THE author John Swinton received the 2016 Michael Ramsey Prize at the Greenbelt Festival on Sunday.
Judging of the Prize, which is handed out every two or three years for the best piece of theological writing, was for the first time led by Archbishop Welby, who was at Greenbelt to give Professor Swinton the award and a cheque for £10,000. His book, Dementia: Living in the memories of God (SCM Press), was described by the Archbishop as “deeply challenging”.
Professor Swinton, who is Professor of Practical Theology and Pastoral Care at the University of Aberdeen, said that his hope was for the book to help Christians to see that “even in something as apparently hopeless as dementia, you can find possibilities, because God is a God who never forgets us.”
The runner-up was Faith and Struggle on Smokey Mountain (Orbis Books), by Fr Benigno Beltran, which, Archbishop Welby said, contained “profound spirituality and immensely creative theological thinking” (Books, 29 April; Interviews, 19 August).
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