The Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Union Theological College held their second joint conference under the theme ‘The Church in the Public Square’ on Thursday, 9th October 2014.

The aim of the conference was to bring together a number of leading thinkers in the UK to consider the role that Christians and the Church can play in wider community life. The theme for the event, a follow up from January’s first conference, was ‘Equality, freedom and religion’.

Professor Colin Harvey, Professor of Human Rights Law at Queen’s University in Belfast, was explicit in saying that human rights law was founded on centuries of Christian theology, and that the churches should be fully engaged in the debates that are still very much “work in progress” as the law develops.