The spring term begins with a Residential Weekend, 13-15 January. Held as ever in the tranquil environs of St Mary’s Monastery Kinnoull (above), the teaching programme sees the continuation of three levels of Reflective Practice overseen by the Principal, and two modules on Mission and Evangelism taught by Richard Tiplady.
The latter modules aim to explore the scriptural, theological and historical background to the range of Christian patterns of relating to the world in witness to Christ as a means of informing a responsible mission theology; to equip students with the understanding and skills necessary for critical engagement with, and leadership of, the church’s participation in the mission of God; and to enable them to embody the attitudes, words and actions that witness to Christ in ways appropriate to his/her vocation.
Students are really valuing these modules, commenting variously
I feel very excited and filled with possibilities on how to extend different ways of doing church for the church, community and ourselves.
Learning more about Paul’s gospel and mission has better equipped me to speak about evangelism in ways that may have been daunting in the past.
The programme also sees the continuation of the ‘Liturgy and Music’ series of seminars at which practitioners from across the Province demonstrate the types of music they employ when leading worship. This weekend’s guests are the Very Revd Kelvin Holdsworth, Provost of St Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, (above) and Friðrik Walker, Director of Music therein. Frikki, one of Scotland’s most experienced Choral Conductors, was appointed Organist and Director of Music at St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral in 1996. He oversees an adult choir there who sing two services every Sunday to a professional standard as well as fulfilling a busy schedule of extra services, concerts, broadcasts and recordings.
But study is not the only pursuit; eight acts of worship will be woven through the programme, three of which will be led by the student group rostered for duty that weekend. At Midday on Saturday they will offer a service entitled ‘An Amazon Epiphany Journey’, building on the spiritual wisdom of three indigenous communities from that region, one that is very dear to the hearts of all at SEI thanks to the partnership established with Centro de Estudos Anglicanos (CEA), the Anglican training agency in Brazil.
Que o Senhor nos conduza neste novo semestre! May the Lord guide both institutions in this new term.
Photographs courtesy of Ross Stirling-Young and Gordon Smith
