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Dear Guest,
In the Christian Church, we do most of our worship and formal learning about God indoors, in an environment where almost everything we can see is designed and constructed by humans, where there is very little of God’s creativity in view. Jesus, on the other hand, did most of his teaching outside, and consistently used the images and patterns of the outside world to teach the ways of God.
Admittedly, the weather was generally better where he was!
During the summer weeks, I encourage you to look away from screens and meeting rooms for a while, and learn the ways of God from God’s own handiwork. Look at big things and small things, enduring things and passing things, pleasant things and ugly things, and wonder at the ways and means of our heavenly Father. Hear Jesus’ voice in your thoughts, saying, ‘God’s kingdom is a bit like that.’
The next Equip Update will be on 8th September.
Rob Harrison
Director of Ministry & Leadership
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Genesis – a storyteller’s perspective
The book of Genesis is full of amazing stories which lay the foundations of the both the Jewish and Christian faiths. In this course, Rob Harrison will engage his experience as a novelist and storyteller to explore the twists and turns of the stories as they were written. From Adam through to Joseph we will encounter people struggling to make good decisions in complex situations, and through all the stories we will see the calling and the graciousness of God.
Dates: Wednesdays 24th September – 22nd October
Time: 7:30pm – 9pm
Venue: Zoom
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In this video series Rob Harrison will explore the origin and meaning of various words from the Bible which don’t usually get translated into English.
In this episode Rob explores the meaning of ‘Baptise’.
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All churchwardens (and anyone else interested) is welcome to this training day. We will be covering a number of topics, including:
– The key responsibilities of a churchwarden
– Wellbeing and boundaries
– Thinking about the future
– Getting permission for changes to church buildings, and the online application system
This session will be led by Matt Jermyn and Tim Cockell.
Saturday 27th September, 10am-2:45pm, St Peter’s Church, Wellesbourne.
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Upcoming Courses & Events
Click the titles of any of the below courses and events to read more about it.
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Pastoral visits usually take place when someone is emotionally or physically vulnerable. This can make visits feel daunting for everyone involved. This session will focus on what we can do to help put people at ease before and during visits so that they feel supported, heard and safe. This will include practical things we can do (and not do), how to listen well and how to approach spiritual topics or prayer.
This session will be led by Anna Naish.
Wednesday 17th September, 10am-12pm, St Paul’s Church, Foleshill.
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Boost your knowledge about climate crisis and find out how you can help to care for God’s creation. Be inspired and informed as we work together to reach net zero carbon. Join in via an excellent new course created by the Church of England’s Environment Programme team.
Multiple sessions available.
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At the heart of Christian worship lies the understanding that we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Every time we say a confession and receive absolution we are reaffirming this understanding. There will be occasions, though, when we want to highlight reconciliation in worship in particular ways. This might be to mark a national occasion – Windrush Day, or Refugee Week, or the anniversary of the Coventry Blitz – or to reflect on, and bring some healing to, a local dispute or tragedy.
In this workshop, we’ll look at existing resources for the liturgy of reconciliation and explore what will make reconciliation liturgy we craft particularly rich and resonant
This session will be led by Revd Nitano Muller (Canon for Worship and Welcome).
Tuesday 23rd September 2025, 7pm-9pm, All Saints Church, Bedworth
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This workshop will focus on the children and young people in our church communities and neighbourhood. We will draw on Coventry Cathedral’s programme of reconciliation with children to explore how to empower our children to be agents of change as they love God with all their heart and love their neighbour as themselves.
This session will be led by Emma Griffiths (Head of Reconciliation and Education at Coventry Cathedral).
Wednesday 8th October, 7pm-9pm, St Giles Church, Coventry
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This online training session will show you how to use the new Building Management Portal (which will replace the Online Faculty System in October).
It will take place over Zoom and will be led by Tim Latham (DAC Secretary) and Matt Jermyn (Parish Structures and Governance Adviser).
