THE former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has been announced as the keynote speaker for a conference in Lampeter.

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre, based on the university’s Lampeter campus, announced that Dr Williams will be the keynote speaker at their annual conference, to be held on 9 July.

Supported by the Alister Hardy Trust and The Learned Society of Wales, this year’s conference is entitled Mystical Experiences: Past and Present and will be held at the University’s Cliff Tucker Theatre, Lampeter and streamed live online.

Professor Bettina Schmidt, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the RERC said: “We’re delighted that Dr Rowan Williams has agreed to be our keynote speaker this year. He will speak about the important mystic Julian of Norwich and will add insight from his own unique perspective to what promises to be a fascinating conference and discussion.

“The conference will look at mystical experiences in the past and present, and from different perspectives.

“In addition to a reflection of medieval mystics the conference will also look at mystical experiences in Sufism.”

The Alister Hardy Religious Experience Research Centre houses an archive with over 6,000 accounts of people from across the world who have had a spiritual or religious experience in church settings as well as in nature.

Founded by Sir Alister Hardy in 1969 at Manchester College, Oxford, the RERC transferred to UWTSD’s Lampeter campus in July 2000.