Living in Love and Faith is an ongoing work within the Church of England seeking to understand and explore issues of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage.
So far, it has produced a suite of resources including a book, a series of films and a five session course. We are invited to participate in the course and offer our response to the wider church in the Spring.
You may like to explore some of the resources yourself online or discuss them with others. In November and December 2021 we will be running the course for anyone in our three churches wanting to interact with these topics.
This five-session course provides a structured and accessible way for local groups to learn about and reflect on questions of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage. It is not the easiest course as it touches upon sensitive and personal areas of our lives. It is also seeking to listen to a variety of voices, including some that you may disagree with.
It is important that everyone who chooses to join the course commits to follow the Pastoral Principles. The Pastoral Principles invite church communities to examine afresh their life together. They identify six ‘pervading evils’ that stop our churches from growing into Christian communities of welcome and belonging.
- Acknowledge Prejudice
- Cast Out Fear
- Speak into Silence
- Admit Hypocrisy
- Address Ignorance
- Pay Attention to Power
More about these principles can be found online here.
There are, of course, many different ways to interact with the course, but we’re going to be running it this autumn/winter on Thursday evenings and on Tuesday mornings. The five sessions are:
- Session 1 : Learning Together
- Session 2 : Identity
- Session 3: Relationships
- Session 4: Our Bodies and Sex
- Session 5: Life Together
If you’d like to be involved, please speak to Charlie or sign up today. If you do decide to join the course, it is important that you can make all the sessions.
