C.L.A.Y. Courses March to September
Last Updated on Friday, 27 January 2012 11:41
CLAY - Christians Learning Across Yorkshire
MARCH TO SEPTEMBER 2012.
Booking is essential for all courses.
www.claycourses.org.uk
Visit our website for details and updates:
What is Anglicanism?
This course provides some answers by exploring how the life and worship of our parish churches are part of a broad tradition within the world church, which after the Roman Catholic Church is the most extensive across the globe.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Thursdays 26 April, 3, 10, 17, 24 & 31 May, 10:00 – 15:30
Fee: £20 (for the course)
Leaders: Revd Dr Stephen Spencer, Revd Canon Andi Hofbauer, Revd Canon Dr Anne Dawtry, RevdCanon Tony MacPherson
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Mozart: God is Ever Before My Eyes
An opportunity to explore the spiritual dimension of Mozart through his music and writings.(This day will include some singing!).
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Saturday 28 April, 10:00 – 15:30 Fee: £16.50 (inc. lunch)
Leaders: Revd Canon Wendy Wilby, Canon Precentor, Bristol Cathedral
Professor Phil Wilby, Composer, Musical Director – St Mary’s Church, Thornbury
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Contemporary Judaism
An open lecture hosted by Harrogate School of Theology.
Venue: Woodlands Methodist Church, Wetherby Road, Harrogate HG2 7SG
Date: Saturday 12 May, 09:30 – 12:30 Fee: £3
Leader: Professor Pauline Kollentai, Assistant Dean, School of Theology, York St. John University
Details: Stuart Vennart 01765 676024
Worshipping Together
A day exploring ways to enable all ages to worship together; at festivals, in Sunday services and at other times.
Venue: St Thomas’ Parish Church, St Thomas Gardens, Bradley, Huddersfield HD2 1SL
Dates: Saturday 12 May, 10:00 – 16:00 (refreshments from 9.30)
Leader: Ellie Wilson
Fee: £5 per person or £10 for max. of 5 people; £2 each subsequent person (inc. buffet lunch)
Details: Ellie Wilson 01924 371802 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Use of Social Media: Benefits and Risks
A morning event for all involved in church websites, Facebook contact, and the use of social media to help engage with young people and others in ways that are safe and rewarding.
Venue: Richmond Methodist Church, Queen’s Road, Richmond DL10 4AE
Date: Saturday 12 May, 10:00 – 13:00 Fee: No charge
Leaders: Sue Booth, Graham Richards and other Ripon and Leeds Diocesan Staff
Details: Gail Matthewman 0113 200 0558 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The PCC: What you do and don’t need to know!
A light hearted but equally serious look at the Church of England for the laity and the ordained. Establishing the legal requirements of parish life and the shared role of incumbent and laity. Asking how do we, and can we work well together to bring in the Kingdom without losing our sense of fun and of dignity and ‘rightness’?
Dates: Tuesday 15 May: St Luke’s, Malvern Road, Holbeck, Leeds LS11 8PD
Wednesday 23 May: Chantry Hall, North End, Bedale DL8 1AA
Tuesday 19 June: Village Hall, Gilling West DL10 5JJ
Time: 19:00 – 21:30 Fee: £10 per parish
Leaders: Ripon and Leeds Diocesan Officers
Details: Gail Matthewman 0113 200 0558 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
“Alive to the Word!” An Ecumenical Festival of Preaching
Organised by the College of Preachers, Diocese of Ripon & Leeds and Yorkshire Synod of United Reformed Church, an opportunity to hear preaching and to explore narrative preaching; use of the Bible in preaching; how to really engage with those who listen; and the challenges of preaching to large and small numbers. Two workshops in the day to attend, led by four experienced ‘preachers of distinction’.
