MWiB Weekend at Swanwick 17-19 April 2015 – Workshop Choices
Please send your 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choice of workshops you would like to attend, including your name, by email to by 29 March. For clarity, include the title letter and the name of the leader/s of your chosen workshops.
NB no other emails should be sent to this address.
Workshop A – led by Elizabeth Wright and Jenny Gillings, East Anglia District
Being Creative: Worship Centres Prayer Stations for Beginners Explorers-Come and enjoy your creative potential with a focus on using it to visually enhance worship, fellowship meetings, reflective prayer times or personal quiet times. Whether you see yourself as an absolute beginner or an amateur space explorer, you are welcome to come and spend time creating focal points for worship and prayer. This will be a mainly activity based workshop within the setting of the PrayerRoom. Its theme is 'Pause to Pray' and it will be led by Elizabeth, a local preacher, and Jenny, a retired art teacher who isinterested in 3-D artwork.
Workshop B – led by Lorna Valentine, Discipleship Ministries Learning Network
Recognising Calling - Sometimes we think of calling as something that happens only to those such as preacher or ordained minister. Yet as Christians, each of us is uniquely called as the person we are to a discipleship journey with and in Christ. The workshop begins by exploring whole-life calling and how who we are in the context of our everyday lives is important to God. This springboards into thinking about the nature of calling for each of us as the person we are. How do we recognise it, seeing who we can be in Christ? How do we inhabit it, as we learn who Christ wants us to be? This is an informal workshop including opportunities for discussion and sharing.
Workshop C – led by Gill Collins, Dementia Action Alliance, the Alzheimers Society
Dementia Friendly Communities - how we can help The growing number of people living with dementia is an issue for all of us. We may have experienced its devastating impact or we may just want to know more about how to help. Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) is a social movement involving a broad spectrum of people and organisations who have a desire to improve the lives of people living with dementia; that is both carers and the cared for. It is an incredibly isolating condition that has a huge impact on people’s lives.
Dementia Friendly Communities is the focus for the DAA and this workshop will explore the role of the Methodist church in supporting people with dementia and their carers, what barriers may stand in their way and how they can be overcome.
Workshop D – led by Anne Browse, MWiB vice-president, from Plymouth & Exeter
Being hospitable-Our Christian friends often used to ask us why we stayed in such a small rural church? Why not move somewhere livelier? But God never told us to leave! Gradually our congregation has grown and this is our story. Much of what we do is centred around food. We eat together as church and with our community. Come and hear how food and friendship have been central to our mission of being Jesus to our neighbours. We are learning that being generous and hospitable seems to draw people gently and gradually towards faith. There will also be a chance to share your own experiences, in the hope that we all go away with new ideas and enthusiasm for entertaining angels unawares!
Workshop E – led by Mark Davis and Ruth Harvey, Shoreline Conversations
Being Yourself in Conversation-This workshop relates to the launch of a joint project at the weekend. Shoreline Conversations has created a conversational resource, commissioned by MWiB, to encourage and support spiritual conversation in small groups. Entitled ‘Aloneness’ it consists of a pack of seven themed booklets, which invite consideration of the joys and challenges of being alone. The workshop will focus on the nature of graceful conversation in groups – how it may be created and sustained. Participants will be invited the share their own experience of gathering in groups and how to create an environment where a life-giving exchange may take place. They will also examine the resource prepared for the launch and consider how it may be profitably used.
Workshop F – led by Bunmi Olayisade, World Church Relationships Co-ordinator
Being a Partner - In its statement of priorities the Methodist Church in Britain has challenged every part of the church to work in partnership with others wherever possible and to deepen its conviction of God’s love in Christ, for us and for all the world.Partnerships help to develop our vision of the Church and of the world. Partnerships help to transform the Church, Church life and the lives of individual Christians. Partnership is one way of practising Christian discipleship and better equips us to respond to mission challenges.Using case studies, Bunmi will discuss different forms of partnerships, their benefits and possible challenges when things go wrong!
Workshop G – led by Anna Kadandara Loice Zengenene, Zimbabwean Methodist Fellowship
Being Healthy - This workshop will raise awareness of the challenges that are currently being faced by young people as a result of tattoos and body piercings, with a special focus on the cultural and religious implications. This issue may be more relevant to younger people, but there are also implications for all ages. The workshop will explore definitions, how tattoos and body piercing came about, and the implications for us all. It will also look at some of the other health related issues, from both the psychological health and the physical health perspectives.
Workshop H – led by Allison Hadwin, South East district
Being me – the Enneagram
Do you ever wonder what planet some people are on?
Do people ever wonder what planet you are on?
Do your well-intentioned words sometimes fall on stony ground or amongst thorns?
In this workshop we will be looking at the Enneagram, a way of looking at different personality types and understanding their underlying motivations. Many people who have studied the enneagram find it an invaluable tool in helping them understand who they are and who God might want them to be. (Not to mention understanding their relatives, friends and even their minister better!)
Workshop J – led by Claudette Kilpatrick, who has served as a mission partner with her husband Mervyn in India, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka for much of theirmarried life of 32 years. They currently serve in Ireland.
Just Being.....Self, Sacrifice and Service - 2 Corinthians 4:7-10 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We also carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. Being Self is being FREE to be who God made us to be, including being a female sometimes in a male world (in different cultures). God calls us to Sacrifice and to Serve even in difficult/challenging times.
Workshop K – led by Claire Mathys, Director of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum and Co-Director of Christians in Politics
Being Engaged-In this election year, will we default to the role of commentators and critiquers, or will we SHOW UP? Christians in Politics calls on Christians to engage in every sphere of society, including politics. Find out how from Claire. Discover the Biblical mandate, the open mission-field, and the inspiring stories of those who have already shown up, rolled up their sleeves and got involved with the messy business of politics while maintaining their distinct Christian identity.
Workshop L – led by Revd Denise Harding, Chester and Stoke-on-Trent district
Human Trafficking in the 21st Century - How can the church respond?
Human Trafficking is one of the most shocking of modern day realities. It is prevalent in all areas of the UK, and touches more lives than most of us could possibly imagine. Revd Denise Harding has been involved in a churches and community together initiative in Frodsham to raise awareness of the issues around human trafficking. Part of this has included working with the Salvation Army and International Justice Mission to help to lobby the government about the Modern Slavery Bill. Come along for a relaxed, interactive and informative session.