2015
Putting our Faith into Action
Join us for a series of study and discussion evenings as we make our way through Lent to Easter.
We explore this year the role our Christian faith plays in public and private life. We ask ourselves the question: how does being a Christian make a difference to how we live, and view the world? Through discussing, listening, reading, thinking, talking, and praying together, we hear afresh Christ’s call to us, and grow in faith and love.
We are lucky to have a range of exciting guest speakers with us this year, and also a visit planned to the National Gallery. On Tuesdays in Lent, these key experts will address us on an area they have considerable knowledge and experience in, to help our discussion and reflection.
We will begin each Tuesday with Mass at 7pm in St Benet’s Church, followed by our talk and discussion in the Vicarage at 7.30pm. We hope to be finished each Tuesday by 8.45pm.
Faith and Charitable Action
Tuesday 24th February 2015, 7.30pm.
Speakers:
Rebecca Walker, Shelter Coordinator at C4WS Homeless Project.
The Revd Tim Pike, Vicar of Holy Innocents’, Hornsey.
How should Christians serve their neighbour? Rebecca Walker and Tim Pike have impressive and extensive experience in the running of homeless projects from churches throughout North London. We will discuss what difference our faith should make to how we help others and what practical steps we can take to assist those in need. We will hear especially about the C4WS homeless project, which our parish has been supporting over the winter.
Faith and the Education of our Children
Tuesday 3rd March 2015, 7.30pm.
Speakers:
Clare Fall, Assistant Head, Kentish Town CE Primary School.
Lynn Trigg, Headteacher, St Michael’s CE School, Camden Town.
How does our Christian faith affect the way we bring up our children? We aim in this session to explore how we communicate the Gospel to children, in our families, at school, and in our church community. To help us in our discussion, two key members of staff from local church schools will share their experience of how we form and educate our youngsters to be engaged citizens, integrated human beings, and good Christians. We will discuss what role faith should play in education, how children learn to worship, and reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of our own parish’s catechetical provision for children.
Faith and Politics
Tuesday 10th March, 7.30pm.
Speakers:
Toby Boutle, presently an ordinand at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, formerly a speech writer to William Hague, and Conservative candidate at the 2010 general election.
The Revd Dr Jim Walters, Chaplain to the London School of Economics, and formerly parliamentary assistant to Labour M.P. Anne Campbell.
We aim to explore in this session the ways in which Christian faith shows itself in political action and conviction. We will hear from two individuals who have worked extensively in the realm of politics before offering themselves for ordination. We will examine the contribution Christian thinkers have made to our country’s political life. We will also reflect on the complexities that arise when competing political manifestos claim to be rooted in Christian values, and how we make a Christian voice heard in the public discourse of our local community.
Faith and the Arts
Friday 20th March, 6.30pm.
N.B. Different time, day, and location.
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square. We will meet at 6.25pm in the portico at the main entrance of St Martin in the Fields.
Lucrezia Walker, who works in the education department at the National Gallery, and is a well known commentator and art historian, will give us a tour of some images in the National Gallery which exemplify the different ways in which the visual arts are capable of expressing the deep complexities of spiritual experience and the life of faith. We will begin with a short talk and discussion, which will be followed by a tour of the galleries. After our tour, there will be the opportunity for those who wish to have dinner together somewhere in the West End.
Faith, Journey, and Pilgrimage
Tuesday 24th March 2015, 7.30pm.
Speaker:
The Revd Graeme Rowlands, Vicar of S. Silas’, Kentish Town.
We meet to explore the role that sacred space, pilgrimage, and holy places play in our experience of the Gospel. In both the secular and Christian worlds people will travel many miles to visit the places where celebrities and saints were born, died, or lived in order to feel close to them. We think about how God uses ordinary places and locations to speak to us about extraordinary things, and the reality of his Kingdom. There will be an opportunity to discover more about our parish’s plans for a pilgrimage to Benedictine sites in Italy in 2016.
