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
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
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 Hope
- assumptions, opinions and expectations
The Vision
- shalom/wholeness: the panorama of biblical hope
The Challenge
- mishpat/judgement: the impact of biblical hope
The Kingdom
- Jesus and the future breaking in ahead of time
The End
- the parousia and the resurrection
The Climax
- final judgement and eternal destiny
The Consequences
- living today a lifestyle shaped by hope
The Questions
- a continuing conversation around the themes of hope
Plus optional Saturday evening 18.00- 21.00:
Stories of Hope
- a simple meal sharing experiences and expressions of hope
Open to non-weekend participants. Contributions towards the cost of the meal.
Being vocal, political and spiritual
Weekend dates
This Peace & Power
Peace and Wholeness
- shalom as the basis for ethical action
Gospel of Peace
- evangelism as the proclamation of God's shalom to all
Ecology and Environment
- understanding the gospel as deep 'green'
Companions with Creation
- living as the meek that inherit the earth
Power & Weakness
- strength perfected by powerlessness
Church and State
- the nature of the state and the Christian response within it
Peace and War
- the challenge of 'just war' and nonviolence
Crime and Justice
- what does it really mean to put things right?
Plus optional Saturday evening, 18.00-21.00
‘A Force More Powerful’
- a simple meal with discussion around archive film-clips
Open to non-weekend participants. Contributions towards the cost of the meal.
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
PeaceChurch – the Community
Finding Focus
- being Jesus-people in a cynical and turbulent world
Image & Expression
- biblical pictures and today’s opportunities for being church
PeaceChurch – the Experience
Water of Life
- spirituality, community and an understanding of baptism
Rhythms of Life
- shaping shared lives within Jesus-centred values
Peacemeal – the Table
Centrepeace
- a meal table as the primary physical building block for church
Feast of Freedom
- a background to the Christian foundations of breaking bread
Peacemeal – the Encounter
Tree of Life
- exploring the meal that brings spiritual growth and formation
Bread of Life
- food for the world; breaking bread, social action and mission
Plus optional Saturday evening, 18.00-21.00
‘Community within Community’
- a simple meal and conversation with people living in intentional communities
Open to non-weekend participants. Contributions towards the cost of the meal.
Living, believing and behaving
Weekend dates
This Body & Soul
Spirit and Freedom
- life in the Spirit as the source of ethical living
Truth and Life
- case studies, biblical interpretation and choices
Discovering Values
- values-based Christian ethics
Living Towards Believing
- seeking life choices that point towards truth
Sex, gender and difference
- the diversity of human gender identity
Sex, orientation and debate
- questions, experience and homosexuality
Sex, marriage and divorce
- exploring human sexual relationships
Sex, questions and behaviour
- discussing the challenges of sexuality
Plus optional Saturday evening, 18.00-21.00
'Sex in Question'
a simple meal and engagement with the theme.
Open to non-weekend participants. Contributions towards the cost of the meal.
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
30 June 2012 - 1 July 2012
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
Three weekends that trace the story of the people of God from the Genesis narratives to the 21st century in one unfolding panorama
Salvation Landscape 1
the Hebrew Story: Gathered and Scattered
Two millennia BC
To be decided
Held at:
Birmingham
The IMC
Salvation Landscape 2
The Christian Story: Growth and Expression
1st to the 15th Centuries
To be decided
Held at:
Birmingham
The IMC
Salvation Landscape 3
the Christian Story: Turbulence and Expansion
16th-21st centuries
To be decided
Held at:
Birmingham
The IMC
