St Paul’s - opportunities for learning throughtout the year
Saturday 19 January 2019
Wide ranging education programme
- Start Date:
- Saturday 19th January 2019
- Start Time:
- 10:45AM
- Location:
- St Paul's London
- Speakers:
- full programme available for download
- Cost:
- some are free others have a charge - see the programme
- Website:
- www.stpauls.co.uk
pFree
Events in St Paul’s Cathedral
Jesus Christ:
the Unanswered Questions
Rowan Williams
Wednesday 27 March
6.30 – 8.00pm
Admission Free – register at www.stpauls.co.uk/jesuschrist
Who do you say I am? Jesus asked
his disciples this question and for 2,000 years
Christians have wrestled with this, the defining question of our faith. Jesus led a
completely familiar and recognisable life, but also one that was utterly
radical and unrecognisable: a unique divine moment in the history of our world.
How on earth can we
speak about this, the great mystery at the heart of Christianity?
Rowan Williams says
that how we understand Jesus Christ is
central to how we understand everything: creation, our faith, our world and
ourselves. He says that if we grasp the mysterious reality that Christ is the
heart of creation itself, not just an extraordinary human life, it will open a
deeply affirmative approach to creation, and offer radical, transformative
insights into ethics and politics. He
says it will do nothing less than make a new place for us to live - in hope,
imagination and action.
and author, his numerous academic and popular books include Christ: The Heart of Creation
(Bloomsbury 2018) and God With Us: The Meaning Of The Cross And Resurrection - Then And Now (SPCK 2017).
Dr Rowan Williams is the Master of Magdalene
College Cambridge and was formerly Archbishop of Canterbury. A poet, theologian
The evening will be chaired by Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London,
and include plenty of time for questions and answers.
BSL
interpretation will be provided at this event: please let us know if you
require seats in the area reserved for this.
Holy
Envy
Barbara Brown Taylor
Thursday 30 May
6.30 – 8.00pm
Admission Free – register at www.stpauls.co.uk/holyenvy
Christians are taught
that God is everywhere, and many of us experience the sacred in unexpected
places: in nature, in friends and
strangers, in music and the arts. But
can we also encounter God in the faith of other people?
Barbara Brown Taylor
left parish ministry to teach world religion at a college in rural
Georgia. To her surprise, what she
learnt from decades of living with the truth claims of the world’s great faiths
is not – contrary to popular opinion – that all religions are alike, but something
subtler, more mysterious and more life-giving: a ‘holy envy’ of the riches of
other traditions, and the chance to be born afresh and more deeply within her
own tradition.
She will explore some
of the gifts, questions and paradoxes that she found along the way. If there is
only one God, why are there so many religions? Can our faith be improved by the
faith of others, even those we fundamentally disagree with? And is the Holy
Spirit at work in all this?
The Revd Barbara Brown
Taylor is an
American Episcopal priest, theologian, Professor of Religion, and New York
Times best-selling author. In 2014 TIME
magazine named her as one if its 100 most influential people in the world. Her best-selling guides to the spiritual life include An Altar on the World and Learning to Walk in the Dark. Her new
book is Holy Envy: Finding God in the
Faith of Others (Canterbury Press 2019).
The
evening will be chaired by Tricia Hillas, Canon Pastor of St Paul’s Cathedral,
and include plenty of time for questions and answers.
BSL
interpretation will be provided at this event: please let us know if you
require seats in the area reserved for this.
Sunday Forum
A series
of free lunchtime talks on the first Sunday of the month exploring Christian spirituality,
life and ethics with some of the best Christian thinkers and writers of our
time. Each event includes plenty of time
for questions and answers. Sunday Forum
is in the Wren Suite in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral. Admission is free and unticketed. Seating is
first-come, first-served: please come early to ensure your place.
