In this section:

About|Details|What our students say|Tutor(s)|Related short courses

Home Short Courses Human Flourishing Ministry Pastoral Care Slow Mission

Slow Mission course

Reflections on the God Who Walks Slowly with Kosuke Koyama

A day to reflect theologically and personally on mission and ministry in a world increasingly turned towards speed, power and success.

Drawing on the work of Japanese ecumenical theologian Kosuke Koyama, Ben Aldous will introduce participants to some key themes in Koyama’s work—someone who encourages us to recognise the importance of slowing down in mission and ministry.

In Sessions 1 and 2, we will discover the theology and context of Kosuke Koyama and think about walking and slowing down in mission and ministry.

We ask questions about the relationship between walking, slowness, time and speed and whether we are operating out of an existential anxiety about the future Church and therefore expect shorter and shorter timeframes for growth.

We will consider whether the Church of England’s resource church ‘model’ is caught up in an unhelpful urgency.

In Session 3, ‘Talking’, we will explore the theme of evangelism in the UK through the lens of Koyama who felt that Christianity was in danger of becoming irrelevant because it suffered from what he called ‘teacher complex’. The chapter unpacks the notion of evangelism as listening and the ideas of ‘spat-upon’ and ‘stigma’ evangelism in a world full of words, power and a love for the spectacular.

The course draws on Ben Aldous’s new book, The God Who Walks Slowly, published by SCM Press.

About the Tutor
The Revd Dr Benjamin Aldous is the principal office for mission and evangelism at Churches Together in England (CTE) and a research fellow at the Queens Foundation in Birmingham.

Ben is particularly interested in mission, ecumenism and intercultural theology. He spent 16 years in Cambodia and South Africa firstly as a church planter and latterly as a Parish priest. He completed his doctoral work at the University Stellenbosch on Fresh expressions of church in the Southern African context in 2018. He helps host and curate conversations amongst denominational church leaders with the portfolio of mission from across CTE’s 52 member churches. In addition to his book The God Who Walks Slowly (SCM 2022) he is the author of ‘Lived’ Mission in 21st Century Britain (SCM 2024).

The In Person Early Bird Discount ticket #2441 ticket sales has ended!

The In Person Early Bird Discount with B&B the Night Before #2441 ticket sales has ended!

The In person ticket #2441 ticket sales has ended!

The Onsite Ticket with B&B the Night Before #2441 ticket sales has ended!

Details

Dates & Times

16 Apr 2024

Expired!

10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Course code

2441

Other Notes

This is an onsite day course to be held at Sarum College.

The £70 course fee includes lunch and refreshments.

What our students say

PhD Research Programmes

Visual Artist Claire Reed

The complex and sometimes fractious relationship between contemporary art and religion has intrigued me throughout my art career, informing my direction as an artist. It has led me to work in sacred spaces with their immediate and wider communities, to study an MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture at Sarum College, and recently to become artist–researcher at Leo Baeck College of Jewish scholarship and learning.

My aim is to examine the extent to which this creative approach might generate fruitful inter-religious theological insights within a Jewish and Christian ministry training context.

Sarum College combines an open-minded embrace of the imagination and the arts with a supportive, questioning and diverse community. Crucially for me, the Sarum-Winchester PhD programme is one of the very few UK university programmes to offer a hybrid thesis in art and theology in which the creative process and resulting art output along with a written critical component are presented for examination.

This PhD research is a key part of my development as an artist engaged with theology and inter-religious dialogue.

Read full article

Stimulating and Challenging

What is Successful Ageing? led by James Woodward

I enjoyed the course immensely from beginning to end – the seamless interweaving of knowledge, ideas and research and the linking with belief and faith.

The content was stimulating, challenging, thought provoking and I was greatly appreciative of the contributions and questions from other participants, your considered and sensitive responses and integration with your presentations.

Thank you!

Netflix, Theology and Pastoral Practice

Peter Butchers on his MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture student experience

How do cultural tropes, like those found in Black Mirror, help bridge the gap between what academic theology espouses and what the everyday Christian believes? In his research as a student on the MA in Theology, Imagination and Culture, Peter Butchers explored platonic philosophy, digital theology and eschatology, and pastoral practice around death and dying.

Rewarding Sabbatical Stay

The Revd Greg Syler, is Rector of Ascension & St. George’s, Resurrection Parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, DC USA, spent part of his ministry sabbatical at Sarum College in spring 2022.

His account of the experience begins: ‘I loved spending nearly three weeks of my ministry sabbatical at Sarum College earlier this year.

Not only did I rest, and rest well in the comfortable care of the Sarum College staff, I experienced very significant renewal and fresh insights.’

The Road Not Taken

Sarum Graduate Mike Truman

January 2022

Five years ago, I told my Warden of Readers that I would not be renewing my licence when it expired in 2019, as I thought my faith was becoming too unorthodox for a Church of England licensed lay minister. As someone who knew me well, she challenged me to actively explore what I did still believe. Thus started the journey that ended last August with the dissertation completing my MA in Theology Imagination and Culture (MATIC) at Sarum College.

Clergy Study Breaks

The opportunity for clergy to get away occasionally from their own context, to have an overnight stay in the beautiful setting of Sarum College and all that the Salisbury Cathedral Close offers is hugely valuable. All the clergy I have suggested who have spent 24hrs at Sarum College have benefit greatly from the experienced mentoring where they can talk, reflect, think, plan and pray.

The support and encouragement they receive is excellent and has a positive on their on going ministry. This is something the Diocese of Rochester encourages and supports financially in preparation for their clergy preparing for Extended Ministerial Development Leave (Sabbatical).

— Canon Christopher Dench, Diocese of Rochester Director of Formation and Ministry

Retreats and Private Stays

When I arrived, exhausted and sensitive, I was grateful not to be asked by Reception were I came from, whether I had had a good journey etc. That was the kind of hospitality I needed: a non-intrusive welcome that was found in ancient cultures and still survives in some societies today, where the host asks questions about a stranger and his journey only when the visitor has rested and been given food and drink.

— guest on a private stay

Biblical Study Breaks

I just found it very refreshing – as a leader of a church I don’t get as many opportunities to step out and do courses (my fault, not the church!) and so I loved it. I think it was run really well online – which is a difficult medium to work with.

Pádraig Ó Tuama (pictured) was outstanding in his balance of getting us to engage and sharing his learning. Also the quick availability of resources provided by Sarum College Librarian Jayne Downey was excellent.

— course participant, Story Theology: Narrative Approaches to Scripture

View all courses

Slow Mission

Slow Mission course