Teddington Christ Church is hosting a free conference on protestant history from Friday 6 October to Saturday 7 October. 

Churchgoers and non-church folk alike are invited to come and listen to speakers on the protestant view of famous religious figures on how they lived and how their faith affected their life.  

Rt Reverand Dominic Stockford of Teddington Christ Church said: "We want to teach people. Partly for outreach and partly for Christians who come here it's helpful and uplifting their faith." 

Covering the Anglo-Saxon Church to the Reformation, Sir John Oldcastle to the death of Gresham Machen in the 1930s, the lectures will focus on the most fascinating people in Protestant history. 

"Great Britain has a great history and heritage of Christianity," church elder Pavlos said. "A lot of people, including Christians, are quite ignorant of this rich heritage. We feel that these conferences would help overcome this." 

The conference will discuss the position of the protestant church as it is today from the defining figures of its past. 

"This is about history and you will learn about interesting people you will have maybe never heard about," Rev Dominic said. "We do talk about Christian faith in relation to that." 

Talks will range from being directly theological (studying Christian practice and God) as well as practical (e.g. worship, prayer and the Lord's Supper). Although discussing elements of the Protestant faith, the theology "won't be overwhelming", Rev Dominic said. 

Rev Dominic hopes the conference will encourage people and that they will learn something new. He also wants it to act as a reminder.  

He said: "For instance, pick [William] Wilberforce. It's a reminder to people who come, and hopefully a reminder to the world, that actually this country was the first nation that banned slavery. It was Wilberforce that did it from Christian principles.  

"I hope it encourages people today to realise we need to be involved from a very Christian perspective on some of these issues." 

Going through Protestant history, the conference will provide context for many of the aspects of faith today, like King Charles professing to be the 'defender of the faith'. 

Speakers attending the event include Rev Dr Ian Densham, Rev Dr Geoff Thomas and Rt Rev Edward Malcolm. 

Rev Dominic said: "All the speakers are very down to earth. None of the talks will go above people's head." 

Pavlos added: "It's not for academics- although the material is well-researched. It's put across in a way that's accessible." 

Bringing together countless sources of research, numerous books and internet rabbit-holes, the speakers- including Rev Dominic himself- will present a talk which people would otherwise not have time to do. 

In between the talks there is plenty of opportunity for discussion or informal chats with the speakers. 

Contacts and references from the talks can also be provided to those interested, Rev Dominic added. 

Rev Dominic and Pavlos said they had been wanting to do a conference for a while, so they pooled their contacts together and invited speakers to the event. 

In time when people are struggling, Reverand Dominic and Pavlos decided to put on the conference for free.  

Donations towards the running of the conference will also be gratefully accepted.