Haunted
by Christ: Modern Writers and the Struggle for Faith
Richard Harries
Sunday 3 February
1.00 - 2.00pm
A good novel expands
our sense of the complexity of human life. Richard Harries says that at a
time when so much religious language has become either unbelievable or alien to
many, it is often in works of literature that that we can begin to discover again
the enchantment of the Christian faith and attempt to understand it in the
texture of real life.
In his latest book, Haunted
by Christ: Modern Writers and the Struggle for Faith (SPCK 2018), he
explores some of the novelists, playwrights and poets who have meant most to
him, including Dostoevsky, Emily Dickinson, Marilynne Robinson and Philip
Pullman. He will explore why it is that literature can teach us so much
about how to be a human being and a person of faith.
The Rt Revd Richard
Harries was formerly the Bishop of Oxford and has been described by Rowan
Williams as one of our greatest Christian intellectuals. He is a Fellow
of the Royal Society of Literature and the author of numerous works of popular
and academic theology.
The Merciful Humility
of God
Jane Williams
Sunday 3 March
1.00 - 2.00pm
In
fourth century North Africa, a young man called Augustine spent years searching
for a way to satisfy his intellectual and spiritual curiosity. When Augustine
finally ‘converted’ to the Christian faith, he wrote that what he found there,
and nowhere else, was the ‘humble God’. Nowhere else had he found a God
who comes to live with human beings, sharing their lives and even their
death. In Christianity he found a
transforming faith, centred on love, that invited rather than demanded or
judged.
And
it is not only Augustine who has encountered the merciful humility of God as
the most powerful force imaginable. Jane Williams will explore how God
works for our salvation in ways so gentle, so subtle and so apparently
vulnerable that it is easy to overlook their force, calling us to walk in the
paths of humility for our own sake and for the sake of the world.
Dr
Jane Williams is Director of Studies at St Mellitus College in London. She
is the author of academic and popular works of theology including Faces of Christ: Jesus in Art and Approaching Easter. Her latest book, The Merciful Humility
of God, is the Bloomsbury Lent Book for 2019.
God Made Strange
Lucy Winkett
Sunday 7 April
1.00 - 2.00pm
God
comes to us in the person of Jesus, and we can feel more connected to God
through his humanity: he lives a human life, full of sorrow, joy, relationships
and events. But in the cross, God is also revealed to us to be utterly
different from our inevitably anthropomorphised pictures.
Lucy
Winkett says that the cross is essential for a living faith but it is also genuinely
scandalous, and just as importantly, ultimately beyond our comprehending. God died in the midst of shouting and chaos,
executed as a criminal, and this is both a political, historical death and a
cosmic event. In preparation for Holy Week, she will explore some of what
we can and can’t say about the cross, and some of what it might mean for our
faith, prayer and actions.
The
Revd Lucy Winkett is Rector of St James’s Piccadilly, and was formerly
Precentor at St Paul’s Cathedral. She writes and broadcasts regularly on religion,
music and contemporary culture, and her
book, Our Sound is Our Wound was commissioned by Rowan Williams as his
recommended Lent Book for 2011.
The Paradox of Freedom
Graham Tomlin
Sunday 5 May
1pm - 2.00pm
Jesus says that the
truth will set us free. But it turns out
freedom is a surprisingly complex idea.
What does it really mean to be free? What kind of freedom do we need in
the modern world? How can Christian visions of freedom engage with contrasting
ideologies and traditions?
Graham Tomlin will
explore a distinctively Christian vision of freedom set against a backdrop of
rising polarisation, division and competing views of what makes for good social
and personal liberties in our times. He will
offer a vision of how and why Christian understandings of freedom work for
personal flourishing and build stronger communities than many popular secular
versions of the idea.
The
Rt Revd Graham Tomlin is the Bishop of Kensington and the President of St
Mellitus College for training clergy in the Diocese of London. He has taught
theology at Oxford University and his latest book is Bound to be Free: The Paradox of Freedom (Bloomsbury 2017).
What Did Jesus Look
Like?
Joan Taylor
Sunday 2 June
1.00 - 2.00pm
Everyone can conjure up the traditional image of Jesus: a
handsome, white man with flowing locks and pristine linen robes, and most
people know that isn’t what he really looked like. Does that matter?
