Life & Learning @ Ludlow
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LIFE & LEARNING @ LUDLOW Unscrambling issues of life and faith Programme November 2018 to April 2019 The Parish Church of St Laurence, Ludlow (A member of Churches Together Around Ludlow) About Life & Learning Life & Learning is the name of an adult learning programme which seeks to broaden understanding and initiate debate on theology, social issues and the arts. The programme offers a range of opportunities for study and learning. It is intended to stimulate the interest of people of faith who want to reflect deeply on how their faith impacts on their engagement with the world around them, and also appeal to those with no strong faith commitment who are interested in exploring the Christian perspective on contemporary issues. Arranged by the Parish Church of St Laurence, Ludlow, (a member of Churches Together Around Ludlow) the events are open to all people from the town and beyond, regardless of religious affiliation. Copies of this leaflet can be downloaded from our website: www.stlaurences.org.uk/lifeandlearning. We also welcome enquiries at: Life & Learning @ Ludlow 2 College Street LUDLOW Shropshire SY8 1AN Email: [email protected] Tel: 01584 872073 A note about the 2018/19 programme Last February both church and town lost a good friend with the death of Jeffry Wilcox. Throughout his retirement in Ludow, Jeffry had been enormously generous both with his time and with his good sense. In addition to his continuing ministry based at St Laurence’s, he had been a Ludlow Town Councillor and Deputy Mayor and was Chairman of Trustees at the Ludlow Mascall Centre. He had also, from the outset, been a regular attendee at Life & Learning lectures. It seems entirely right, therefore, that our first lecture of the 2018/19 season should be held in his memory and in the church from where he had served God and community. The end of the Life & Learning season is also different to the usual run of events in that it will see 23 intrepid souls, whatever the weather, on retreat at Bishop’s House on the Isle of Iona. In between, our programme includes a study day continuing our exploration of the gospels – this time Luke’s - at the start of a church year when his writing provides the majority of our Sunday readings. There are also lectures on: Eastern Orthodoxy; the parables as lessons for a learning church; the work of the hospital chaplain; lessons to be drawn from recent liturgical developments in the Roman Catholic Church; the relationship between the natural world and faith; and the role of the church in building positive relations with Jewish people in an age of persistent anti-Semitism. Special thanks go to all those who are contributing to this our seventh Life & Learning programme, several of whom are travelling some distance to be with us. I am sure we will want to give them a warm welcome. Barry Forrester Programme November 2018 to April 2019 Date: Tuesday 6 November 2018 at 7pm (with wine available from 6.30pm) Venue: St Laurence’s Parish Church Cost: £8 (including a glass of wine) Jeffry Wilcox Memorial Lecture Priest at a crossroads A lecture given by the Very Revd Andrew Nunn Canon Jeffry Wilcox, to whom this lecture is dedicated, was for almost a quarter of a century the Rector of St Leonard’s Streatham, notorious in south London for standing at a congested crossroads on the route to Brighton. But the issue of standing at crossroads is a real one and one which faces the whole church in what we describe as a post-Christian, secular society. Which way does the church go? Which road should it take? The Very Revd Andrew Nunn is Dean of Southwark and knew Canon Wilcox well. His cathedral stands at the heart of an interchange of ideas and demands. Date: Thursday 15 November 2018 at 10.30am – 3.30pm (bring a sandwich lunch or enjoy a light lunch at the Mascall Centre Café) Venue: Ludlow Mascall Centre Cost: £10 (including coffee during a morning break) The Gospel Which Turned the World Upside Down A study day led by the Revd Dr Neil Richardson This study day aims to shed fresh light on both familiar and less familiar passages in Luke's gospel, to discover the links in Luke's 'connected narrative' and to appreciate the distinctiveness of his portrait of Jesus. The study day will alternate between input from the speaker and questions and discussion in plenary: 1st Session Jesus, Messiah and Son of God (Luke 1.1-9.50) 2nd Session 'A Prophet Powerful in Word and Deed' (Luke 9.51 - 19.27) 3rd Session 'Crucified Under Pontius Pilate, Suffered Death, Rose Again and Ascended....'