One of the aims of the College is to make training and education accessible across a variety of different levels. The Scottish Baptist Learning Communities, in partnership with the Baptist Union of Scotland, is our grassroots initiative to provide learning opportunities to as many people as possible in churches across Scotland.
Starting in September 2020 and continuing throughout the academic year 2020-2021, we’re running a series entitled “What are they saying about…” which is a series of four 1 hour sessions over the course of a month on specific themes that will engage our minds and open up discussion. These sessions are aimed at those with no prior theological education (although not excluding those who do!) and are suited for a broad audience. The classes are non-validated so there’s no assignments or exams but simply an opportunity to think through and talk about some of the important issues of the Christian faith guided by knowledgeable facilitators from the Scottish Baptist College, the Baptist Union of Scotland, and other expert voices.
These will mainly be held in the evening as we want to make sure that these are accessible to as many people as possible.
The first learning communities were in October and November 2020. Currently we’re in the second block during February and March 2021.
The cost of a 4-week block is £30 and to register for the current sessions you can go to Eventbrite here.
The next in the series is “What are they saying about…The Mission of God in the Contemporary World” beginning on Monday March 1st 2021 at 8pm.
“Mission” is one of the most talked about topics within churches and this set of evening sessions aims to create the space to think further about what that means for us in the contemporary world.
Over a period of four weeks this course we will explore the theological and biblical foundations of mission, the role of church within the mission of God, and issues with the practice of mission in relation to wider society.
Facilitated by Graham Meiklejohn, a member of the core teaching team at the Scottish Baptist College.
Runs Monday evenings in March (1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd) from 8pm to approx. 9:15pm.
Previous sessions have included:
February 2021
What are they saying about…Sabbath for the Contemporary World.
These sessions will consider the idea of Sabbath and what it means for us today in the 21st Century. Starting with the biblical tradition we’ll then move on to think about the spirituality and application of the Sabbath principle as can be practiced in our churches and personal lives.
November 2020
What are they saying about…Christianity and Creation Care
Climate change (or climate chaos) is never far away from the front pages of the newspapers and issues of the environment are widely discussed. Whether it is renewable energy or plastic use, there’s a sense that we need to act soon or it might be too late. But what role might our faith play in helping us to navigate conversations around the environment?
Over a period of four weeks this course will explore creation, the environment, and Christianity through multiple lenses. We’ll discuss the doctrine of creation and the Christian mandate for creation care; we’ll think about creation through a biblical lens to discover what the Bible says about God’s purposes for creation; we’ll consider how our communal worship shapes our attitude to environment; and finally we’ll think about how we live out the Christian faith wisely in relation to the creation.
Taught jointly by the core team at the Scottish Baptist College (Ian Birch, Lina Toth, Andrew Clarke, and Graham Meiklejohn) each week there will be a different voice bringing insight from their own perspective and understanding of creation care and the Christian faith.
October 2020
What are they saying about…Reading the Bible as Story
We know that the Bible contains lots of stories – many of them are very well-known, like the Good Samaritan or the confrontation between David and Goliath. We may also have heard people describe the Bible as part of God’s big story. But, what would it mean to read the Bible as story?
In these sessions, we’ll be looking at how ‘Reading the Bible as Story’ significantly dictates how we approach the task. What does it mean that there’s a beginning, middle and end? How slow or fast should we read, in order to observe individual characters develop and plot-lines repeat themselves? What perspective do we need in order to allow the story to draw us in? In what ways is an ancient, Jewish story different to modern, western works of literature – and, how can we best know and respect what the original authors expected of us as readers?
One thing’s for certain, how we approach a narrative has a huge impact on how it reveals its meaning and the kind of response it stirs.
Scholars are increasingly talking about ‘Reading the Bible as Story’. What are they saying? And, why might this be important?