What does it actually mean to talk about and live out everyday faith?
These recordings were made during our Everyday Faith Festival in October 2020. They remain relevant so please do watch them.
Zoom workshop recordings:
Telling our stories from everyday life.
In the Gospels we read of Jesus encountering adults and children in their everyday lives. He engages with their stories as the story of who he is unfolds among them.
In this workshop Bishop Rachel explored how we share the small and big stories of our everyday lives, revealing Christ within them.
Watch again:
Led by the Bishop of Gloucester, the Right Revd Rachel Treweek.
Growing together in faith in the home.
Living out our faith, even talking about it, in our homes isn’t always easy. Be inspired with practical ideas of how to grow together as Christians in our homes and communities. Be surprised by how ordinary objects can be used to learn about God.
Led by Rachel Howie and Andy Wolfe:
Rachel Howie is the Director of Education for the Diocese of Gloucester and the Chief Executive officer of the Diocesan Academies Trust. Prior to these roles she was a headteacher in Gloucestershire and an inspector for Ofsted. She is wife to Kevin, mum to two teenage children and is a lay leader at St Catharine’s Church in Gloucester.
Andy Wolfe is Deputy Chief Education Officer (Leadership Development) for the Church of England. Having studied music and theology, Andy has a background in teaching where he used his compelling vision to develop younger leaders who want to make a difference in the world. His vision for education in the Church of England is about helping people to use their gifts and passions in shaping culture. His incisive and creative approaches to improving Teaching, Learning and Leadership in schools is underpinned by theological reflection. As well as overseeing key programmes and research and enabling major events and conferences, Andy has written many of the current Foundation resources.
Faith in the changing workplace.
We sometimes consign faith at work to only being about ethics and evangelism. In this seminar the leaders explored how we can spot where God, who created work, is already at work in our everyday workplaces in so many different ways.
Led by Neil Hudson and Ruth Walker:
The Revd Dr Neil Hudson is the lead pastor at Salford Elim Church. Up to the end of 2019, Neil worked with London Institute for Contemporary Christianity. His latest book Scattered & Gathered: Equipping Disciples for the Frontline (IVP 2019) reflects his experience of working with hundreds of churches over the past decade as they have become disciple-making communities.
Ruth Walker is a mentor and coach, a non-executive director of several charities and is co-chairman of the Scottish Public Leaders programme developing younger leaders in their work-place. She is LICC’s ambassador for Transforming Work, a programme she helped pioneer. Prior to this Ruth has had her own consultancy business and worked in the private and public sector in the areas of Strategy Development, Customer Relationship Management, Innovation, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs.
Praying with your eyes open.
Hands together eyes closed – that’s the way many of us have learnt to pray. What if we pray actively, with our eyes open, aware of the world around us and God’s presence? This interactive workshop shared ideas and experiences of prayer in our everyday lives.
Led by Jo Wetherall, Alexandra Dyer, Jennifer Fellows and Barrie Voyce:
The Revd Joanne Wetherall is the Children and Families Officer for the Diocese whose heartbeat is nurturing Children’s Spirituality at every opportunity. Jo claims to have a song for every situation – let’s find out if that’s true.
Alexandra Dyer is a Reader at St James, Tredworth Gloucester where her ministry has taken different forms, currently it is in the shape of Youth Ministry and Ministry to Motorcyclists with the Christian Motorcyclists Association. Alexandra rides a motorcycle and sidecar outfit called ‘Hepzibah’ – come to the workshop to find out what Hepzibah means!
Jennifer Fellows is associate Minister at St Paul’s Cheltenham Jennifer has an absolute passion for Children’s Ministry and revitalising how we support our children in their life with God. Jennifer works closely with Rachel Turner and the Parenting for Faith organisation.
Barrie Voyce is the Leader for the Youth Life Priority Group. of the Diocese of Gloucester. He is a JNC professionally qualified youth worker with over 15 years experience of youth work in communities, churches and schools. As a Director of The Door Youth Project, Barrie leads illuminateStroud with a vision of inspiring, equipping and empowering Christian young people to be culture changers in their schools and communities through active and open faith in Jesus. He is passionate about helping young people connect day-to-day life with the Gospel through story-telling and modern parables.
Life isn’t fair
We know life isn’t fair – this workshop considered issues of social injustice and inequalities; our response to those issues, and how we can be a faithful voice for change.
Led by Karen Czapiewski, Will Mansell and Takisha Sargent:
Karen Czapiewski has been chairing the working group for today’s event and has a passion for the importance of our everyday faith in the many areas of injustice and inequality faced by so many in our society, including working with and for students with disabilities.
Will Mansell has worked in social justice projects for the past 9 years and has founded a number of economic and social enterprises to try and see justice and reconciliation in our communities – including The Long Table, Grace Network, Stroud District Foodbank and others.
Takisha Sargent is a Music student at Cardiff University and brings wisdom, youth and the experience of growing up with a minority label in our multi-cultural society.
More about Everyday Faith
Everyday Faith is an initiative across the Church of England to enable the whole people of God to live out the Good News of Jesus confidently in all of life, Sunday to Saturday. It challenges a culture that over-emphasises a distinction between sacred and secular to a fuller vision of calling within the all-encompassing scope of the Gospel – not to limit vocation to church based roles.
Visit CofE website for SGPF hub →
See also: Thy Kingdom Come
Take it further: visit the Festival marketplace page
Jesus said that he came to give us life in all its fullness – this is about every part of our lives, not just when we are doing ‘churchy’ things. Gathering together from all over the diocese, we will explore different ways to become confident in what it means to be a Christian in everything we do – work, rest or play.
