Exploring Faith is a new diocesan course to help you dig deeper into the Christian faith and reflect on how to live that faith out in action. Here Angeline White, who will be running the course, shares more deatils about it.
What is the Exploring Faith Course?
Exploring Faith is a great opportunity for people who are new to the Christian faith, want to find out more about it, but is also for those people who have been walking their faith journey for a long time to reexplore some of the truths, particularly about the Bible and wondering how it is relevant to their lives today.
How does the course work?
We chose modules that go together. If you want to do all three there’s a link between them, but they are also stand alone as well. So, if you want to do just one that is absolutely fine, if you want to do one and see how you go, you can sign up for the first one and then make a decision after that.
We thought we’d start with something that might grab people, so we are doing The Story of the Bible. We are doing an Old Testament module and a New Testament module. I think many, many people don’t know that there’s an overarching story in the Bible. They see it as separate books and haven’t worked out how it all fits together. In four weeks, we take you through it and show you where the different parts fit into the big story.
We are going to do The Story of the Bible in January/February, The Story of the Bible New Testament in September, but between them we’re going to do a module on interpreting and applying the Bible. It’s a book that was written a long, long time ago in a very different culture and society to ours and yet we believe it is relevant to us today, so how do we make that jump?
We will think about what it is saying and then look at what it’s saying to us today. Asking how it is going to help me go about my work and live my life as a parent, or a student, or whatever you do, asking ourselves what has this book got to do with me?
How do you think the course will help us to live out our faith?
We’re not just going to be looking at theoretical things we will constantly be challenging you to think about what this has got to do with your life, how does this link with your day to day life? We don’t just want it to be head knowledge, we want it to be practical as well. The college who we are joining with talk about ‘head, heart, hands’. By this they mean, we will be giving you some knowledge which may be new or may be a refresher, but we also want it to impact your relationship with God and have an impact on how you live your life. That’s very much the approach that we’re taking with the course.
It is study, but don’t let that word frighten you. You can do it at your own pace, using the material as and when you can, which makes it very flexible. You’ve also got other students and a tutor to share and discuss ideas and thoughts that you’ve had and as part of that we will be challenging and looking about what this has to do with your life today.
What are the different ways to study on the course?
You will be given a log in to access the materials. You can look at it any time you want; as you are travelling to work, once the children have gone to school and you’ve got a bit of time, if you’ve got an evening free. Do as much or as little as you want at a time. We will meet once a week in our tutor group. We are aiming to run those groups on different days so that people can sign up to one that best suits them. In those groups there will be discussions, but online you can also take part in forums share questions and ideas, or get support, you don’t have to wait for the tutor group.
Angeline you are running the course, can you share with us a little of your story?
I've been involved in full-time Christian ministry since the age of 25, working first as a church planter with European Christian Mission in the Republic of Ireland (where I also did my theological training), before moving to Weston-super-Mare to work with Bible Centred Ministries, running Bible clubs in schools, coordinating and directing summer camps for children and teenagers, and training children's ministry volunteers in churches across England and Wales. For the last few years I've focused on ministry in my local church, the benefice of Christ Church and Emmanuel, where I serve as a Reader, Musical Director and assist our Family Ministry worker. I love teaching people about the Bible and equipping them to be able to understand it for themselves and to go on to teach others. I have an MA in Applied Theology with a particular interest in intergenerational church.
Register for Exploring Faith or contact Sophie Moore, Training and Ministry Administrator