A.1967, (Moral Sciences)Cambridge University; Ph.D. 1987 York University, Canada, philosophy, dissertation on Merleau-Ponty.
Retired professor of philosophy, Central Connecticut State University, specialization in phenomenology. Raised a Quaker, and currently active in New England Yearly Meeting, serving on the committee charged with rewriting Faith and Practice. Active in the Alternatives to Violence Project.
Dr Charlotte Haines Lyon:
Title: Schools as Sites of Democratic Renewal: MacMurray's Relational Vision for Educational Community.
Description: This paper explores how John MacMurray's philosophy of persons-in-relation offers a framework for understanding schools not merely as sites of individual learning but as essential spaces for democratic renewal. Drawing on MacMurray's insistence that persons are constituted through relationship, I argue that the quality of relationships between schools and parents serves as both a microcosm and a foundation for wider democratic health.
In an era marked by institutional distrust and the appeal of populist alternatives to established democratic norms, MacMurray's work helps us recognise how the breakdown of genuine personal relations in educational settings both reflects and contributes to broader democratic fragility. By examining concrete practices that either facilitate or hinder authentic relationship between schools and families, this paper suggests that educational communities, properly understood through MacMurray's lens, can model and nurture the forms of mutuality, recognition, and shared purpose essential to democratic life.
Bio: Charlotte Haines Lyon is an Associate Professor in Education at York St John University. Her research interests are democratic renewal in education in a time of democratic fragility. Her research addresses the macro questions of populism in education as well as working with children and young people to shape toilet policy and practice in their schools. She is a member of the John MacMurray Fellowship and sits on the committee as the editor of the newsletter.
Prof Joseph de Rivera:
Title: The Challenge of Achieving MacMurray's Vision of a Global Community.
Description: Achieving a global community involves extending mutual emotional relationships so we intend justice in our indirect relationships with billions of unknown others. This requires creating a global political economy that integrates democracy with authority, and capitalism with socialism, Overcoming group prejudice, the temptation to dominate, and the propensity for violence may require us to modify MacMurray’s understanding of human aggression and create new ritual celebrations.
Bio: Joseph de Rivera (PhD. Stanford, 1961) is Professor Emeritus at Clark University. A founding member of the International Society for Research on Emotions and a fellow in three different divisions of the American Psychological Association, he taught at Dartmouth and NYU before coming to Clark and founding their Program in Peace and Conflict. His most recent work, Forming a global community, is based on MacMurray's philosophy. The author or editor of six previous books, he is currently engaged in research on celebrations that promote global community.
Prof Frank Kirkpatrick:
Title: Disentangling and Re-engaging Community and Society.
Description: Today pundits often confuse the two with the result that ‘community’ is often used to refer to any group of people sharing something in common but having little or no personal relationship to each other. The result of this confusion is frequently an expectation that the common goods of a society should be provided only on an individual basis arising from love and warm sentiments rather than on the basis of justice. Consequently, three crucial dimensions of social or political life fail to get the attention they deserve: the role of economic markets, taxation and philanthropy in providing the kind of society from which true community can emerge and flourish.
Bio: Frank G. Kirkpatrick is now retired from teaching at Trinity College in Connecticut as Professor of Religious Studies, Emeritus, received his BA in Religious Studies from Trinity in 1964, his MA from Columbia University and Union theological seminary in Comparative Religion in 1966 and his PhD from Brown University in Religious Studies, writing his doctoral thesis on the Idea of God in the Thought of John MacMurray. Most of his publications center on or are deeply influenced by the work of MacMurray, including his 2005 book John MacMurray: Community Beyond Political Philosophy.
An archive recording will be made for the EICSP archive.
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Paypal:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
If you are having a difficulty paying by Paypal, then you can pay by bank transfer instead.
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Here are the bank transfer details:
Account Name: Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace
Bank: Bank of Scotland
Bank Address: Edinburgh Royal Mile Branch
Account Number: 06131159
Sort Code: 802000
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The IBAN number:
GB70 BOFS 8020 0006 1311 59
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BOFSGB21168