The Theology of Gratitude scholars conference that UTO is presenting in partnership with Bexley Seabury Seminary in Chicago on April 23-24, 2020 is coming together nicely. This conference will include keynote speaker Diana Butler Bass, author of Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks, and papers on gratitude presented by scholars in different fields of theology. The papers from the conference will also be published in the Anglican Theological Review in a special issue on gratitude to make them available well beyond the conference attendees.

UTO proposed this conference both because we want a firm theology of thankfulness behind our work and because we want to encourage scholarship, which is one of the legs of Anglicanism’s three-legged stool (faith, tradition, reason). Although eucharist means thanksgiving and we talk about giving thanks every Sunday, there is not much theological work on what thankfulness means and how it relates to our faith. We hope this conference will begin to change that and will inspire more thought and conversation about gratitude in the Church.

If you want to learn more about The Theology of Gratitude conference, please visit https://unitedthankoffering.com/conference/. Registration is just $30 and includes lunch on Friday. We begin on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the St. James’ Cathedral in Chicago for Bexley Seabury’s convocation and the keynote address by Diana Butler Bass. There will be a reception and book signing following the event. On Friday, we gather from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Nicholas Center to hear from the scholars and a concluding address from the Rev. Micah Jackson, PhD, president of Bexley Seabury. We hope you will join us in Chicago!