Multiple sessions available:
Wednesday 15th October at 10am
Thursday 16th October at 7.30pm
Tuesday 21st October at 7.30pm
Thursday 23rd October at 3pm
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Creating a worship space for everyone is no easy task, but it’s worth trying! Corporate worship is about everyone being welcomed and everyone being able to participate.
This session will be sharing ideas about how we can better involve a range on ages within the same worship. We will cover key elements:
– For creating a service that is specifically designed to be intergenerational.
– For adapting current worship to be more age inclusive.
– Big ideas and gentle shifts.
This session will be led by Anna Naish.
Thursday 23rd October, 7pm – 9pm, St Giles Church, Coventry
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What is emerging as best practice for the Growing Faith vision in Churches, Schools and Households?
These 5 sessions will offer insights into some of the latest research, insights and stories from across the Growing Faith movement to date, and help leaders and practitioners structure their practices and ministry to children and young people, built upon four core ‘connections’ which are emerging across different contexts and faith traditions within the Church of England.
This is a hybrid course which takes place in-person and over Zoom. Thursdays 6th November – 4th December. In-person sessions will take place at Holy Trinity Church, Attleborough.
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It is so easy to be distracted both in a quick chat and in a deep conversation. This session focusses on how we can choose to be active and present in a conversation so people know the value we place on them.
This session is designed for anyone; you may have a specific ministry or role that requires listening (leadership, pastoral, part of a team etc) or you may attend with your friends, family, colleagues and other relationships in mind.
This session will be led by Anna Naish.
Saturday 15th November, 10am-12pm, St Paul’s Church, Foleshill.
This training session will take place on the same day as ‘Difficult Conversations’ (see below). Active listening will be in the morning and Difficult conversations will be in the afternoon– you can register for one or both of sessions.
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Conversations can be difficult for all kinds of reasons. They are complicated more when there is tension, potential disagreement or clear disagreement.
This session will help you explore how we approach disagreement personally and how that may affect the conversation. We will also look at some key thoughts to keep in mind in the midst of a difficult conversation to engage in a helpful and honest way.
This session will be led by Anna Naish.
Saturday 15th November, 1pm-3pm, St Paul’s Church, Foleshill.
This training session will take place on the same day as ‘Active Listening’ (see above). Active listening will be in the morning and Difficult conversations will be in the afternoon– you can register for one or both of sessions.
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Children are not just the future of the church, they are also the present church. For children in our church (and those who haven’t come along yet), it is really important to consider how they are part of the life of the whole church.
During this session we will cover key areas such as having relevant (and manageable) worship provision, the importance of rhythms, spaces for their voice to be heard and opportunities for relationship. These will also be discussed from your starting point so come as you are to learn and share.
This session will be led by Anna Naish.
Thursday 15th January 2026, 7pm – 9pm, Nuneaton
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Faith is about our whole lives not just about Sunday mornings at church or Tuesday nights at Messy church. Yet, parents, grandparents and other carers do not always feel confident in talking about faith, praying or worshipping together.
This session will help you think about your ministry space (church, schools, community etc) and how you can help families to take faith home, to share with one another and to grow in confidence. There may be big things to consider, but often small actions and changes can have a big impact!
This session will be led by Anna Naish
Thursday 5th February 2026, 7pm – 9pm,St Nicolas Church, Nuneaton
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For children who are neurodivergent (e.g. have dyslexia, autism, ADHD) churches can be a really difficult space. There are certain expectations, rules, people, lights, noise, silence that make it tricky. And yet, we are called to welcome everyone.
This session will help us think about the breadth of neurodiversity, how our church might feel for a family with additional needs and how we might make our church a more welcoming and accessible space.
This session will be led by James Henney and Anna Naish
Thursday 4th June 2026, 7pm – 9pm, All Saints Church, Bedworth
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All of our upcoming courses and events can been seen on our calendar.
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Worshipping God |
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Making new disciples |
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Transforming communities |
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Worshipping God |
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Making new disciples |
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Transforming communities |
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