BREAD, FISH & EXPECTANCY
Growing disciples, sharing ministry
19th-21st October 2017
The Hayes Conference Centre
Swanwick, DE55 1AU
How can we answer God’s call to form and grow disciples?
What is the role of collaborative ministry in developing spiritually vibrant, mature and engaged disciples who in turn disciple others? How can we resource the growing of leaders through discipleship?
This is an opportunity to come together, to be inspired, strengthened and equipped. We will be challenged and enriched by hearing each other’s stories, and by engaging deeply with God’s word, ready to go back to our contexts with new vision and new energy.
GROUP WORK
The core work of the conference will take place in small groups. You will be immersed in the practice of shared ministry through facilitated group processes, comprising small base groups, larger conversation groups and topic groups. Together we will delve deeply into scripture and ask searching questions about our contexts.
WORKSHOPS
On the afternoon of the second day we will have the opportunity to gather together with others to explore and discuss a range of areas of mutual interest, related to our conference themes.
SHARED LEARNING MODEL
The conference will be making use of participative processes which model collaborative ministry and maximise shared learning.
OUR CHAPLAIN: Revd Wendy Carey
We are delighted that Wendy, who has been involved with the Network for many years, has agreed to return as our Chaplain. Wendy spent the first thirteen years of ordained ministry working in prisons, first as a prison chaplain, then five years as National Training Officer for chaplaincy. More recently she has served as one of a small team of voluntary Associate Priests in the only Local Shared Ministry parish in the Oxford Diocese.
OUR SPEAKERS AND COMPANIONS INCLUDE:
Revd Dr Roger Walton
Roger is currently serving as President of the Methodist Conference. He trained for ministry at the Queen’s College, Birmingham, and served circuits in the West Midlands, Liverpool and St Albans. For ten years he was Director of the Open Learning Centre, and for eleven years was Director of the Wesley Study Centre, Durham. He is currently Chair
of the West Yorkshire Methodist District. Roger has studied and written about learning and discipleship, including The Reflective Disciple (2009), and Disciples Together (2014).
Revd Canon Gordon Dey
Gordon is a retired Priest in Bradford, Diocese of Leeds. He served as a vicar in social housing areas in Halifax and Bradford for 35 years. In 2005 in Bradford a discipleship programme entitled ‘Jesus Shaped People’ was devised that gave the church a new grasp
of Christian discipleship. Following retirement in 2011 Gordon was invited by the Diocese of Bradford and the Church Commissioners to make ‘JSP’ available to other churches. Since then it has spread to other parts of the UK. ‘JSP’ (www.jesusshapedpeople.net) describes itself as a ‘Whole Church Discipleship Adventure’, and focuses on five main areas: People, Teaching, Team Building, Prayer and Prophetic Challenge. It is especially appropriate to churches in disadvantaged communities.
WORKSHOPS
Workshop titles will include:
- Unpacking the ‘Setting God’s People Free’
report
- Manipulation, transparency and shared ministry
- Shared vision and decision-making
- Discipleship: growing through adversity
- Community discernment of ministerial gifts
- Adapting secular ideas for a church context
Outline programme
The conference will be framed around the story of the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark chapter 6, which will enable us to engage with themes around growing disciples, sharing ministry and encountering God.
Day 1: Growing Disciples
Sharing stories
Listening to God and one another
Formation through community
Roger Walton
Day 2: Sharing Ministry
Expanding expectations
Formation through mission
Workshops
Gordon Dey: Jesus Shaped People
Day 3: Encountering God
Open to God’s grace
Turning ideas into action
THE COST OF THE CONFERENCE
The Shared Ministry Conference gives you the opportunity to
meet like-minded people, be inspired, share views.
The conference is open to all engaged in collaborative ministry. Last year a large number of both clergy and lay people, at all levels of church life, came together to explore the joys and challenges of collaborative ministry and mission, so please book early to avoid disappointment.
BOOKING EARLY WILL SAVE YOU MONEY!
The conference runs from midday on 19th October to lunchtime on 21st October 2017.
The Hayes Conference Centre at Swanwick is well-known for hosting Christian conferences, and offers excellent facilities with easy travel links in delightful grounds
Book before 30th June 2017: full board for the complete conference will be: £170 for a standard ensuite room. After that date the charge will be £190. Attendees from
Dioceses that have paid their subscription to the Shared Ministry Network will receive an additional £10 discount. Non-ensuite rooms are available at a lower cost—please
contact the conference administrator if this is your preference.
Day and half-day rates are also available – please contact
the conference administrator to discuss your specific requirements.
Places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis!
BOOKING AND FURTHER INFORMATION
See the Shared Ministry Network Web Site
Or email the Conference Administrator:
test_and_eval@btinternet.com
Picture ‘Simple Fish and Loaves?’ by Gwen Meharg,
gwen@drawneartogod.com
—used by permission
