Guy Hayward confirmed speaker

Guy started off as a chorister at Cambridge University where he did a PhD in music, but decided not to become a traditional academic, and instead has carved out a role for himself, as an explorer of the intersection between spirituality, psychology, the arts, nature and religion. Guy is particularly interested in how we can engage with our Christian heritage, even if we are not traditional Christians, which is a very important question for British culture at the moment.

Guy has developed two initiatives in the last few years, which is a brilliant example of doing something which doesn’t take a huge amount of effort but has big impact and results. The first is called the British Pilgrimage Trust, which works to re-open ancient pilgrimage routes around the UK, let people know about them, and that you can walk them. The BPT is about helping people to re-connect to, and re-enchant, the land.

The second thing Guy has worked on is the revival of evensong in the UK.  He has launched a website, www.choralevensong.org, where people can find local evensong services near them, and go along and listen to the beautiful music, free of charge.

What connects both Pilgrimage and Evensong is that these are both Christian practices that you can participate in, and get a transcendent experience from – or a spiritual experience from – even if you don’t believe in the specific dogmas of traditional Christianity. Guy feels that’s very important for our post-religious, sceptical society which is still very hungry for a more spiritual life.