Courses
To help you grow in your spiritual journey you may wish to join one of our courses which we run from time to time.
Adult Emmaus 'Lite' Course - Autumn 2011
Are you thinking of enquiring about Baptism or Confirmation or would like an opportunity to discuss faith issues?
A New Course will start on 3rd October 8pm at The Rectory
This is a small informal discussion group discussing issues of belief /faith and an introduction into some background theology. Over the last few years various groups have run in Betchworth and Buckland. Some who have attended have taken the step towards confirmation, others have just welcomed the chance to share their views and find out more.
We are starting a new course this Autumn to run into the Spring. We will probably only meet fortnightly. If you are maybe thinking about baptism or confirmation or getting married or would just like a chance to share your thoughts I would be pleased to welcome you at The Rectory for an initial session.
Dates Planned so far:
Monday 3rd October Monday 21st November
Monday 17th October Monday 5th December
Monday 31st October Monday 9th January 2012
Venue: The Rectory Time: 8pm
The Emmaus course was written by five Church of England authors. It takes its name from the story in the Gospel of Luke about the two disciples walking from Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus. The risen Christ walked with them, sharing their questions and helping them to make sense of their life. Likewise the course is about an accompanied journey, that is, learning with and from each other and from the Lord. The full Emmaus course consists of 15 sessions but we will only be able to cover about six areas.
There are three main parts:
- What Christians Believe to include: God is there and matters; Jesus-historical background, ministry, death and resurrection, and becoming a Christian
- How Christians Grow to include: Learning to pray/reading the Bible/ belonging to the church and Holy Communion
- Living a Christian life to include: Living God’s way, Your money and your life, Sharing the faith
If you are interested in attending or would like to discuss taking your faith further through baptism or confirmation for yourself or a family member please contact The Rector, Carol 01737 842102.
Lent Course - Spring 2011
In March-April 2011 we had 6 guest speakers on topical religious themes:
Climate and Covenant
Monday 14th March Reading Room Buckland
Climate change is provoking us to ask questions about our world, our science, our morality, our future - all of which connect with our relationship to God and to our spirituality. What sort of responses should Christian people and Christian churches be making to these questions? Is care for God's creation central to the work of God's kingdom?
Bishop David Atkinson
Recognising our Gifts
Wednesday 23rd March Hamilton Room Betchworth
Lent can be used as a time to indulge ourselves in an atmosphere of learned helplessness, the ‘I am not worthy’ syndrome. However, the call to ‘self examination’ is a call to honesty; the opportunity, not only to reflect on our weakness, but also on our strengths – our God given gifts and talents and how we use them for God’s Glory. We will use Biblical characters to begin to explore how recognising and using our gifts is key to the life and mission of our churches today.
Revd. Lu Gale
Being Holy-
Monday 28th March Emmanuel Church Sidlow Bridge
We are called by Jesus to be Holy and we might think of ourselves as anything but. Yet holiness is a way of living that is open to us all .To be a disciple is to have a spiritual discipline to walk the way of Christ is to look beyond the obvious and see the meaning of things and the real value of others and ourselves. We will need imagination.
Canon Colin Boswell
Passion in Art :
Thursday 7th April St. Michael’s Church Betchworth
“This illustrated talk by Richard Harries will focus on how the passion of Jesus has been depicted down the ages, from the early church to the modern period. It show how different ages have brought out different meanings of Jesus on the cross.”
Faith in Film
Tuesday 12th April St. Nicholas Church Charlwood
Looking at film from a faith perspective covers a wide range of different types of film. There are the great biblical epics which have now faded from view like The Ten Commandments, The Greatest Story Ever Told and Ben Hur. Who can forget Charlton Heston in full cry. There are also films which take the form of allegory like Babette’s Feast, Chocolat, which we looked at last Lent, and The Truman Show. As well as all these there are films which touch on the human condition and subsequently touch our hearts, recently Another Year and The King’s Speech. These may not be directly faith orientated but they deal in faith issues because at heart, and at best, faith will always be about life. It is when faith becomes detached from real life it runs into trouble; but it is also the case that when life becomes detached from real faith that the trouble begins. In this session we shall look at film from the perspectives of both faith and life. Canon David Eaton
Betchworth & Buckland House Group
Becoming a member of the House Group provides and informal discussion in a sociable atmosphere run by members of the congregation and meeting monthly, except in Lent and in August. This year they have read the reports on ‘gay’ ordination and blessings and considered angels, which are mentioned more than 300 times in the Bible, but do we take them seriously? The Group’s main recent study has been “Attitudes”, a book by Giles Fraser, who also writes in the Church Times and the Guardian. He does not pull his punches and is not afraid to shock.