Lord, Teach Us to Pray
The first step to a healthy and thriving church is prayer, so we will make prayer integral to all our events and activities in 2025, to help the spiritual life of our churches to flourish. We have selected two excellent prayer course resources to help us explore and expand our prayer life throughout 2025.
Looking forwards to Lent 2025, the Mission Team will lead two Diocesan prayer courses, online, using the Pilgrim Prayer Course national church
resources, and The Prayer Course. Sessions will include simple liturgy, reflection on passages of scripture, video content, time in breakout groups to discuss, questions, and of course, prayer.
A course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Enquirers are encouraged to practise the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer, exploring key texts that have helped people learn and grow in faith since the early Church.
Assuming little or no knowledge of the Christian faith, Pilgrim can be used at any point on the journey of discipleship and by every tradition in the Church of England.
Diocesan Pilgrim Prayer Course Online: Mondays 10, 17, 24, 31 March and 07 April 2025 19:00-20:300h. Click here to book your place.
The Prayer Course is split into eight sessions and is easy to run in any small group or church context. The Prayer Course has been created by 24-7 Prayer. Recommended equally for beginners and "experts". Each session will include video footage from Pete Greig and Poppy Williams, time for questions, prayer and breakout groups for discussion.
Diocesan The Prayer Course-Online: Wednesdays 12, 19, 26 March and 02 & 09 April 2025 19:00-20:30h. Click here to book your place.
Run Your Own Prayer Learning Events.
In order to prepare those who value the opportunity to share the bounty of prayer with others within their own church family and beyond, the Mission Team were pleased to conduct two preparation courses in January (online using Zoom). These were well attended by both lay leaders and clergy who wanted to explore the content of the two prayer courses being offered to all by the Diocese during Lent. Attendees were able to familiarise themselves with the free resources available for both events, and the breakout discussions in smaller groups challenged and encouraged participants to “Keep it simple, keep it real and keep it up.”
If you were unable to take part in the training, but feel drawn to running either course in your own parish/benefice/worship setting, the Zoom recordings will be available shortly.
How to run a Pilgrim Prayer Course-(Took place on Wednesday 22 January 2025)
How to run The Prayer Course-(Took place on Monday 27 January 2025)
Contact Charlie Nobbs or Louise Skinner if you need help getting started with your preferred prayer course.
Sharing Faith Stories Workshops
During the Autumn of 2024, we offered a variety of courses which provided a great way to learn how to share our many and diverse faith stories in simple and accessible ways. If you would like to participate in future Sharing Faith workshops, please contact Louise Skinner (Mission Team Administrator).
Pioneer and Church Planting Training
Lay Pioneer Training Course:
A 3 module course for anyone exploring or wanting to get better at starting things that reach out to people who won’t walk up the path to the church. If you are interested we’d love to hear from you.
Contact: Rev. Dave Battison
Church Planting:
Individual or team coaching. Contact Revd Charlie Nobbs, an experienced church planter and coach, or phone 07532 013599 to talk about how we can support you.
Evangelism Training:
A Beginners Guide on How To Run An Enquirers Course.
We are considering running this event if there is sufficient interest. Email Charlie Nobbs and let us know if you’d like to know more.