Oxbridge 2011 (Photo courtesy of Lancia E. Smith)
Education/Learning and the Visual & Performing Arts
Of particular interest at the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute is the role of education and the arts, not only in contributing to the problems of our post-Christian world but, more importantly, in offering potential paths forward in seeking solutions to these problems.
The C.S. Lewis Summer Institutes offer a unique and intentional blend of worship, scholarship, and the arts for scholars, clergy, professionals, and laypersons from around the globe. Attendees rank the Summer Institutes among the very finest of conferences, offering experiences that have transformed their lives. The C.S. Lewis Summer Institute provides an environment that is “Mere Christian,” with attendees drawn from a variety of denominational backgrounds, including mainline and evangelical Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox churches.
The morning program, each weekday, opens with hymn singing and a scripture meditation, followed by two lectures, each offered by distinguished scholars, and accompanied by a mid-morning coffee break and an artistic “whimsy,” featuring various guest artists.
Three afternoons will feature small-group seminars on a variety of subjects.
Most evenings offer a feast of the arts, ranging from a hymn-sing at C.S. Lewis’s grandfather’s church, a céilí, a choir concert, another by a singer-songwriter, to our after-hours “Bag End Café,” an open microphone gathering for our registrants.
This international conference, known for integrating faith, reason, and imagination, will be convening in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 24 – 30 July 2025 – marking the Foundation’s 12th such summer gathering since July 1988.
Started in 1988
Themes addressed to date include:
Faith, reason, and imagination in the company of friends
Our Mission: Inspired by the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis, we encourage and equip Christians to live out their faith within the world of ideas and the arts.
Our Mission: Inspired by the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis, we encourage and equip Christians to live out their faith within the world of ideas and the arts.
The C.S. Lewis Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States and a registered charity in the United Kingdom. We do not own the rights to C.S. Lewis’s works. Our funding comes primarily through the generosity of individual donors, along with some church funded support and our program income.
The C.S. Lewis Foundation owns and operates “The Kilns,” C.S. Lewis’s home in Oxford, England.
We host a variety of events in the U.S. and U.K., including the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute, The C.S. Lewis Retreat, C.S. Lewis Summer Seminars at The Kilns, The C.S. Lewis Writers’ Conference, and the C.S. Lewis Conference & Faculty Forum. Most of these events in recent years are hosted in Houston, Texas; Southern California; Amherst, Massachusetts; Oxford, England; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Belfast, Northern Ireland.
