The Thomas Sutton Lecture 2026 - Roger Williams and Religious Freedom: From the Charterhouse to the Rhode Island Charter
Friday 30 October 2026 at 6pm
Discover the fascinating journey of Roger Williams, an early seventeenth-century Charterhouse scholar who crossed the Atlantic and laid the foundations for what would become the State of Rhode Island. In this lecture, The Rev’d Professor Maggi Dawn will trace Williams’ remarkable life and examine the radical ideas he put into practice in America. By championing the separation of church and state, he forged a complex and intriguing relationship between society, law, and religion. Join us to explore the enduring significance of his visionary ideals. Today, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, the echoes of his work continue to shape civic life on both sides of the Atlantic.
Event Details:
5.45pm: Doors open ·
6.00pm – 7.00pm: Lecture in the Great Chamber ·
7.00pm – 8.00pm: Drinks reception
About the speaker:
The Rev'd Professor Maggi Dawn is a priest in the Episcopal Church (USA), currently serving as Diocesan Theologian in the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, USA. She travels widely throughout the USA, giving public lectures and leading retreats. She is the author of five books, and five albums of her compositions.
After a first career as a writer and performer in the music business, Maggi studied theology at the University of Cambridge (UK), specialising in the theological thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Since then has taught and researched at the University of Cambridge, Yale University, where she was Associate Dean and Professor of Theology and Literature at the Divinity School, and at Durham University, where she was Principal of St Mary’s College, and Professor of Theology.
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Friday 30 October 2026 at 6pm
Discover the fascinating journey of Roger Williams, an early seventeenth-century Charterhouse scholar who crossed the Atlantic and laid the foundations for what would become the State of Rhode Island. In this lecture, The Rev’d Professor Maggi Dawn will trace Williams’ remarkable life and examine the radical ideas he put into practice in America. By championing the separation of church and state, he forged a complex and intriguing relationship between society, law, and religion. Join us to explore the enduring significance of his visionary ideals. Today, 250 years after the Declaration of Independence, the echoes of his work continue to shape civic life on both sides of the Atlantic.
Event Details:
5.45pm: Doors open ·
6.00pm – 7.00pm: Lecture in the Great Chamber ·
7.00pm – 8.00pm: Drinks reception
About the speaker:
The Rev'd Professor Maggi Dawn is a priest in the Episcopal Church (USA), currently serving as Diocesan Theologian in the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island, USA. She travels widely throughout the USA, giving public lectures and leading retreats. She is the author of five books, and five albums of her compositions.
After a first career as a writer and performer in the music business, Maggi studied theology at the University of Cambridge (UK), specialising in the theological thought of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Since then has taught and researched at the University of Cambridge, Yale University, where she was Associate Dean and Professor of Theology and Literature at the Divinity School, and at Durham University, where she was Principal of St Mary’s College, and Professor of Theology.
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