Joan Taylor says that the historical evidence suggests he would
have had dark skin and short hair, and would have worn rough, even scruffy,
clothes. She says it matters how we picture Jesus because it cuts to the
heart of his message: he aligned himself with the poor and this would have been
obvious from how he looked.
She will explore both the historical evidence for redrawing our
image of what Jesus looked like, and what effect it might have on our
understanding of his teaching if he were depicted more accurately, as one of
the have-nots.
Professor Joan Taylor is Professor of Christian Origins at King’s
College, London. She is the author of What Did Jesus Look Like? (Bloomsbury
2018), has edited The
Body in Biblical, Christian and Jewish
Texts and was historical consultant for the 2018 film Mary Magdalene.
Every
Tribe: Diverse Saints in a Diverse World
Sharon Prentis
Sunday 7 July
1.00 - 2.00pm
The Bible visualises a new heaven and a new
earth with people of every language and nation, so why are all the saints in
our paintings and stained glass windows white? The bias in the church’s
storytelling means that many are surprised to discover that St Augustine is
North African and St George is an immigrant with Turkish and Palestinian
parents.
A new book of essays edited by Sharon Prentis
uncovers stories of holy, inspired and inspiring lives from all over the
world. It celebrates the true diversity of
the saints and challenges the church to become what it is meant to be: a
rainbow people of God serving the diverse needs of a diverse world.
The Revd Dr Sharon Prentis
is Dean of Black and Minority Ethnic Affairs and Intercultural Mission Enabler at
the Church of England in Birmingham. She is an honorary research fellow in the
Department of Theology and Religion at the University of Birmingham and the editor of Every Tribe: Stories of Diverse
Saints Serving a Diverse World (SPCK 2019).
Saturday workshops and study
afternoons
A Beginners’ Guide to Christian Spirituality
Carys Walsh
Saturday 9 February
2.00 – 4.30pm
Admission £15 – buy tickets at www.stpauls.co.uk/christianspirituality
What is Christian Spirituality? Carys Walsh says that it is
nothing less than experiencing the transformative power of God’s love, and
living this out. She also says that Christian Spirituality is immensely rich
and varied, made new by God in every generation.
In this afternoon we take an introductory look at the dynamic
nature of Christian spirituality. We will explore some of its contours and
touch on just a few of its many and varied expressions, from the 6th century
Rule of St Benedict, a model of how to live a life of faith, balance and
harmony which continues to enrich lives inside and outside monasteries today,
to the Franciscan vision of freedom in poverty and joy in creation. We will
also explore the Anglican tradition, deeply rooted in the sense of place, the beauty
of language and the poetic tradition.
The Revd Dr Carys Walsh is in charge of training for
curates in the Diocese of Peterborough. She has a Phd in Christian
Spirituality, focussing on the Sacramental Vision of R S Thomas and was until
recently Tutor and Lecturer in Christian Spirituality at St Mellitus
College in the Diocese of London.
Passion
and Resurrection Living
Holy Week
James Milne
Saturday 13 April
2.00 – 4.30pm
Admission £15 – buy tickets at www.stpauls.co.uk/passionandresurrection
Holy
Week and Easter are the heart of the Christian year. The unfolding services of
Holy Week offer us the opportunity to make our own pilgrimage through Jesus’
last week. It moves from his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, to the Last
Supper where he foretells his death and gives his disciples the last great
commandment, his anguished prayer in Gethsemane, the shocking events of his
betrayal, trial and execution, the desolation of his death, and finally to the
dawn of a new world on Easter Sunday.
But it’s
also true that these stories can become so familiar that we can be in danger of
losing our sense of their revolutionary message about the nature of God.
On the eve of Holy Week, James Milne will explore how this great cycle of
services evolved and how we can fully enter into them, allowing them to reach
our hearts and change our lives.
