You are here » Home» Churchwork» Mission and Ministry Development» Ministry Development Team» Continuing Ministerial Development (CMD)» CMD Conferences
CMD Conference Programme 2011-12
24th April 2012 - Fully Booked!
David Runcorn
Rumours of Life
Full Details
15th May 2012
Rodney Holder
Is the Universe Designed?
Full Details
Full Conference Details
(In Date Order)
FULLY BOOKED!
21st-22nd February 2012 10.00-16.30 / 9.45-15.30
Paula Gooder
Heaven
Paula Gooder is a freelance writer and lecturer in Biblical Studies. After studying in Oxford, she spent 12 years in theological education (first at Ripon College Cuddesdon and that at the Queen's Foundation for Ecumenical Theological education, Birmingham, before making the move to freelance work. Her research areas include the writings of Paul, with a particular emphasis on 2 Corinthians and Mysticism, Biblical Interpretation and the Development of Ministry in the Early Church. She is Canon Theologian of Birmingham and Guildford Cathedrals, and a Lay Canon at Salisbury Cathedral. She is a Reader in the Birmingham Diocese and a visiting lecturer at Kings College, London. She is a member of General Synod, the Council for Christian Unity, ARCIC III, the Women Bishop's Legislative Steering Committee and the Ministry Division's Quality in Formation.
When people refer to 'heaven' by and large what they mean is 'the place where I will go when I die'. What this does is privatises heaven (by making it a place for me) and postpones it (something that will come into its own at the end of my life). The biblical picture is very different. Here it is clear that heaven is primarily the place where God dwells, constantly worshipped by angels and which has an impact on the world and the way we live in it now. During this day we will explore biblical views of heaven and ask what difference believing in this heaven makes to us and the way we live our lives.
MP3 Downloadable Files of Sessions now available on our Downloads Page
___________________________________________________________________________________________
13th March 2012 10.00-15.30
Anne Tomlinson
Collaborative Ministry
Prior to her current post, Anne was her Church's Provincial Local Collaborative Ministry Officer, working across Scotland to form congregations into learning communities which valued, trained and used all the gifts at their disposal, lay and ordained. Her passion for 'doing theology with the whole people of God' sprang from working in a Base Ecclesial Community in South America in 1984. She is a Vocational Deacon, seeing that order as a sine qua non in a mission-shaped church.
The day - which will be both participative and practical - will be facilitated by the Revd Dr Anne Tomlinson, Ministry Development Officer for the Diocese of Glasgow and Galloway (Scottish Episcopal Church). It will involve examining the charisms and competencies, the attitudinal shift and the new tool-bag required in the exercise of leadership in a truly collaborative setting.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
24 April 2012 10.00-15.30 FULLY BOOKED!
David Runcorn
Rumours of Life: deepening resurrection spirituality
David Runcorn has worked as a parish priest, a Lee Abbey chaplain and in theological training and development. He now spends his time as a free range priest‚ - writing, speaking, offering spiritual direction and as consultant and trainer in areas of spiritual formation, vocational development and Christian ministry. He is part time tutor at St John's Nottingham. He has published a number of books including 'Rumours of life' - on the theme of this day - Choice Desire and the will of God‚ and Spirituality Workbook:a guide for pilgrims, seekers and explorers‚ (both SPCK) and The Road to Growth Less Travelled: spiritual paths in a missionary church (Grove). His latest book, Fear to trust - God-centred leadership is being published by SPCK in August 2011. He lives in Derby where his wife Jackie is a vicar. They have two teenage boys, a dog and three chickens.
If resurrection life was easy and obvious we would have all been living it a long time ago. In fact it left the first disciples very puzzled and fearful and perhaps does the same for us too. Then, as now, Jesus came to them in their confusion and fears and led them into his new life. Risen life and the weeks after Easter need every bit as much care and attention as the penitence and the season of Lent. The disciples' struggled to 'get it' - which is perhaps one reason why Christians are more known for their focus on sin rather than joy. This is a day to explore three of those first stories and seek a deeper understanding of what happened. There will be time for discussion, personal quiet and prayer. Like the first disciples, we will seek together the risen presence of Jesus.
15 May 2012 10.00-15.30
Prof Rodney Holder
Is the Universe Designed?
Rodney Holder is Course Director of the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St Edmund's College, Cambridge. Dr Holder read mathematics at Trinity College, Cambridge, and researched for a D.Phil. in astrophysics at Christ Church, Oxford. After 14 years working as an operational research consultant to the Ministry of Defence, he returned to Oxford to train for ordination. He served as a curate in South Warwickshire, chaplain of the English Church in Heidelberg, and Priest in Charge of the Claydons, Oxford Diocese, before taking up his present position. He is the author of Nothing But Atoms and Molecules? (reprinted 2008) and God, the Multiverse, and Everything (2004).
