The Third Global Congress on Sport and Christianity (3GCSC) is a three-day event to be hosted by Ridley Hall in Cambridge, England, between Thursday 18th August and Sunday 21st August.

The over-arching theme of the Congress is ‘servant leadership’ and, more specifically, the exploration of ways in which practitioners and academics can best serve the requirements of the field of sports ministry and chaplaincy theologically, conceptually, practically and spiritually.

A central aspiration of the gathering will be to promote the application of these ideas in line with the historical aims of the Congress and to consider how an intentional servant leadership approach might facilitate further synergies, connections and partnerships across the sector via the (co)creation of collaborative dialogue. We will be encouraging all of our speakers to consider these issues.

The aims of the Congress

In the line with the overarching ethos of the Congress, the aims of the 3GCSC are to:

• • • Encourage global collaboration between academics, practitioners, politicians, policy-makers, church leaders (lay and ordained), administrators, and athletes;
    • Stimulate high quality academic and practitioner publications that have societal impact;
    • Encourage, equip and serve individuals, collectives and organisations in their sphere of influence through intentional mentoring, collaboration and partnership;
    • Stimulate a ‘culture shift’ in modern sport via the sharing of ideas and practices and a ‘coming together’ of individuals from across academic and practitioner disciplines and all streams and denominations of Christianity, culminating in an inclusive and ecumenical event.

An overview of the Congress events

3GCSC will comprise:

• • • Opening gala dinner
    • Keynote speakers
    • Parallel delegate presentations/sessions
    • Invited panel discussion
    • Sport-themed worship service
    • Marketplace networking event (during which representatives from practitioner organisations, research centres and publishers will be available to share information).

Call for papers

Submissions on sport and Christianity, in all of its forms, are invited from scholars across a range of related disciplines (i.e., theology, religious studies, kinesiology, psychology, history, philosophy, ancient and modern languages, literature, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, economics, and business) and from practitioners in fields such as: sports ministry and mission, sports chaplaincy, counselling, social work, and pedagogy/coaching. The deadline for submissions is 1st July 2022. See Call for Papers for full details, including how to submit.

Congress attendance fees

Whole event congress tickets include the gala dinner (you will be asked to give details of any special dietary requirements during checkout), with an optional packed lunch for the Friday and Saturday. Accommodation is booked separately (see below).

Whole event standard ticket (Thurs 6pm to Sunday 1.30pm): £250
Day rate (Friday or Saturday): £95
Day rate (Sunday): £75

Bookings close on 1st July 2022.

Accommodation

There is limited accommodation available at Ridley Hall, on a first-come first-served basis, which can be booked at the same time as booking your place on the Congress, through the ‘Book now’ button on this page. Parking permits will also be available to those who book accommodation at Ridley Hall.

We can also recommend Westminster College and Westcott House, who are fellow members of the Cambridge Theological Federation, an ecumenical group of colleges and institutions within the city. The colleges are within easy walking distance of Ridley Hall – 15 and 30 minutes respectively. To enquire about booking accommodation at Westminster College, please email events@westminster.cam.ac.uk, quoting the Ridley Hall Congress. The accommodation comprises single en-suite rooms (room only, no meals) at £75.04 per room per night. Rooms are limited and early booking is advised. To enquire about booking accommodation at Westcott House, please email accommodation@westcott.cam.ac.uk, quoting the Ridley Hall Congress. The accommodation here comprises a variety of standard and en-suite single and double rooms (room only, no meals) from £60.00 to £110.00 per room per night. Rooms are limited and early booking is again advised.

Alternatively, Newnham College (next door to Ridley, and the venue for our plenary sessions) is offering a discounted rate to Congress attendees – contact Newnham on conference@newnham.cam.ac.uk for enquiries, quoting the Ridley Hall Congress.

There are also a range of B&Bs, hotels and University college accommodation within walking distance of Ridley Hall, details of which can be found at www.visitcambridge.org.

Enjoying the city of Cambridge

There will be plenty of free time within the Congress schedule to allow you to make the most of your time in the historic city of Cambridge. The Ridley Hall campus is at the heart of the city, which boasts some of the world’s most iconic educational establishments, including the world-famous King’s College Chapel. To explore ideas for things to do in the free afternoon sessions, we highly recommend the www.visitcambridge.org website.

Getting to Ridley Hall

For information on getting to Ridley Hall from the nearest airports and by train and bus, see our Getting Here page.

Parking

Parking in Cambridge is very restricted and so visitors are encouraged to come by public transport if at all possible. There is very limited parking on site at Ridley Hall, and permits will therefore only be issued to those staying in accommodation at the college (on request during ticket purchasing checkout). If you are staying elsewhere, please enquire directly with your place of accommodation regarding parking availability.

Cancellations Policy

Cancellation of the conference

All necessary precautions to ensure that any gathering of people for the congress will occur in accordance with the UK government recommendations that are in place at the time of the Congress. We reserve the right to cancel the Congress if the UK government announces recommendations relating to the Covid 19 pandemic that result in us having to cancel this in-person event, or if travel recommendations from any relevant country relating to the pandemic means than 30% or more of the total delegates are unable to attend. In the case of any such cancellation, we will refund the cost of attendance bookings and accommodation bookings made through Ridley Hall in full. Please refer to the cancellation policies of the provider of your accommodation where booked elsewhere.

If you need to cancel your booking

If you have booked to attend the Congress and are unable to attend, please notify us as soon as possible. Refunds will be made according to the time at which we are notified of your cancellation ahead of the start of the congress, as follows:

121 days or more in advance: full refund
41 to 120 days in advance: 60% refund
11 to 40 days in advance: 30% refund
10 days or less in advance: no refund available