(Luke 19.28 - 24.53) The Revd Dr Neil Richardson is a retired Methodist minister who spent much of his ministry teaching New Testament studies. His first area of research was the Gospel of Luke and Acts, resulting in the publication of The Panorama of Luke. He has retained a keen interest in the writings of Luke, and continues to lead church study days on the Bible, particularly passages in the Common Lectionary. Date: Thursday 29 November 2018 at 10am until 12 noon Venue: Ludlow Mascall Centre Cost: £8 (including coffee during a mid-lecture break) Becoming gods - Salvation in Eastern Orthodoxy A lecture given by the Revd Dr Chris Moore As the second century tipped over into the third, a bishop in Egypt wrote this: “He who listens to the Lord, and follows the prophecy given by Him, will be formed perfectly in the likeness of the teacher - made a god going about in flesh.” (Clement of Alexandria). A few decades before, a bishop from what is now France had written: "If the Word became a man, it was so men may become gods” (Irenaeus of Lyon). With its dogged patristic base, Eastern Orthodoxy has continued to emphasise this view of the Christian which sounds so startling to Western ears. In this lecture, the notion of what is known as Theosis will be explored and, it is hoped, our theological horizons will be widened. The Revd Dr Chris Moore is Rector of Fownhope in the Diocese of Hereford. He is a trustee of the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius which, since 1917, has sought to build understanding between the Eastern and Western Churches through conferences, visits and the funding of scholarships for Eastern Bloc students at the University of Oxford. Date: Thursday 10 January 2019 at 10.30am until 12 noon (with coffee available from 10am) Venue: Ludlow Mascall Centre Cost: £8 (including coffee) Parables: Pointed, Provocative and Prophetic Lessons for a Learning Church A lecture given by the Very Revd Prof Martyn Percy This lecture will explore Jesus’ use of parables as vehicles for promoting the Kingdom of God, rather than settling for institutional safety and comfort. Drawing on the work of John Robinson and more recent writers from the ‘Jesus Seminar’, the lecture will take a fresh look at what the risk of Christian faith is all about in the twenty-first century. The Very Revd Professor Martyn Percy is the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, one of the University of Oxford's largest colleges, as well as the Cathedral Church of the Diocese of Oxford. From 2004-14 he was Principal of Ripon College, Cuddesdon. Prior to that he was Director of the Lincoln Theological Institute and has also been Chaplain and Director of Studies at Christ's College, Cambridge. Date: Thursday 24 January 2019 at 10am until 12 noon Venue: Ludlow Mascall Centre Cost: £8 (including coffee during a mid-lecture break) Healthcare Chaplaincy - What’s the point? A lecture given by the Revd Grant Holmes When the NHS was founded the role of a Chaplain was not specified as everybody assumed it to be essential to the Service being offered to the nation and to individuals. Over the last 70 years that assumption has died a death and chaplaincy now has to prove itself each and every day within an overstretched and under resourced NHS. This lecture will try to present an understanding and experience of chaplaincy that can underpin its continued place within the NHS. Fr Grant Holmes was ordained in 1980 and has served in both parochial and sector ministries. His longest single block of priestly ministry has been as a Chaplain in the NHS. During that time Fr Grant worked alongside members of other faiths, both professionals and volunteers. Date: Thursday 28 February 2019 at 10am until 12 noon Venue: Ludlow Mascall Centre Cost: £8 (including coffee during a mid-lecture break) Finding Words for Worship A lecture given by the Revd Canon Chris Walsh This lecture considers the principles, priorities, problems and perils discovered in translating, composing and designing worthy 21st century service books for the 400 million Roman Catholics in the English-speaking world. The issues and challenges – literary, linguistic, aesthetic, theological, pastoral, ecumenical and political – have an interest and relevance far beyond Roman Catholicism. The Revd Canon Chris Walsh lectured in liturgy at the University of Durham for 18 years, and subsequently at Wesley College, Bristol, and the University of Wales, Lampeter. He was director of the ecumenical Institute for Liturgy and Mission at Sarum College, Salisbury, and for 15 years served on the advisory and editorial committees of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy in Washington DC. He has also been a parish priest in Wirral and Greater Manchester and currently serves the Catholic Parish of St Peter, Ludlow. Date: Thursday 14 March 2019 at 10am until 12 noon Venue: Ludlow Mascall Centre Cost: £8 (including coffee during a mid-lecture break) Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge A lecture given by the Revd Prof Andrew Gosler How do we know what we know? On whose ‘authority’ do we claim to know something? The decline in understanding about or even belief in God in the UK parallels and is intimately connected with: a decline in engagement with the real, i.e.