FeAST in Recife: Theology Without Borders

Another year, another FeAST, and what a feast it was! Convening Anglican scholars from across the global

Church for the third-year running, the 2026 Fellowship of Anglican Scholars of Theology (FeAST) conference

began with participants trying out the local food and exchanging fresh theological thinking and research.

It was a privilege to walk the streets of Brazil and soak up the atmosphere as history was being made around us

and the election results came in. Amid all the singing and dancing, new relationships were made and old ones

revitalised as the FeAST participants spent time in fellowship, bringing together people from across the Anglican

Communion from countries such as New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Brazil, El Salvador, South Africa, and Palestine.

At its core, FeAST is about encounter and exchange, offering a platform for the vast theological wealth held by

global Anglicanism to be shared equally following centuries of unequal access to and opportunities for

networking, academic publishing, and participation in global academic forums. In this way, FeAST is an

outworking of USPG and our partners’ – SPCK and the Episcopal Divinity School – commitment to rethinking

mission and the historic imbalances in global theological scholarship, which has considered European theologies

and practices normal and all others inferior.

As the event began in earnest, I was struck by the incredible knowledge and the depths of the insights shared by

each participant. The event was split into six sessions, with all participants contributing to the discussion with a

presentation on a topic of their choice, including; theology amidst violence, resisting domination and belonging

without domination, competing futures within the Anglican Communion, practices of repair, and repair without

forgetting.

Coming from the UK, the sessions made me reflect on how little the education system has taught me about the

harsh realities of the British empire – or any empire for that matter. It is only by putting ourselves in the shoes

of those who have faced oppression that we can begin to understand the scar that colonialism has left on the

world. The first step to solving a problem is to recognise that there is one, and it is heartening to see that King

Charles II and the Prime Minister are now open to a formal apology around the UK’s role in the transatlantic

slave trade.

Outside of the sessions, the participants and I also had the opportunity to visit the neighbouring coastal city of

Olinda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site designated for its well-preserved 16th and 18th-century colonial

architecture. We also enjoyed a tour of Recife by boat, seeing famous monuments such as the Parque de

Esculturas Francisco Brennand and getting trapped under a bridge when the heavens opened.

We were honoured to hear from Sam Richardson, CEO of SPCK, Father Marcelo Barros, the Rt Revd Dr Anderson

Jeremiah, Bishop of Edmonton, and the Most Revd Marinez Rosa Dos Santos Bassotto, Bishop of the Anglican

Diocese of Amazonia and Primate of Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil (IEAB).

Thandi Gamedze, South African educator, theologian, cultural worker, and poet, said: “Something I’ve really

appreciated about FeAST is that it feels like there is an underlying commitment to liberation, thinking about

what liberation for all of us would mean. If that is something which you are concerned about or want to dig into

with other people who are concerned about this from across the Communion, I would really encourage you to

sign up and become part of FeAST.”