The Church of Ireland Diocese of Connor

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Bishop’s Training Day on Engaging Culture

Tuesday March 19th 2013

Clergy from across Connor Diocese will come together for a Training Day on April 11 organised by the Bishop, the Rt Rev Alan Abernethy.

Keynote speaker is the Bishop of Sheffield, the Rt Rev Steven Croft, and the topic of the day, which takes place in Lisburn Cathedral, is ‘Engaging Culture,’ one of the strands of the diocesan vision strategy.

Bishop Croft sits on the Church of England Archbishops’ Council and is Chair of the Ministry Council. Formerly warden in St John’s College in Durham, as well as Missioner and Leader of the CofE Fresh Expressions team, he is a gifted author, thinker and communicator.

He is passionate about how the church can engage with large swathes of the population who have lost touch with the Christian faith.

The Training Day will run from 9.30am until 5pm, and will include worship, seminars, workshops, conversation and food.

Over two plenary sessions, Bishop Croft will address how the church can listen to context, posing the questions where is the church at this time, locally and globally? and what does leadership look like in an environment of change?

During the day, clergy will able to attend one of three seminars. In the first: Take Back the City, Bishop Croft will draw upon his insights from both research and practice into how the church can engage in increasingly diverse, multi–cultural and ever changing urban towns and cities.

In seminar two: Life in the Country, the Rev Dorothy McVeigh will reflect on mission and ministry in and amongst rural communities, looking at the challenges and opportunities for life in the country.

The third seminar: Want to be ‘Pro–Vision?’ is hosted by Connor Parish Development Officer Trevor Douglas and will focus on participation and insights of Pro–Vision, a step by step plan to help churches work through issues of finance, resources and generous giving, enabling clergy to focus on the outworking of God’s vision for their ministry.

Inviting clergy to attend, Bishop Alan said: “My prayer is that we will be encouraged, inspired and challenged.”

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