Short courses for the Church Community

An eight session course open to all, led by Rev. Dr Sandy Forsyth and Rev. Peter Wood

Application deadline: 13 January 2024

Start date: 27 January 2024

Have you ever dreamed of a church which enables the Gospel to live and breathe directly within the rhythms of what is around you in everyday life? Where a new worshipping community forms itself with people and in places where the good news of Jesus Christ now seems entirely silent?

The purpose of the course is to equip you with a grounding in the knowledge and understanding, both in knowledge and practical application, that might be needed to begin new worshipping communities or ‘fresh expressions of church’, through pioneer ministry and church planting.

The course is led by Rev. Dr Sandy Forsyth, Senior Teaching Fellow at New College and parish minister; and by Rev. Peter Wood, Honorary Fellow at New College and Mission Director for the Presbytery of Lothian & Borders. Individual sessions will feature experienced teachers and practitioners. The course is open to all within the church, with or without prior theological training.

Format

• The course is in a blended format involving two in-person workshops on Saturdays at New College and six online classes during the weeks in between on Wednesday evenings. The dates and intended topics are below.
• The course can be taken for SQA credit (10 credits) or on a not-for-credit basis. If a student is taking the course for credit, there will be one final project to complete in essay format. The project/essay may also be completed for informal feedback by those not seeking credit.
• The course fee is £200 per student, whether taking the course for credit or not.

Four sessions led by Rev Dr Marjory MacLean, with guest contributors – starts October 2023

Application deadline: 10 October 2023

Start date: 24 October 2023

This course will be of particular interest to everyone wrestling with the brutal restructuring of parish life under the Church of Scotland’s current Presbytery Planning regime; wrestling with it as a minister or as an elder serving in Kirk Session or Presbytery. 

It starts (Session 1) with a radically critical assessment of the foundations of the whole process – taking an ‘Emperor’s got no clothes’ approach to the particular language of ‘mission’ used in the 2021 Mission Planning legislation – and goes on to consider three questions that might lead to a better framing of our task:

Session 2: How should the Church discern its calling together, properly? 

Session 3: What is meant by a Church with a duty to keep reforming? 

Session 4: How should we behave, as individuals in positions of governance and decision-making, to ensure that the right things happen and that they happen aright? 

Session 1 (Tuesday 24 October, 6pm): 

What is the task?  Is missio Dei a real thing? 

Guest contributor: Rev Andy Braunston of Orkney, URC Minister for Digital Worship and designer of URC mission materials 

Session 2 (Tuesday 31 October, 6pm): 

How can we tell?  Discerning our calling together. 

Guest contributor: Rev Scott Rennie, Church of Scotland minister for Crown Court, London, and Ministerial Development Conversation Facilitator 

Session 3 (Tuesday 14 November, 6pm): 

Semper Reformanda?  Getting the job done. 

Guest contributor: Rev Fiona Smith, Principal Clerk, Church of Scotland 

Session  4 (Tuesday 21 November 6pm): 

Who decides what?  Bearing Authority’s Burden. 

Guest contributor: The Rt Rev Graham Usher, Bishop of Norwich 

Format

• All sessions will be convened by Rev Dr Marjory MacLean, Church of Scotland minister for South Ronaldsay and Burray, Orkney, in her capacity as Honorary New College Fellow, and not in any other capacity.
• Each session will last 80 minutes.  Beforehand, participants will be asked to view a 45 minute pre-recorded lecture by Dr MacLean.  The first half of the online session will be discussion of the lecture and any other reading people have done.  In the second half, the guest contributor will introduce a topic for discussion.
• All sessions will be online, but for the first there is an option to join Dr MacLean in person at New College.
• A brief volume with the working title Visions and Authorities: How the Church discerns her calling, will be published shortly after the course, presenting the lectures by Dr MacLean and the text of the short presentations by guest contributors. It will be available as a paperback from Amazon in January 2024.
• This is a ‘not-for-credit’ course, and so has no coursework requirements.
• The course fee is £60. 

Ten sessions led by Dr Nathanael Vette: starts September 2023

Application deadline: 15 September 2023

Start date: 30 September 2023

This course will appeal to all those interested in the historical study of the New Testament. It provides students with an entry-level introduction to the key sources, tools, and issues in the study of the New Testament in its immediate Jewish context, and its broader setting in the Greco-Roman world. Students will become familiar with the content of the New Testament as well as a variety of ancient sources which illuminate its context. Students will be equipped with essential tools for reading the biblical text in its cultural, religious and historical context. Students will also become familiar with the key issues and themes in today’s study of the New Testament. The goal is for students to leave the course with a fresh understanding of the complicated and vibrant ancient world lying behind the words of the New Testament.

Format

• Sessions led by Dr Nathanael Vette.
• The course is in a blended format involving online classes and 2 in-person workshops at New College.

• The course can be taken for SQA credit (10 credits) or on a not-for-credit basis. If a student is taking the course for credit, there will be two assessed short essays which will demonstrate that the learning outcomes have been achieved. These essays may also be completed for informal feedback by those not seeking credit.
• Please note that this course is not suitable for UG students in the School of Divinity, who should instead take ‘Jesus and the Gospels’ and/or ‘Paul and His Letters’.
• The course fee is £200 per student, whether taking the course for credit or not.