Parish courses and spirituality

Duration: 2 Saturdays or 5 evenings
Aim: Basic information about Christian pastoral care

What does the course cover?

Caring Concerns is an introductory course that covers areas of pastoral ministry:

• Who we are in Christ
• Listening skills
• Skills in spiritual care with different age groups
• Coping with stress
• Introduction to loss and bereavement
• Boundaries and confidentiality
• Setting up a pastoral care team

Duration: 2 Saturdays or 6 evenings 
Aim: Teaching on Interpreting and applying the Bible

What does the course cover?

Hearing God’s Word is an introductory course covering areas of:

• The God who loves to speak;
• Interpreting and understanding God’s Word;
• Ask, ‘Why?’;
• How the New Testament came to us;
• Truly hearing God’s Word

The aim of this course is to encourage and enable lay people who currently lead home groups or who preach/teach on an occasional basis in a church setting. It is also hoped that the course will be of use in encouraging others to take part in these activities as is appropriate in their own ministry and in their own particular context.
The course has been designed to run over two and half days, but it would be possible to adapt it to fit into a weekly single session slot. The topic areas covered are by no means exhaustive and other areas could be added if required and so feedback is always welcome.

Each session has a PowerPoint slide presentation and leaders notes which make reference to the slides. It is likely as the course leader that you will have extensive experience in the area of preaching and teaching and this should be brought into the sessions - the notes provided are a guide and, inevitably, you will not agree with all we say!

It is intended that this course is used to obtain ‘permission’ from Bishop Jonathan for lay people to preach or teach on an occasional basis within their own parish context. Those wishing to gain this ‘permission’ must attend all sessions of both the Hearing and Speaking parts of the course and must take part in the assessment element of the course. The final decision as to whether ‘permission’ will be granted will be with Bishop Jonathan and not with the course creators or leaders.

Duration: 8 sessions
Aim: To help people think about caring for Creation from a biblical perspective which leads to practical responses.

What does the course cover?

This short course runs over eight sessions, six study sessions, and two sessions of Nature Lectio Davina. There is no prescribed timescale so you could do it over eight weeks or eight months, whatever suits your group best. The idea is not to rush, but to give time following each session for people to implement new ideas so they become habits of creation care.

The course content includes bible study, discussion points, and practical activities. It can be run for the whole church or across a deanery/group of churches.

It is possible for people to receive a certificate having completed the sessions and adopted a new habit of creation care. This habit may be individual or something the group/church or deanery decide to adopt.

Duration: 2 Saturdays
Aim: To equip and nurture individuals in the gifts of the healing ministry.

By the end of the course, participants will have had the opportunity to develop their skills of listening and reflecting, explored the concept of wholeness, gained experience in prayer ministry, reflected on healing in the bible, and have discerned whether this ministry is for them at this time.  Needs incumbent approval.

A minimum number of 10 attendees are required for this course to take place.  Participants must be able to attend on both days.  The cost for the two days is £30.

To book contact the Formation and Ministry Team on: training@rochester.anglican.org

Follow on day courses:

(after completing Introduction to Healing and Wholeness)

• Dying and Bereavement 
• Addictions and Mental Health
• Inner Healing 
• Developing a Healing Ministry Team
• Forgiveness and Reconciliation