Windsor
Dialogues.
Ten years of bringing faith leaders, scholars and officials together at Windsor Castle around one question: how do we help those displaced by persecution for what they believe?
One question,
ten years.
The Windsor Dialogue was founded in 2016 by Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, the late Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern. It grew from a conviction formed in the Yazidi genocide of 2014: that answering persecution with healthcare and schooling was not enough, and that its causes and remedies had to be examined too.
Each summer since, at St George's House inside Windsor Castle, AMAR has brought scholars, religious leaders, government officials and practitioners together around one vital question: how do we help those displaced by persecution for what they believe? The Dialogue is convened with Brigham Young University's International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
St George's House, Windsor CastleKeeping the faith:
lessons on diaspora sustainability.
The tenth conference, on 10 to 12 July 2026, was chaired by the Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern and Professor Brett G. Scharffs. It welcomed the Ahmadiyya Muslim, Yazidi, Bahá'í and Latter-day Saint communities, His Highness the Prince of the Yazidis, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, and Iraq's Deputy Ambassador to the United Kingdom: an intimate gathering that made honest, fruitful conversation possible.
Learning from contemporary migration
How to build sustainable communities. Representatives of the Bahá'í, Yazidi, Latter-day Saint and Ahmadiyya Muslim communities, moderated by Professor Scharffs.
What diasporas give back
How diaspora communities contribute to their host societies and make a positive impact, moderated by Elder Mark Pace.
Identity and integration
Managing religious tension in host countries, allegiances and expectations within and between groups, with the Prince of the Yazidis, Iraq's Deputy Ambassador and a Member of Parliament, moderated by Bishop Redfern.
- Founded
- 2016, by Baroness Nicholson, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Bishop Alastair Redfern
- Venue
- St George's House, Windsor Castle
- Convened with
- International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University
- 2026 chairs
- The Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern and Professor Brett G. Scharffs
Present, perspective,
persecution, participation,
patience, pavement.
Present
Real suffering and hopelessness still persist behind the hopeful signs.
Perspective
No faith is a monolith, and religion is not merely a source of conflict.
Persecution
It tends to strengthen a community's identity rather than break it.
Participation
Faith begins in the home; diaspora communities serve best through generous, not narrow, relationships.
Patience
The discipline to sit with uncertainty in an age of instant answers.
Pavement
Like trees in the city, roots hidden beneath the street still bear fruit in due season.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, 1940 to 2025Elder Jeffrey
R. Holland.
Elder Holland co-founded the Dialogue and carried it through its early years with grace and encouragement. He held in creative tension the needs of individuals and communities under pressure with the insights that can improve political and religious practice, and he gave space to other points of view. He died at the end of 2025. An annual memorial lecture on the state of freedom of religion or belief in the world is being established in his name.
Windsor,
July 2026.
Photographs: International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University.