“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
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.
