Upcoming Webinars

The world is changing at quite a pace and we are all witnessing a massive shift in the culture we live in. The way we do ‘church’ and continue to communicate the Christian message faithfully to those around us is changing too.

With this in mind, the St Albans Diocese is running a series of webinars to help us engage with people during this challenging time.

Youth and Children Team

Video Conferencing for Youthwork – Mon 20 April 6.30pm

Join us for some thoughts and tips when using video conferencing to run an online youth group. Zoom has quickly become an important meeting place for some youth groups to support each other and grow in God during this difficult time. Hear about the lessons others have learnt, how to get started, stay safe and keep things fresh. All welcome!  

Using Social Media To Reach Young People – Mon 27 April 6.30pm

How can we reach young people via social media? What might it look like to build an online presence for our church that’s accessible for young people? Can we offer support to young people in our communities without leaving the house?  This webinar is a time to learn together about some key channels and resources for youth engagement. All are welcome so come with your questions ready to ask and ideas ready to share.

What Grief Looks Like in Children – Mon 4 May 6.30pm – Book Here

Jan Cooper, from CHUMS – the child bereavement service for Luton and Bedfordshire will lead an hour-long webinar giving consideration to what grief looks like in children, and how to support them. 

Discipling Young People From Afar – Tues 5 May 7pm – Book Here

A discussion between youth leaders and chance to ask any questions on youth mission, ministry and discipleship during the lockdown.  Let’s review how far we’ve come, what’s working and what hasn’t. Get some encouragement if you are just starting out.  All welcome! 

Reaching New People Team

A Thirst to Learn From Jesus – Tuesdays 21 & 28 April 2pm

Week 1:   A thirst to learn from Jesus  –  discussion and thoughts around incarnational ministry after the lockdown is lifted. 

Week 2:   A thirst to learn from Jesus  –  exploring the Jesus model of Invitation and Challenge in the making of disciples.

Discovering New Forms of Missional-Incarnational Life and Ministry from the Historical Missional Movement – Wednesdays – 22 & 29 April  2pm

This will be a four-part series of micro-learning opportunities for missional leaders to discover new forms of missional-incarnational life and ministry from the historical missional movement. 

Week 1:  Parts 1 & 2 – 22 April

Part 1 — It might be Mission history, but not as we know it!

Hundreds of years of how the global church has organised itself have changed in an instant during the 2020 global pandemic. In truth, the church is no different from many other organisations who were birthed in the industrial age and are currently finding it hard to adapt to the reality of a new digital age. The exciting news is that systemic changes in Christianity have been an ongoing theme, and there is much wisdom to draw from the past as we redesign new ways of creating new Christian communities in the 21st century. 

Part 2 — Beyond Jerusalem: Lessons for the missional leader from the paradigm shifts of the Christian church

The expansion of world Christianity: Christian history has experienced many changes, and its centre of gravity has evolved.As we come towards the end of the second decade of the twenty-first century, and in light of the current global change in growth it is useful to look back on Christianity as a movement throughout the ages to see what we can relearn about missional paradigms

Week 2:  Parts 3 & 4 – 29 April 

Part 3 – Organising for Mission in a digital world that values participation 

The relationship between the church and mission has always been a complex one — just ask three Christian leaders about the topic and you will get a myriad of different answers. The current emerging paradigm of Christianity is at its core a participatory ‘Missional Church’ that is rooted in partnering with the mission of God that is already happening in its midst.

Part 4 — Redrawing our Maps   

Reading the book of Acts reminds us how often ‘unwelcome disruption’ comes to the Church and though people pray against it and hope that God would never let terrible things happen- disruptive change results in a deepening and expanding of spiritual and numerical growth for the Church. It is interesting to think about how the new emerging Western church will look in the next ten to twenty years. No doubt, many churches will continue to mourn the loss of membership, vitality, and influence, alongside yearning to reach emerging generations who have no reference point of gathering on a Sunday morning. As the church undertakes this next stage of its historical journey, it cannot hope to make sense of it using old institutional maps. Instead, it is when Christians are willing to accept our confusion instead of fleeing from it, and change the questions we are asking, that we can discover new insights that will give us new maps. 

Flourishing Churches Team

Sowing Seeds Widely: Evangelism & the Role of Social Media and Publicity – Thur 30 April 2pm

An informal webinar to discuss and build on our shared experiences of streaming church services and worship during social isolation. Some of us have been pleasantly surprised by those people who don’t normally attend our services ‘coming’ to our services on Facebook Live or Youtube Live.

Two key questions for consideration will be: Are there ways we can ‘widen the net’ during social isolation and reach more people? Secondly, when isolation has ended, what have we learned that we can take forward about being a Christian presence to those in our community who don’t normally attend services?

Justice and Community

A Vision of a Net Zero Church – Friday 24 April 1pm

Practical steps for moving church buildings towards the net zero goal from General Synod, with Catherine Ross, National Church of England Environment Officer.

Living Churchyards – Friday 1st May 2pm

Churchyard maintenance and its relationship to biodiversity.

Eco Church: Conservation Action As An Expression of Christian Mission – Thurs 7 May 2pm – Book here

Colleagues from A Rocha, Sheila Wright and Philip Nalpanis (Volunteer Speaker for A Rocha), will lead this session, hosted by Rachel Johnston (Environment Officer).