The Workshop study programme has two dimensions to it.
Workshop Regional
It involves a series of twelve weekends running on a two-year cycle
Imagine it as a slowly turning carousel; you may join it for the whole experience or jump on and off to take in weekends that particularly appeal to you as they fit into your timescale
You may enrol for all twelve weekends or you may attend any single weekend as a one-off
All these options give a great deal of flexibility making Workshop readily accessible to people with busy lives.
See below for a list of the of the weekend themes available. Click on each weekend title for more detail including venues and the dates
Please note that the dates for each weekend do not run sequentially.
Workshop National
This part of the programme will soon be running once a year from Birmingham
There are:
three ‘Salvation Landscape’ weekends,
three ‘Crucible’ weekends
Each can be chosen as a stand-alone module or added onto the ‘Workshop Regional’ programme
It is also possible to make your own unique selection of topics from across both programmes.
The weekend titles below give an overview of the Workshop programme, click on any title for more details about its content, the venue and then dates when it will be running:
Workshop Regional
living under an open heaven
Weekend dates
This Spirituality
Way of the Spirit - images and ideas that form a Jesus-centred spirituality
Transformation - the process and progress of spiritual growth and development
Meditation - contemplation using sound, silence, image and imagination
Prayer - the heart of conversation and communion with God
Moving in Faith - making happen what God wants to happen
Guidance - practical questions and suggestions about hearing God
Prophecy as Protest - spirituality as the energy of radical Christian activism
Encountering the Hebrew Scriptures
Weekend dates
31 October 2009 - 1 November 2009
This Scrolls & Parchments
Shape & Structure
- the formation of the Jewish Bible
Scripture on Trial
- the reliability of the Hebrew texts examined
Essential Skills
- the art of interpreting the Hebrew Scriptures
Torah & Covenant
- traditions that weave Israel’s foundations
Prophecy & Vision
- understanding the texts that interpret the times
Poetry & Wisdom
- the rhythms and creativity of Hebrew heart and mind
Visions & Symbols
- the world of Jewish apocalyptic writing
Living at the edge of time
Weekend dates
This Re-Imagining Hope
The Vision
- shalom as the bedrock of biblical hope
The Day
- the Hebrew understanding of human destiny
The Drama
- Hopes and dreams between the testaments
The Kingdom
- in Jesus the future begins to break in ahead of time
The Tension
- living today between 'this age' and 'the age to come'
The End
- the climax in resurrection, judgement and eternal destiny
Being vocal, political and spiritual
Weekend dates
This Peace & Power
Concept of Peace
- shalom as the basis for ethical action
Gospel of Peace
- evangelism as the proclamation of God's shalom to all
Ecology and Environment
- the gospel is 'green' and calls the meek to inherit the earth
Church & State
- the nature of the state and Christian responsibility within it
Peace & War
- the challenge of 'just war' and 'nonviolence'
Crime & Justice
- what does it mean to put things right?
Expressing love and truth
Weekend dates
This Mission & Compassion
Jesus at the Centre
- seeking a Christ centred faith
Mission after Christendom
- mission from the margins of society
Mission after Modernity
- post-modern thinking and today's mision
Mission and Evangelism
- practical principles that are local, global and holistic
Good News to the Poor
- serving and learning from those in greatest need
Loving & Confronting
- helping hurting people find wholeness
Physical Healing
- hard questions about medicine, miracles and sickness
Engaging with global spirituality
Weekend dates
This One World, Many Faiths
Kaleidoscope of Faiths
- making sense of cultures, worldviews and beliefs
Gospel & People
- Christian values and the variety of human experience
Touching the Earth
- Animism, Hinduism and Buddhism
Prophets & Gurus
- Judaism, Islam and Sikhism
Transformation or Illusion
- New Age, Humanism and Nihilism
Uniqueness of Jesus
- examining the inclusive/exclusive claims of the Christian faith
Insight, inspiration and action
Weekend dates
This Creativity & Truth
Wisdom Dancing
- exploring creativity, human and divine
Radical Beauty
- creative tensions, harmonious diversity
Play with Fire
- deep playfulness
Rhythmic Wholeness
- life-giving healing and liberation
Subtle Mosaics
- culture, images and reality
Ruthless Truth
- Jesus and creativity
Vibrant Expressions
- discovering imaginative living
Grasping the Enigma
- definitions and open questions
Encountering the New Testament
Weekend dates
This Stories & Letters
Shape & Structure
- the formation of the Christian scriptures
Scripture on Trial
- the reliability of the New Testament examined
Essential Skills
- the art of interpreting the New Testament
Gospel & Messiah
- four distinct portraits, one historical Jesus
Parable & Miracle
- communication by words and power
Apostle & Epistle
- bringing the genius of the gospel to the world
Dreams & Images
- exploring the imagination of Revelation
Church as local, global and radical
