bath & wells: school of formation

a little more

What is the School of Formation?

A service that brings together the Church's educational resources to enable some joined up learning, thinking and acting to support its concerns, both in the world, and in the Church itself.

What is the aim of the School? - to inspire and encourage confidence in Christian communities throughout the Diocese and region to assist them to express a joyful hope in the Christian gospel for the sake of the world in which they serve.

Why have one?

We are all on a journey of faith and sometimes we come to a crossroads where we have to decide which way to go.

The Anglican Church, with other Churches, is at such a point and is reorganising itself in order to follow God's will. Here in Bath & Wells, it has decided to try a bold experiment - to join together its educational resources under the title: School of Formation

Every reformation needs education and as we seek to change lives, churches and communities, learning is crucial.

The School has a motto:

The laity are not the helpers of the clergy so that the clergy can do their job... but the clergy are the helpers of the whole people of God, so that the laity can be the church.

Hans Ruedi Weber

In short, the School of Formation is about:

• developing and maintaining a vibrant, worshipping Christian fellowship at the heart of every local community, however small or large
• responding to changing ministry provision (clergy and lay leaders)

All this means that it needs to provide supportive and joined up learning resources for the whole people of God.

What does the School do?

• Cultivate new thinking for the reshaping of the church
• Identify and respond to local learning needs
• Facilitate the coordination of resources for learning at all levels

Who is involved in the School?

Lots of people! - Our Bishops; the senior staff; Lay Leaders in parishes; Principal Officers and Sector Ministers; the Changing Lives Group; an extended team of learning consultants and designers, all of whom are voluntary; diocesan staff; regional ecumenical partners; groups such as Mothers Union, Team Consultancy Service, head teachers of Church Schools, and many more. In fact everyone who would like to be is a member of the school.

The members of the team have listened to over 500 people of the Diocese and beyond, who have told them what they would like from the School. From this, they have established ways of working, and means of meeting the requirements of Local Ministry Groups.

Who can use the School?

The School is open to everyone. There are different parts of the school that encourage different people and different ways of learning. There are not really different schools but it can be helpful to think of the school as plural rather than as singular. (click here to find out more)

Here are some examples of how people might use the school:

A member of a local church

• The school can provide resources for personal discipleship, corporate ministry skills and support for mission
• The school can act as a catalyst for exploring faith, relationships and knowledge of God

A Lay Leader

• ...can rely on the school to provide the courses and materials for Lay Leadership
• ...can find resources in the school to enable lay people to be mission partners

Clergy and Readers

• The school supports the Continuing Ministerial Development programme (CMD) provided by the Director of Continuing Ministerial Development. These courses will continue to enable the leaders of churches, Local Ministry Teams and Groups

The Senior Staff

• The senior staff can use the resources of the School to facilitate their own continuing learning, and to direct the overall support of ministry and mission in the Diocese.

Teachers, governors, deanery youth workers

• The School works with the Diocesan Education Department which supports all who work with children and young people whether in schools and colleges or parishes and deaneries.

A member of the community

• The school encourages and wants to provide courses of interest for those in the whole community who would like to find out about faith.

How can you use the School?

It's up and running and ready to be used. The following may be a helpful checklist for a church community to consider:

• Talk to your incumbent or Rural Dean or LMG leaders
• Identify your learning and training needs - we have resources to help you do that
• Find someone in the area who could take a course eg a homegroup leader, a teacher, a Reader or minister
• Contact the School
• We will supply resources for a local trainer and train them to put on a course locally
• We can write new learning programmes for specific needs