“Who am I?” has become one of the most prominent questions of our time.
Children - teenagers - adults - those in later life - are wrestling to find an answer that truly satisfies.
According to the Bible, believers in Jesus are given a new identity in him. ‘If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone the new is here!’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Being ‘in Christ’ is one of the apostle Paul’s favourite ways to describe a Christian. It captures the idea of union with Christ – and it means that our identity is now bound up with him. His Father becomes our Father (Galatians 4:4-7); his righteousness, our righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21); his glory even becomes our glory (John 17:22). This speaks to so many of the things we wrestle with. Our national conference in 2026 is going to focus on precisely this issue. We’ve called it Identity: conversations exploring our union with Christ.
We are delighted to be welcoming Sam Allberry to the conference. Born and brought up in the UK, Sam now lives and works as a pastor in Nashville. A gifted Bible teacher, who has written and spoken widely about identity issues and about our union with Christ, Sam is ideally equipped to give our two foundational sessions setting out what the Bible teaches about our union with Christ.
Video
Conference Details
Main Conference (8-10 June)
Identity
Conversations exploring our union with Christ
Helping believers recognise, and live out of, who they really are in Christ is so often the unspoken central issue of our pastoral conversations. As we strive for godliness, endure suffering and battle with sin, our identity as image bearers and our union with Christ provide a crucial basis for assurance and for our change and growth.
Seeing modern identity struggles through a biblical lens equips us for thoughtful conversational ministry that can help us replace fragile self-made identities with the robust identity we have all been given in Christ.
Alongside the main talks, a series of seminars will explore a wide range of pastoral issues from a more practical perspective.
Timings
The conference starts on:
Monday 8 June with registration from 1pm*
Session 1 starts at 3pm
The conference closes on:
Wednesday 10 June at 3:15pm
The workshop closes on:
Thursday 11 June with lunch
*please provide your own lunch on Monday 8 June
Post-Conference Workshops (10-11 June)
This year there will be four optional post–conference workshops, each consisting of four interactive sessions:
A workshop for experienced carers and vocational counsellors
Run by Andrew Collins, this workshop is designed for those whose training or experience means they are working as vocational counsellors or at an advanced level in their local church.
Habakkuk and hope
Led by Helen Thorne-Allenson, this workshop will look at the way any member of the church can open the book of Habakkuk with a struggling friend in order to find hope and help.
Integrating a biblical counselling approach in the local church
This workshop, led by Steve Midgley, is designed for pastors and others in church leadership to help them explore ways of developing conversational and biblical counselling ministry in the local church.
Identity for children and teenagers
Mel Lacy, who was previously on the board of BCUK and now leads Growing Young Disciples, will be leading this workshop. It is designed for children’s workers, youth workers, parents and anyone who wants to help young people to develop an identity that is securely rooted in Christ.
Workshops places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Conference speakers:
Sam Allberry
Ste Casey
Joanna Jackson
Steve Midgley
Andrew Nicholls
Seminars:
The following seminars will feature at different points in the programme. Click each title for more details:
Navigating Change
When identity is lost or threatened
“I just don’t feel like myself anymore, I don’t know who I am.” Have you ever had someone express something like this to you? Many of us can feel like this when going through significant changes in life (job loss, bereavement, illness, ageing and many other times). In this seminar we will explore how the wonderful truth that we are ‘in Christ’ makes a real difference when our identity feels under attack.
Emily Agnew
Seminar Speaker
The Mature Years
Identity and aging
The journey of life comes with many transitions. Later life can bring the joys and hardships of retirement, menopause, grandparenting, ill health and loss – all of which challenge how we think of ourselves and view our purpose. In our seminar we will look at how we can help those in our churches navigate those seasons well, with eyes on Christ.
Helen Thorne-Allenson
Seminar Speaker
Being Human
A theology of God-given limitations
“I’m only human!” We all know what it is to come face to face with our limits. But how does a theology of our limitations help us to understand and respond to our strengths and weaknesses, abilities and disabilities, and shape how we help others? This seminar will explore our core identity as human beings and its renewal in Christ made flesh.
Andrew Collins
Seminar Speaker
The Approval Trap
Living to keep people happy
What’s wrong with people pleasing? In the Bible we read “each of us should please our neighbours” (Rom 15:2), “look to the interests of others” (Phil 2:4) and “try to please everyone in every way” (1 Cor 10:33). So how do we square this with Scripture’s call “not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Thess 2:4)? This seminar considers our need to please the people around us, how this connects to our worship of God, and how, in Christ, we can serve others freely and joyfully.