Venue: Ripon Cathedral, Minster Road, Ripon HG4 1QS
Date: Saturday 19 May, 09:30 – 16:00 Fee: £10
Details: Gail Matthewman 0113 200 0558 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Talking with Jews: Enriching our Christian Calling
A day run in association with Christians Aware where we explore how new perspectiveson the Jewishness of Jesus and consideration of the Holocaust, might inform our practices of forgiveness and prayer. Including opportunity for prayer and reflection in the Community Church.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Saturday 16 June, 10:00 – 15:30
Fee: £16.50 (includes lunch) or £10 (bring your own lunch)
Leader: Revd Dr Marcus Braybrooke, Author, President: World Congress of Faiths
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
The Healing Ministry: bringing wholeness and health to all people
A chance for parishes to reflect on how they might establish, encourage or extend the healing ministry in their place. These two evening sessions are equally designed for established healing teams and also for those who are interested in starting a team. Week One will look at the ‘why’ of healing ministry and the second at the ‘how’.
Venue: Thorpe Prebend House, High Street Agnesgate, Ripon HG4 1QR
Date: Sundays 24 June and 8 July, 17:00 – 20:00
Fee: £10 for the course of two evenings (light supper included)
Leader: Rev Dr Sue Reilly, Chair of Healing Task Group and those experienced in the healing ministry
Details: Gail Matthewman 0113 200 0558 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Julian of Norwich
A prayerful day of reflection and speaker-led input. We will find out more about who
Julian of Norwich was, what she did, and we will focus on the salient points of some of her many writings.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Tuesday 3 July, 10:00 – 15:30
Fee: £16.50 (includes lunch)
Leader: Sr Sheila Day, All Hallows Convent, Ditchingham
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Reading and speaking in Church
A further chance, with input from a voice coach, to understand better how to make ourselves heard clearer in church when we read. Comments include from previous courses, “A great experience; I’ve really enjoyed it; I shall read better this Sunday as a result of this course”.
Dates: Wednesday 8 February: Christ Church, The Stray, Harrogate HG1 4SW
Wednesday 21 March: St Anne’s Church, Catterick, Richmond DL10 7LL
Tuesday 22 May: St Margaret’s Church, Horsforth LS18 5LA
Time: 19:30 – 21:30 Fee: £5 each / £10 per parish
Leaders: Jane Oakshott (Harrogate & Leeds dates) and Liz Williams
Details: Gail Matthewman 0113 200 0558 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Preaching the Old Testament
For all who preach, lay and ordained.
Venue: Toll Gavel Methodist Church, Toll Gavel, Beverley HU17 9AA
Dates: Saturday 11 February, 10:00 – 16:00 Fee: £5 (bring packed lunch)
Leader: Dr Richard Briggs
Details: Lynn Comer This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Viv Morrisey This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or
Jim Coleman This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Practical Issues in Safeguarding: Surely it is common sense?
How to ensure that we recruit people and set up church activities in a way that is safe. A chance to ask whether our practice of safeguarding policy is appropriate for all concerned.
Dates: Saturday 18 February: St Mark’s Church, Leeds Road, Harrogate HG2 8AY
Saturday 25 February: Ripon & Leeds Diocesan Office, St Mary’s St, Leeds LS9 7DP
Time: 10:00 – 13:00 Fee: No charge
Leaders: Sue Booth and Mick Maskell
Details: Gail Matthewman 0113 200 0558 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Four Quartets
T.S. Eliot, through a particular experience, became drawn towards the mysticism as described by the early Christians with their emphasis on purification of the emotions as a way of achieving ‘purity of heart’. The retreat day will explore Eliot’s attempt to understand his experience by listening to his reading of the Four Quartets, discussing it, and by combining theory and practice through meditation – a discipline to enter the silence.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Saturday 25 February, 10:00 – 15:30 Fee: £16.50 (inc. lunch)
Leader: Kim Nataraja, WCCM International Coordinator for the London Christian Meditation Centre
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Hatches, Matches and Dispatches
A day exploring the possibilities and opportunities around birth, marriage and death.
Venue: St Thomas’ Parish Church, St Thomas Gardens, Bradley, Huddersfield HD2 1SL
Dates: Saturday 3 March, 10:00 – 16:00 (refreshments from 9.30)
Fee: £5 per person or £10 for max. of 5 people; £2 each subsequent person (inc. buffet lunch)
Leader: Ellie Wilson
Details: Ellie Wilson 01924 371802 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
A Journey through the Old Testament (laws and customs)
An open lecture hosted by Harrogate School of Theology.
