Events & News

Explore your study options at Laidlaw College's Open Nights in November.

Find out more about the study options we offer, from Certificate to Postgraduate level, full-time, part-time or by distance. Our staff will be available to talk about how study at Laidlaw can equip you to follow your calling.

If you can’t make it in person, please call us on 0800 999 777 and start the conversation!

We hope to see you at one of our campuses or online

Sturt Lectures bring theology and professional counselling into honest conversation, exploring what it means to flourish when anxiety, loneliness, and digital overwhelm have become part of everyday life. Hosted by Laidlaw College and named for John and Agnes Sturt, pioneers of holistic counselling and Christian leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand, this series of lectures has long served as a meeting place for theological insight and practical care.

This year's theme asks a pressing question: can flourishing be found alone, or only in community? As individual wellness culture pulls one way and relational, communal understandings of healing pull another, our speakers—counsellors, a theologian, and a case study from Te Wānanga Ihorangi—will explore what it takes for faith and flourishing to take root in a fractured, disconnected age.

Join us as we integrate theology, counselling, and community for a conversation about what it truly means to flourish—together.

Christian communities have long lived between gathering and scattering—between worship and witness, rootedness and movement. In a time of rapid social change, digital connection, and shifting ecclesial forms, the 2027 conference theme invites explorations into how the Church is being reshaped today. What does it mean to be the Body of Christ, and how are Christians called to live as a scattered people in the world?

We invite papers that engage biblical, theological, historical, sociological, and practical perspectives on the nature and future of Christian community. Contributions that bridge academic reflection and lived experience are especially welcome, as we seek to reimagine ecclesiology in ways that are faithful, inclusive, and responsive to contemporary realities.