Nicola Eggersten
Seminar Speaker
Abiding
Communion with Christ
To abide in Christ is to continually receive from Christ the essential spiritual nutrients we need in order to flourish and bear much fruit. In this seminar we will explore more of what abiding in Christ means in theory and in practice as we seek to deepen our communion with Christ and help others do likewise.
Jonny Parker
Seminar Speaker
Growing in Glory
A true self-image and a joyful discontent
One of the rich delights of interpersonal ministry is helping others live in truth and grace with the reality of who they are – walking together as people who, looking to our Lord Jesus, are being transformed into his image. How can we do this well? What other gospels compete with Christ in this space? How can we avoid discouragement and instead find deep joy and fruitfulness in this ministry?
Karl Hood
Seminar Speaker
Self
Where did that idea come from?
We all have a sense of ‘self’ – but where did this idea come from? Our modern concept of individual identity has been shaped by centuries of thinking, theology, and cultural change. This seminar explores how the Western idea of ‘self’ developed and what it means for how we understand ourselves today.
Kenny Larsen
Seminar Speaker
Sexual Identity
Thinking biblically about our sexual identity
For many today sexual identity lies at the very core of what it means to be human, but the Bible shows us a deeper, more liberating way to understand ourselves and our sexuality. We’ll explore how the gospel of Jesus deeply shapes how we see ourselves and how this is profoundly good news.
Sam Allberry
Seminar Speaker
Facing Death
Our mortality and our identity
This seminar equips carers (both lay pastoral carers and professional biblical counsellors) to face the reality of death with theological clarity, pastoral wisdom and personal integrity. It will aim to help us to think biblically and honestly about human mortality, ground our identity and hope in Christ, consider how we can minister to others who are facing death, grief, or fear of death in its various forms, and reflect on our own mortality without denial, despair or sentimentality.
Joanna Jackson
Seminar Speaker
Share in suffering
Do we really need to suffer with Christ?
Being united to Christ includes knowing the fellowship of sharing in Christ’s suffering. We’ll be considering what it might mean that Christ suffered, we suffer and we are in Him. How does this impact and transform our experience of suffering?
Sophie Gower
Seminar Speaker
When Weakness Comes
How illness can deepen our knowledge of God
In this seminar we will consider the work of God in us and through us during illness. We will discuss our frailty and weakness in this and consider how prayer and the word of God helps us in these circumstances. We will also consider what happens when the carer gets sick and how you can help others in periods of illness.
Abigail Richardson
Seminar Speaker
Identity in Darkness
How being united to Christ affects our experience as we walk through depression
Looking at Psalm 23 primarily, we’ll be considering how to use Scripture to point people to Christ in the middle of a dark experience, and seeing how we can find hope even when life seems hopeless. The knowledge that as believers we are united with Christ can make a real difference when we wonder how we’re going to get through the bleakest days.
Jane Casey
Seminar Speaker
Unfair Treatment
Facing injustice in union with Christ
How do we live with the consequences of having been hurt by others and when justice is not forthcoming? Experiencing injustice can leave us feeling hopeless, wondering whether God has noticed us and all we’ve experienced. Our union with Christ brings hope. We have been given life through the one who is perfectly just, and that changes everything. God cares about injustice, and we can find rest in our union with him as we wait for the day when he returns, and all will be put right.
Jane Davies
Seminar Speaker
Broken Image
Understanding shame, self-esteem and a damaged self-image
This seminar will explore the personal and communal dynamics of shame and low self-esteem. Together, we will consider how Scripture teaches us to define shame rightly and to address its distorting effects on a person’s sense of self and relationships. Our focus will be on understanding the shared honour we have with Christ through our new identity in Him, and on learning how to apply that truth both personally and in our work with others.
Laura Perbet
Seminar Speaker
Addictive Personalities
When identity is ruled by our habits
Whilst escapist habits and serious addictions seek to claim us for their own by declaring, “You need me, you are mine, and this is all you will ever be!”, Jesus has declared that we are found in him, and he has set us free. This seminar will show how we can help others (or ourselves) battle a way out from under the identity claims that addiction imposes and into the new identity that Christ has drawn us into.