Venue: Woodlands Methodist Church, Wetherby Road, Harrogate
Date: Saturday 10 March, 09:30 – 12:00 Fee: £3
Leader: Revd David Wood
Details: Stuart Vennart 01765 676024
Learning to Listen
Learn how to be a better listener at home or work. The course is a basic introduction to listening skills and is run jointly by Touchstone and Bradford Cathedral. It is important to be able to attend all four sessions.
Venue: Bradford Cathedral, 1 Stott Hill, Bradford BD1 4EH
Dates: Saturdays 10, 17, 24 & 31 March Fee: No charge
Leader: Alex McLelland
Details: Ruth Hilton 01274 721626 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Seeing and Believing?: Religious Art and Religious Experience
We shall be exploring the relationship between religious art and experience, beliefs and practices, mainly within the Western Christian tradition, yesterday and today. The emphasis will be primarily upon the visual arts.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Thursday 15 March, 14:00 – 17:00 Fee: £7.50 (includes refreshments)
Leader: Graham Howes, Emeritus Fellow, Trinity Hall, Cambridge & Trustee, The Art & Christianity Enquiry
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Bible Track
Each session will begin with worship, include clear, inspiring teaching, and provide time to discuss its application to our lives.
Dates: Saturday 24 March: Synoptic Gospels (Dr Jeremy Duff)
Saturday 28 April: John’s Gospel (Rowan Williams – by video)
Saturday 26 May: Paul’s Letters (Chris Tilling)
Saturday 23 June: Revelation (Dr Mark Bonnington)
Time: 09:30 – 13:00 Fee: £10 (£5 concession) inc. refreshments
Details: Mark Powley 0113 243 8498 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
The Gospel of Judas
Was Judas Iscariot a scapegoat who was misunderstood, or who misunderstood what Jesus was really about? Join us as we seek to unravel the tantalising theological mystery of the Gospel of Judas and of the discovery of the manuscript itself.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Saturday 31 March, 10:00 – 15:30 Fee: £16.50 (includes lunch)
Leader: Revd Dr Kenneth Carveley
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Godly Play Workshop
An opportunity to experience how the richly reflective Godly Play technique can be used to open up Bible stories for people of all ages.
Venue: Woodside Methodist Church, Outwood Lane, Horsforth LS18 4HP
Date: Saturday 21 April, 10:00 – 16:00
Fee: Donations invited (soup and roll provided, bring own lunch)
Leader: Ellie Wilson
Details: Debora Marschner 0113 257 1880 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Home, Exile and Pilgrimage
Russ Parker provides an opportunity to explore the theme of home and exile in scripture and our personal journey into wholeness. ‘Coming home’ to ourselves will mean that we can come home to anything else we need to. This is not only true for individuals but also churches and so we will examine how we regain our voice as a community transformed by exile. Ideal for those in lay or ordained ministry.
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Monday 23 April, 10:45 – 13:30 Fee: £15 (inc. coffee/tea and lunch)
Leader: Rev Dr Russ Parker, Director Acorn Christian Healing Foundation
Details: The Mirfield Centre 01924 481920 or www.mirfieldcentre.org.uk
Theological Reading Day with Ann Morisy: ‘Borrowing from the Future’
Based on Ann Morisy’s latest book Borrowing from the Future, the author and others will lead a day of structured discussions on the book’s themes of ‘a faith-based approach to intergenerational equity’. Please purchase and read the book prior to the day, (220pp, price c £12 p/b,
Continuum 2011, ISBN 9781441125361).
Venue: The Mirfield Centre, Stocks Bank Road, Mirfield WF14 0BW
Date: Wednesday 25 April, 09:30 – 16:15 Fee: £25 (inc. lunch and refreshments)
Details: Jim Coleman 0113 289 8490 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
0113 200 0558 email: to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Booking Essential
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