The basic idea of the course has always been the same: to provide in service training for those in church leadership, with forty days of training over two years covering biblical and systematic theology (twenty days), and leadership skills in areas like preaching, pastoral care, finance, evangelism, contextualisation, discipleship and spiritual gifts (twenty days). But the way of delivering that content has changed a lot. The structure of the syllabus and the range of speakers today are almost completely different from what they were in 2008. No doubt both of these things will look completely different again in fifteen years’ time.

I mention all this because it is possible that you, or somebody in your church, might be interested in joining us. (By “us,” I mean “forty or fifty men and women, some of whom work for the church and some of whom do not, who want to broaden their leadership skills and deepen their theology.”) Training takes place in Milton Keynes, for one Friday/Saturday block per month, and my (admittedly not very neutral) opinion is that it’s superb. You can get all the information here.