Modern cosmology is one of the most exciting and inspiring of scientific disciplines, which by its very nature sharpens the focus of age-old philosophical and theological questions. How did the universe begin and how has it evolved? Does a scientific explanation mean that we can do without God, as Stephen Hawking maintains? Why are the laws of nature so special ('fine-tuned') as to produce a universe with intelligent creatures like us in it in the first place? Can the existence of a multiverse, a vast or infinite collection of universes, explain the specialness of this universe? And how do these questions relate to the wider debates between science and religion which are the subject of so much discussion in both the media and academia today? We shall seek to answer these questions by assessing the latest developments in cosmology and their theological significance.
24 June 2012 14.00-18.15
Caroline Pascoe
Mission Action Planning - learning from experience
The session will be led by members of the Diocesan MAP Resource Group which is coordinated by Caroline Pascoe, Lay Development Officer. Caroline has experience of Mission Action Planning as a diocesan officer, as well as in multi-parish benefices in which she has ministered. (Caroline developed an interest in change leadership as a secondary school year head. She has worked as Local Ministry Officer in Gloucester Diocese and as Ministry Development Officer in Llandaff Diocese. She says that coming back to this area feels like coming home and rural ministry is where her heart is. )
Mission Action Planning is an invitation and encouragement to pause and reflect deeply on the life and calling of our parishes, to open ourselves to the ways that God is working in our communities and world today, and seek to discern faithfully our part to play as churches, benefices, disciples, at this time, in the places we serve.
This session offers a chance to reflect on experience, stories, puzzles and questions which have arisen for us through Mission Action Planning, to learn from each other, as well as from other dioceses. As we face new challenges as Christians and churches, time to reflect, to pray, to learn from action, encouragements, dilemmas and questions is especially important and precious.
4-5 July 2012 10.00-16.30 / 9.45-15.30
Anders Bergquist
Isaiah
Anders Bergquist has been the Vicar of St John's Wood since 2002. He has previously been the Vice-Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge (where he taught Old Testament and Patristics in the Cambridge Theological Federation) and a Residentiary Canon at St Albans (where he was responsible for continuing Clergy and Reader training in the diocese). He is a member of the C. of E. Liturgical Commission, and has also been much involved over the years in grassroots ecumenical work with Roman Catholics in Italy and Lutherans in Scandinavia.
The biblical Book of Isaiah is an immensely rich combination of material, that seems to reflect the destinies of God's people across several centuries. It includes some of the most vivid prophetic critique of Israelite society and religion before the time of the Exile, as well as glorious expressions of hope for the new things which God will accomplish. And, of course, it includes prophecies of the Messiah that have been cherished and studied by Christians since the beginning of the Christian movement (Impossible to read parts of Isaiah without hearing Handel's Messiah in your head!). From social ethics to the Suffering Servant, this course will explore the original settings which generated different parts of the text, the processes which brought the book together as whole, and the ways in which Christians have read the Book of Isaiah from the apostle Philip (Acts 8) to the present day.
I hope you've found something that catches your attention!
To Download this years brochure and Local Ministry Booking Form click on the links below:-
CMD Brochure 2011-12 (in PDF)
Local Ministry Booking Form
The Small Print
How to Book Places
Revd Nick Helm, CMD Officer is responsible for the organisation of the programme.
All the administration for the programme is handled by Fiona Brooke.
She can be contacted on (01584) 871 085 or Email Fiona.
Venue
All events are at the Ludlow Conference Centre.
Costs
Licensed Clergy, Readers and Local Ministry Team Members in the Diocese can attend as many of these as they wish for no charge. Others from congregations in the Diocese interested in attending are welcome, for the charge of £12 for a day or £28 for a residential conference. This includes the meals and refreshments. Colleagues from other denominations or Support Ministers of the Diocese are also welcome to attend at this charge.
Booking
- Complete the booking form at the back of this brochure, email Fiona Brooke or telephone the Office.
- For two-day conferences please indicate whether you would like to be resident at the Ludlow Conference Centre or non-resident.
- Contact the office as soon as possible. You will be contact by either email or a letter in the post to confirm your chosen conferences.
- You can book at any time subject to places being available.
- Non-attendance by those who have booked will be subject to a cancellation charge.
After you Have Applied
Please fix the dates in your diary, so you can keep the days free of any other commitments and attend the complete conference (see The plenty Clauses-back page). Full details will be sent out a few weeks before the conference date
The Penalty Clauses!
Places are provided free of charge at CMD conferences to licensed Clergy, Readers and Local Ministry Group Members on the basis that people will actually attend the conferences for which they have booked, and will attend the whole of each conference.
If you are unable to attend a conference, please inform the Ministry Development Team Administrator (Fiona Brooke) at the Ludlow Diocesan Office immediately, so that those on any waiting list can be contacted in good time. As the LCC charge for late changes, a cancellation charge of £12 per day conference (£28 per two-day event) will be made against your CMD Grant, or an invoice will be issued, if you give less than 7 days' notice of cancellation (except for reasons of dire unforeseen emergency).
There has also been a significant increase in those who book places and then pull out of part of a conference, arriving late or leaving early. It disrupts the dynamic flow of an event, making it less fruitful for those who do attend the whole conference. Please therefore ensure before booking that you are able to attend the whole event.