Ste Casey
Seminar Speaker
The Tyranny of Self-Definition
Helping children and young people, who feel they must define themselves
Children and young people are growing up with a powerful message. They’re told to “be true to themselves” and to “live their truth”. This seminar explores how this pressure to define yourself shapes the inner lives of our children and young people. We will consider how scripture tells children they are known, named, and held by God. At the centre of this is our union with Christ and we will focus on how this truth helps in real conversations when a young person feels trapped by labels, panicked by decisions, or ashamed of who they think they are.
Mel Lacy
Seminar Speaker
Illness Identities
Healthy and unhealthy responses to medical diagnosis
What are the pros and cons of a medical diagnosis? Is adopting the patient role good for us or might it sometimes cause us harm? How should faith in God affect our experience of being ill and being given a diagnostic label? This seminar will examine suggestions that the rising use of diagnostic categories may be leading some people to define themselves by their illness and so contribute to a deterioration in health rather than produce any benefit. Christian understanding of health, illness and identity has much to say about these categories and our response to them.
Steve Midgley
Seminar Speaker
Post-conference workshop leaders:
Andrew Collins
Andrew serves as the Director of Counselling Ministry at BCUK.
Helen Thorne-Allenson
Helen serves as the Director of Training and Resources at BCUK.
Steve Midgley
Steve serves as the Executive Director of BCUK.
Mel Lacy
Mel serves as the Executive Director of Growing Young Disciples. She has extensive experience in church-based children’s and youth ministry, and in training others.
Practical Details
Venue
The Pencil Factory, Keswick, Cumbria, CA12 5NG
The Pencil Factory is the home of Keswick Ministries and we are delighted to be partnering with them to deliver the BCUK national conference in 2026.
Watch the video or scroll down for more information on our move to this new venue and how that impacts you as you plan to join us.
Travel
by road and rail
By Road
Keswick is easily reached via junction 40 of the M6 (Penrith) and the A66 or via the A1 and the A66. For a scenic route coming from the South leave the M6 at junction 36 and take the A591 through Windermere, Ambleside and Grasmere. Using motorways from Manchester it takes approximately 2 hours, whilst from the Midlands Keswick is around a 3 hour drive. The average journey time from London is approximately 5 1/2 hours.
By Rail
The nearest railway station to Keswick is Penrith, on the West Coast Main Line, a distance of 17 miles. From Penrith station there is a bus to Keswick approximately every half hour which takes about 40 minutes. The timetable for the X4/X5 is available to download at www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables.
Taxis from Keswick will meet trains at Penrith by prior arrangement.
Food and Accommodation
Important information
The conference ticket covers entry to all sessions, meals from dinner on the Monday evening through to Wednesday lunch (excluding breakfast) and refreshments throughout. Workshop tickets also cover entry to the named workshop sessions, meals from dinner on the Wednesday evening through to Thursday lunch (excluding breakfast) and refreshments throughout.
You will need to arrange your own accommodation and breakfast.
- Hotel options
The Premier Inn is now taking bookings for the conference dates. Ideally situated directly opposite the Pencil Factory site, rooms can be booked directly with the Premier Inn. There will be limited free overnight parking at the Pencil Factory site or there is chargeable parking at the Premier Inn and Derwent Pencil Museum car park.
Lake District Hotels is a group of hotels with three hotels situated in Keswick: Inn on the Square, Skiddaw Hotel and Kings Arms. They are offering delegates a 10% discount on rooms using the code BCNC2026 which can be entered when booking via their website.
Some further links (in green) are below to help you explore other accommodation options:
Booking
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations received on or after Monday 16th March 2026 will be charged the full fee.
Payment
You can pay using a debit or credit card.
Bursary
If the cost would prevent you from being able to attend, we may be able to help. We have a small conference bursary fund, which we allocate on a first come, first served basis. Our hope is to enable those on low incomes to attend the conference when, otherwise, they could not have done. To apply, click here.
Further Information
For queries, please get in touch with us via the contact page or email .
Advanced tickets - available until 15th March
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Conference only
Advanced rates-
Deposit only = £100*
Conference + workshop
Advanced rates-
Deposit only = £100*
Livestream
We anticipate making the main conference sessions available on livestream, and on catch-up for a short time after the conference.
Livestream pricing and booking details will be made available early in 2026. To be notified when Livestream bookings open, sign up below.
