We are pleased to announce that our 2026 Celebration will be held at Sarum College, adjoining the close of Salisbury Cathedral.
The theme for our celebration is Embracing the Present Moment – Possibilities and Challenges
Merton wrote in Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander:
In a time of drastic change one can be too preoccupied with what is ending or too obsessed with what seems to be beginning. In either case one loses touch with the present and with its obscure but dynamic possibilities. What really matters is openness, readiness, attention, courage to face risk. You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope. In such an event, courage is the authentic form taken by love.
Speakers include (in alphabetical order):
Malcolm Cash - Provisional title: Lessons from Thomas Merton & Malcolm X for the Racial Possibilities and Challenges in America.
Gary Hall - Provisional title: Seeing ‘the world that remakes itself without consulting us’: the bystander as teacher of attention.
Michael Higgins - Provisional title: Thomas Merton & John Moriarty: poetic visionaries of unity.
Dan Horan - Provisional title: ‘The Power of Hope Beyond our Control: Insights from Merton’s The New Man for the Present Moment.’
Paul Pearson - Provisional title: This Day Will Not Come Again: Living in the Present Moment with Thomas Merton.
Paul Pynkoski - Provisional title: Creation, Incarnation, and Resistance in “The Night Spirit and the Dawn Air.”
Sophfronia Scott - Provisional title: As I Write This Letter…: Merton’s Model of Self Care Through Communication.
BOOKING DETAILS - See below. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
NOTE: Bookings will happen DIRECTLY WITH SARUM COLLEGE.
Contact details for booking are as follows:
Email: hospitality@sarum.ac.uk
Phone: (0044) 01722 424800
Ref: MERTON CELEBRATION APRIL 2026
Other links:
https://www.sarum.ac.uk/contact/
*The Celebration is full board (breakfast, lunch, evening meal and refreshments) * Various accommodation options, including twin, double and single * Accessible lift * Daily rates
COSTS - For 2 nights, full board, en-suite: £255.30. Because delegates present with different requests (e.g. double, twin, single, etc), you can arrange with Sarum your preferred option. "Each room booking includes all meals and refreshments. It will be possible to add extra nights before or after the Celebration. This will incur the usual extra costs.