Jo Ind

Talks

I am often invited to speak at conferences, festivals or to small groups of people.  I enjoy it. I like feeling the connection with the audience and noticing what happens when words are live.

Most of my talks are on theology, which I find slightly embarassing because I have no training as a theologian, but the invitations keep coming in and I keep rising to the challenge.  Generally I speak on a theology of emodiment, a theology of sexuality or a theology of communication though I don’t put it quite like that in the titles.  Groups I have addressed include the Norfolk Theologial Society, The Diocese of Lichfield, The Diocese of Sheffield, the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality,  The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement and the Greenbelt Festival

I am also invited to be an inspirational speaker for women who are developing professionally and for young people. I began this when I was women’s editor of the Birmingham Post and have continued mainly through the Springboard Programme run by Patricia Cresswell Associates.

“Thank you for all you gave to us all at our conference. You must have realised that on a number of occasions you worked the great miracle of bringing the dead to life. “  (Letter from the Rt Revd David Lunn, then Bishop of Sheffield, after I had addressed the Diocese of Sheffield Clergy Conference.)

“Ranchy, shocking, raw, honest, full of gentle humour and compassion” (How I was introduced on the Greenbelt Festival website when I was speaking on sexuality)

Workshops

As well as doing formal talks, I like to work interactively in workshops. This is always more challenging than simply speaking as I use a variety of media – silence, music, dialogue, writing, collage – to explore the subject. Working interactively is usually worth the extra adrenalin rush as it has the potential to touch participants at a deeper level.

I have done workshops for the Diocese of Birmingham, the Diocese of Oxford, the Diocese of Exeter, the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality, Changing Attitude and The Clergy Consultation.

“We were excited, nurtured, and challenged to new depths of understanding by this remarkably gifted, warm and courageous young woman. ‘How can I grow? How do I touch what is most real in myself and others – that ‘something’ which ties us into the world and life?’  Quite simply Jo Ind has demonstrated to us exactly how.” (Report on the What is Sexuality? conference I led in Sheffield for the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Sexuality)