An Anglican theological training college is suspending its normal timetable next week to concentrate on mission, pioneer ministry and fresh expressions of church.
The College of the Resurrection, Mirfield, Yorkshire, is to put regular lessons on hold from 18th to 22nd January to visit the Diocese of Liverpool's headquarters at St James’ House in the city and put their findings into practice back at college. Students will consider pioneer ministries, and work with visiting lecturers on mission and fresh expressions of worship.
Twenty nine college students will be given a range of presentations on Monday by members of the Diocese's pioneer ministry team including:
- Phil Potter, Director of Pioneer Ministry;
- Linda Jones, Church Growth Team Leader;
- Richard White, Canon for Mission and Evangelism, and Pioneer Minister of Dream, a network church made up of groups exploring creative approaches to Christian spirituality.
The students will hear how the Diocese has redesigned church and set up new adult and youth worship networks. They will also reflect on how Liverpool is working to blur the distinction between inherited and newer expressions of church.
Linda Jones said:
The Diocese has an acknowledged expertise in developing and adapting models of church as we follow our mission to proclaim the Gospel afresh for each generation. We believe this visit shows the level of interest that students, no matter what their church background, have in looking at how this can be achieved.
Ordinands will then return to Mirfield to work on mission and fresh expressions of worship with visiting lecturers - Paul Roberts, Dean of Non-Residential Training at St Michael's Theological College, Llandaff, and Sue Wallace, Assistant Priest at the Church of St Michael-le-Belfry, York.
Towards the end of the week, they will work in groups on their own liturgies for College worship. They will also make preparations for one of the monthly Transcendence services at York Minster.
Bishop Graham Cray, Archbishops' Missioner and leader of the Fresh Expressions team, said:
The mixed economy and the challenge of planting fresh expressions of church is recognised by every tradition within the Church of England. It's particularly thrilling to see a college with the great heritage of Mirfield committing a week of its timetable to looking at what has been done, and continues to be done, in Liverpool to achieve this.
College Principal Revd Dr Joe Kennedy added:
Mission has one of the central places in the programmes of formation we offer. At Mirfield, some ordinands are preparing in a concentrated way for pioneering priesthood. But all our ordinands need to be engaging with and preparing for ministries which bring together in imaginative ways pioneering and inherited patterns of Church life.
This week of study and reflection will enable all of our students, bringing with them a wide variety of experiences and church backgrounds, to build on previous learning. We are grateful to all our partners in this project for the expertise and enthusiasm they are bringing to it.
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