The Revd
James Milne is Sacrist at St Paul’s Cathedral, sharing responsibility for its
liturgy. He was previously Convenor of the Liturgy Committee of the
Scottish Episcopal Church.
Radical Discipleship Caring for the
Stranger
Krish Kandiah
Saturday 18 May
2.00 - 4.30pm
Admission £15 – buy tickets at www.stpauls.co.uk/radicaldiscipleship
Krish Kandiah says that hospitality
to the stranger is the key to intimacy with God, and when we answer his call to
compassionate action we will find it life-giving.
This revolutionary message runs
through the whole history of God’s relationship with humanity. He calls the people of the Promised Land to
provide for ‘the alien, the orphan and the widow’. Jesus teaches that in caring for prisoners,
the poor and the sick we are caring for him.
The people of the early church lived together, providing for each
other’s needs in ways that were radical then and now.
But in the 21st century
we can feel too busy, too overwhelmed, even to begin to find a way to live this
out in our own lives. The need seems enormous and what we can offer can
feel so small.
Krish Kandiah will explore why God
calls us to this radical discipleship and what happens when we answer the
call. He will also offer suggestions for
finding ways that are practical, joyful and sustainable in our own lives.
Dr Krish Kandiah is the Founder and
Director of the adoption and fostering charity Home for Good, an ambassador for Tearfund and the author
of numerous books including God is Stranger (Hodder 2017). He
lives in Oxfordshire with his wife and seven children, including fostered and adopted
children.
Reflective
Days
Imagining Peace
Pádraig Ó Tuama
Saturday 30 March
10.00am – 5.00pm
Admission £45 – buy
tickets at www.stpauls.co.uk/imaginingpeace
2018 was the centenary of the end of the First World War - ‘the
war to end all wars’. Since then, there has not been a single day when
the world has been at peace. Why is peace so hard, and conflict so
universal?
Jesus says that blessed – happy – are the peacemakers. But
he doesn’t say it’s easy. In this reflective day, we will look at peace
and conflict within ourselves, in our communities and in politics. We
will explore the obstacles and opportunities for transformation through Bible
stories, our own experiences, and the stories we tell about ourselves and
others, including Pádraig Ó Tuama’s experiences of peacemaking and conflict
resolution in Northern Ireland.
Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet and theologian based in Belfast. He
teaches on religion, storytelling and conflict resolution, and is the leader of
the Corrymeela Community, the longest-established ecumenical peace and
reconciliation community in Northern Ireland. His books include In the
Shelter: Finding a Home in the World and Daily Prayer with the
Corrymeela Community.
The day
includes reflective worship, lunch and other refreshments and takes place at
the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in Limehouse, East London (www.rfsk.org.uk). We are very grateful to St Katharine’s for their
hospitality in co-hosting our
reflective days.
Silence for Beginners
Richard Carter
Saturday 1 June
10.00am – 5.00pm
Admission £45 – buy
tickets at www.stpauls.co.uk/silence
Silence
is something we can long for or dread, but it’s often said that silence is the country
where the saints learn their language.
From the earliest years of Christianity to the present day, it’s where
men and women have sought, and found, God. But as many who have tried it
know, it is not always as simple as it sounds.
This day
will provide a ‘beginner’s guide’ to silence, with reflections on its nature,
joys, pitfalls and uses. It will also
include significant periods when we will keep silence.
The Revd
Richard Carter is an Associate Priest at St Martin in The Fields, one of the
busiest churches in London. For many
years he was a member of the Melanesian Brotherhood in the Solomon Islands,
where silence was a daily part of the spiritual life of the community. In London he works with The Connection,
London’s busiest homelessness charity, and is the founder and leader of the
Nazareth Community, which aims to build a practice of silence into daily life
in the city.
This is
a joint day with our partners at The Royal Foundation
of St Katharine, and we are very grateful to them for their hospitality in co-hosting our reflective days. The
days take place at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in Limehouse, East
London and include reflective worship, lunch and other refreshments. (www.rfsk.org.uk).