Do you want to grow in your faith, learn more and think about how to live out your faith?
Do you want to be more confident in talking about what you believe and why?
Do you want a chance to explore some difficult questions?
The Doorway course – Opening up Christian life Doorway is aimed at helping Christians to open up the Bible, to open up the issues raised by faith and to look at how we take that faith out into daily life.
Knowing, Growing, Going
Knowing – how can I be more informed about the Bible and about what Christians believe? Can I get to think about some of those questions that have puzzled me for years?
Growing – how can I develop my life in prayer and worship, and discover what the church has to do with that?
Going – how can I live out my faith where I am in daily life? What difference does being a Christian make to what we think about big issues? What do I say when people ask hard questions about issues like suffering?
Who’s it for?
Doorway is aimed at people who have done some basic thinking about what it is to be a Christian (maybe an Alpha, Emmaus or confirmation course, or someone who’s been coming to church for a while) but would like to know more.
It’s not a Christian basics or enquirers course like Alpha, Credo or Start – but it is for people who want to move on in their Christian discipleship.
How is it structured?
The course is designed to run in small local groups, with some bigger central events so all those doing the course can get together.
The course as a whole runs roughly from September to July, but it is possible to opt in for shorter sections if you’re not able to commit yourself to a whole year.
The course is split into three “term” blocks of eight sessions: Opening up God’s Word A look at the whole sweep of the Bible, tracing God’s story in scripture and looking at some of the questions it raises.
Opening up Christian Life What do Christians believe and why? How the church got to be the way it is. How to grow in your own life of prayer and worship.
Living out your faith Opening up the Issues What to make of some of the hard questions of faith: suffering, injustice, ethical issues Taking it out How to live out your faith and share it with other people.
Where and when is the course running?
That will depend on exactly where there are courses running in a particular year. Click here for details of courses set up to run this coming year
The course begins with a central event open to all those who take part in local Doorway courses and ends with a celebration together.
In many cases, Doorway courses will run in a local area and will be open to Christians from different churches in that area. It can be a very encouraging and stimulating experience to meet up with Christians from other parishes and churches to think about what faith means.
Does Doorway lead onto anything else?
The main object of Doorway is to help people live out their Christian faith where they are in daily life. Its focus is not training for a particular ministry.
For some, a next step after Doorway might be into training for some form of specific ministry - Reader, Pastoral Worker, children’s or youth work, ordained ministry. Doorway is designed to provide a base of Christian knowledge and experience that can underpin this training for specific ministries.
However, that sort of move into a particular ministry will not be the next step for many people. Most of all, Doorway is designed to help people live out their faith in daily life. There are many further opportunities for growing more in prayer, in knowledge and in living out our faith throughout the week.
At the end of the Doorway course there will be details of some possible courses and resources to help you continue on the journey opened up by Doorway.
Would you be interested in going on a Doorway course?
Our aim is to have a geographic spread and also a variation in when courses are run. We cannot guarantee that there will be a course running this year that will be convenient for you to attend.
The course consists of three terms of eight sessions, and each local group will set the exact dates for those sessions.
Who do I contact?
If you would like to know more about the course, contact Jane Hood at the Committee for Mission and Ministry office at Church House, telephone 01244 681973 ext 257. e-mail jane.hood@chester.anglican.org
Doorway - Adult Christian Discipleship