Journey of Faith – Resources available for Download

I think that Fresh Expressions must have written about my Journey of Faith course, and as a result a couple of people have written to me about it, as though it was some shiny pre-packaged course like Alpha or Emmaus. Well, I don’t work like that, and I wouldn’t dream of trying to control Doctrine by Copyright as HTB do, use anything you find useful here and discard the rest: the proclamation of the Gospel is the most important thing and I don’t care how we do it! So in response to their requests, you can download all of the materials from the AgnusDei website and adapt it. You still need to make up the words around my slides, but that would sound best coming from you anyway…

Note that we are a deeply sacramental, strongly inclusive church in the Anglocatholic Tradition. This course reflects that charism, and I recognise that it does not suit all; in particular our outrageous use of the sacramental life as a means of enabling outsiders to encounter God in Mystery and Transcendence: the Mass is, for us, Missional.
So:

This is the link to where you can download the materials for your own adaptations:

http://www.agnusdei.org.uk/index.php?id=1&rootpage=ZmlsZWFkbWluL3ZpZGVvL0pvdXJuZXlPZkZhaXRo

If you download the zip file which contains Microsoft Publisher documents of the outlines and brochures etc, and the slideshows in Powerpoint format.

The videos also listed on that download page need to be in the same folder as the slideshow, otherwise the embedded videos will not play.

This resources website (which contains all of the blesséd stuff) runs off my broadband, so it’s not super-fast but you should be able to get what you need in good time.

The films (which obviously might need to be modified if a younger audience is involved – Priest is a very good, but mature only film) I tend to buy cheap, share around the group. You might have heard of a program called DVDShrink.

Session 1:    Bruce Almighty
Session 2:    Brother Son, Sister Moon
Session 3:    The Miracle Maker
Session 4:    The Shawshank Redemption
Session 5:    Amelie
Session 6:    Wings of Desire (German, NOT the schmalzy US remake)
Session 7:    Priest
Session 8:    Chocolat

This is the outline

Welcome
This is a short course to introduce (or re-introduce!) you to the basics of the Christian faith. It is relaxed, friendly and non-judgemental and aims to cover a broad range of issues and topics, supported by clips from film and television.

Each session is designed to be highly interactive and flexible . It is not like school! A chance for you to ask all those awkward questions that you have wanted to ask for years

The sessions will cover the following areas:

Session 1
What is the Point?
Glimpses of God and experiences of prayer. Why bother with God?

Session 2
Father
Creation. Free Will. Heaven and Hell and all points in between. Our beginning and our destination of this journey.

Session 3
Son
The outrageous idea of God becoming Man. The fascinating Jesus. The challenging teaching of Christ and why it still applies. He is our roadmap for this journey.

Session 4
Spirit
That holy book. Authority and inspiration. The power of God in our lives. Different views on what “The Bible says…”

You will note our deeply Scriptural, but Inclusive approach which characterises our Charism. We make no apologies for taking the bible seriously but not necessarily literally.

Session 5
The Mass
A teaching celebration of the Eucharist in Church. As we celebrate, we discuss how it is put together and why we do some of those things.

You need a Priest for this. Although I have done this well on my own, I have also found it advantageous to have my colleague celebrate and me ‘interrupt’ with teaching points. Handout for this.

Session 6
Angels, Saints, Prophets & Patriarchs
…and Our Lady! The saints as model, guide and support. Make your own prayer beads and learn how to use them.

I used to have a video of me making these beads, but it appears lost. Maybe I need to remake that… Beads, Strings, Crosses, very easy to do!

Session 7
The Sacramental Life
What are these mysterious sacraments? Why are they important and why do so many of them involve strong smelling oil? A look at the sacramental life of the Church and how it equips us for the journey of life.

Session 8
The Mission
Struggling with the Christian life. Sharing the story and walking the walk. Can I be a Christian and not go to Church? The call of the Gospel to each of us.

Of course, being highly flexible, it veers off in all directions! I have found this Spirit-guided approach to be most illuminating! We are able to explore all sorts of areas of faith, life and witness which when armed with a Jerusalem Bible, Google and an Interlinear NT can go anywhere!

There! See where that takes you!