TH4113 Groups, Growth and the Gospel

TH4112 Ministry, Vocations and Teamwork

TH4111Church, Kingdom and Action

Foundations is for people who want to serve God in the world and in the church. It is about individuals becoming clearer about what God is calling them to do. It is essentially an exploration in which people learning together work to better understand what God intends for their lives as Christian disciples. Three questions recur throughout: 1) What is God calling me to be and to do? 2) How can I develop my skills and interests to enhance how I serve God and people? 3) How do I become more effective in joining God's actions? Or, to put the same questions in more theological language, - 1) What is my VOCATION? 2) How can I better MINISTER? 3) What should I be doing to be part of God's MISSION?

People come on Foundations to support and develop many different kinds of Christian activity:

Serving God at their place of work, in the family, in the community;

Seeking new opportunities for the development of their faith understanding and practice;

Expanding a role within the church (children’s work, youth work, music ministry; churchwardens, PCC members, pastoral work, administrative work, and more);

Thinking about the particularities of mission and Christian action in given circumstances: 

Exploring ordained ministry;

Working to be equipped for licensed lay ministry (Readers, Pastoral Workers, Parish Nurse, Church Army, and more).

Foundations is also the required 'first-step' course for those going on to Reader and Pastoral Worker training. It provides an introduction to skills and learning that helps people take full advantage of that further training.

Through its three modules the course looks at the following areas:

  • God’s kingdom and what it means to be the church;
  • How we apply our faith to the difficult issues we face in daily life and in the church;
  • What ministry is and how we can find and develop our own ministry;
  • What are our own gifts and skills and how we can use them with others;
  • How the Bible, prayer and working with others can support our ministry; 
  • What vocation is and ways of finding your own;
  • Ways of working together that can enrich the ministry of the whole church;
  • Everyday faith and the consequences of discipleship in the whole of life;
  • How small groups work;
  • The challenge of mission and how we can share our faith as churches and  as individuals.