Weekend dates
This Living Community
Images & Ideas
- the many different pictures of the people of God
Church & World
- the implications of living today as 'citizens of heaven'
Being Community
- exploring the implications for being a local church
Baptism
- finding common ground at the waters that divide
Breaking Bread
- discovering fresh perspectives on the 'peacemeal'
Living, believing and behaving
Weekend dates
28 February 2009 - 1 March 2009
This Body & Soul
Spirit & Freedom
- life in the spirit as the foundation to true freedom
Truth & Life
- case studies, Bible interpretation and choices
Discovering Values
- value-based Christian ethics
Living Towards Believing
- seeking life choices that point to truth
Sex & Sexuality
- spirituality and sexual understanding in today's world
Sex & Marriage
- exploring ideas of covenant and sexual relationships
Sex & Debate
- struggling with the issues of divorce and homosexuality
Christian belief put to the test
Weekend dates
This Credible or Incredible
The Light
- hearing God through natural, biblical and personal revelation
The Godhead
- the challenge of the tri-unity of God's self-expression
The Image
- human personhood as a physical and spiritual totality
The Incarnation
- Jesus Christ fully human, fully divine
The Atonement
- images and understandings of the death of Jesus
The Resurrection
- the resurrection of Jesus in history and theology
Real challenges, faith choices
Weekend dates
This Quest & Questioning
Science & Faith
- the questions 'how' and 'why' are both essential to find the truth
God & Creation
- scripture and science: the two stories that explore one reality
Medicine & Society
- human ability at the frontiers of choice and responsibility
Existence of God
- arguments, reflections and conclusions
Problem of Evil
- facing objections to belief in a God who is good
Spiritual Experience
- seeking clarity within the mystery of personal sacred encounter
Workshop National
Salvation Landscape: 1 - The Hebrew Story
- the Hebrew Story: Gathered and Scattered (two millennia BC)
Primeval Skyline
- creation stories and the Genesis narratives
Wilderness & Hill Country
- from the Exodus events to the period of the Judges
Mountain & Plain
- from the rise of monarchy to the division of the kingdom
Thunder & Cyclone
- Hebrew prophets to the destruction of Israel
Lightning & Tempest
- from the fall of Jerusalem and Babylonian exile
Darkening Valleys
- return from exile and the inter-testamental times
Held at:
Birmingham
10-11 October 2009
St George's School, 31 Calthorpe Road
Salvation Landscape: 2 - The Christian Story (1)
- the Christian Story: Growth and Expression (1st–15th centuries)
Light in the Dark
- the impact of Jesus and the New Testament church
Torrents & Streams
- the 2nd and 3rd centuries of the Christian church
Strongholds & Storms
- the early Middle Ages and the birth of Christendom
Forest & Desert
- people and movements towards the first millennium
Rock & Wastelands
- life and belief across the medieval world
Shifting Sands
- social, political and spiritual forces shaping a new era
Held at:
Birmingham
20-21 February 2010
St George's School, 31 Calthorpe Road
Salvation Landscape:3 - The Christian Story (2)
- the Christian Story: Turbulence and Expansion (16th-21st centuries)
Earthquake & Cyclone
- the Reformation and its many consequences
Rivers & Floodtide
- faith and change during the 17th and 18th centuries
Cities & Coastlands
- society, church and mission throughout the 19th century
Wind & Fire
- the challenges and developments of the 20th century
Contours & Horizons
- themes and dreams for engaging with the 21st century
Held at:
Birmingham
12-13 June 2010
St George's School, 31 Calthorpe Road
Crucible: 1 - Creating New Churches
- Creating New Churches
Planting, Emerging, Creating
- the language of starting new churches
Models and Strategies
- diverse approaches to church planting today
Fresh Expressions of Church
- identifying negotiables and non-negotiables
Research and Planning
- putting church planting in context
The Pioneer Spirit
- distilling characteristics of church planters
Creativity and Accountability
- freedom and responsibility in church planting
Held at:
Birmingham
25-26 October 2008
The International Mission Centre
Crucible: 2 - The Urban Challenge
- The Urban Challenge
Welcome to the City
- urban challenges and opportunities
The Story of Urban Mission UK
- Christians and the city since 1850
Mapping the City
- exploring boundaries and focal points
Urban Spirituality
- sustaining faith and vision in the city
Crossing Cultures
- mission in the multi-everything city
The Urban Church
- realities, stories and prospects
Held at:
Birmingham
21-22 February 2009
The International Mission Centre
Crucible: 3 - Emerging Church
- Emerging Church
On the Margins of Church and Culture
- stories of emerging Christian communities
Emerging Church, Emerging Culture
- church in post-modernity and post-Christendom
Back Door, Front Door
- why Christians are leaving the churches
Pushing the Boundaries
- reconfiguring shape, style, theology and ethos
Creating New Churches
- an exercise in imagination
Emerging Church, Emerging Mission
- rediscovering Jesus and the mission of God
Held at:
Birmingham
04-05 July 2009
The International Mission Centre
