Resources for Church Communities:

A Continuing Ministerial Development Day run in collaboration with CTPI and the Guntrip Trust

Open to all; come for the morning, the afternoon or the whole day.

Programme

9.30-10.30am Dr Selina Stone: Tarrying with God and One another

Assembly Hall

In this session we will explore the spiritual practice of tarrying in the Pentecostal tradition and what it offers to all churches. How might our waiting on God - whether in relation to our personal needs, the needs of our communities or our world - shape our worship in ways that open it up, especially to those whose hopes are deferred?

Dr Selina Stone is a theologian whose work is focused on the urgent social issues that face us as human beings in the UK and across the world. Prior to joining the University of Edinburgh, Selina was Postdoctoral Research Associate in Theological Education at the University of Durham (2022-24). Her work included an oversight role within the Common Awards validation partnership, research and training for theological colleges on EDI and Decolonisation.

Selina is committed to developing and sharing knowledge for the academy, the church and the wider public. Her session is based on her recent book, Tarry Awhile: Wisdom from Black Spirituality for People of Faith, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book for 2024.

10.30-11am Coffee and biscuits Available to pre-book (£4). Pre-booked catering available in the Oldham room.

11-12am: Dr Peter Atkins: Texts, Sources, and Migrants: Issues in Isaiah and Exodus

Assembly Hall

Dr Peter Atkins is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Old Testament and Hebrew Bible at the School of Divinity (Edinburgh). His works focuses on the prophets, animals, and ecology within the Bible and he is the author of The Animalising Affliction of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 (2023). His session offers insights and resources into two of the key Old Testament texts for Lectionary Year A.

12-12.30pm: The School of Divinity and Church Communities: Resources, Research and Support

Assembly Hall

An open discussion led by Helen Bond and Alison Jack

12.30-1.30pm: Lunch

Oldham room

Available to pre-book (£12) or bring your own. Available to pre-book (£4). Pre-booked catering available in the Oldham room.

1.30pm: Dr J-Thomas Hewitt: New Testament Epistles in Lectionary Year A: Currents in Scholarship for the Church

Martin Hall

Dr J. Thomas Hewitt is Lecturer in New Testament and Christian Origins at the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses ancient scriptural interpretation, early Jewish and Christian messianism, Jewish apocalypticism and Christian origins, and the Pauline epistles. He is the author of Messiah and Scripture (Mohr Siebeck, 2020) and is currently writing on early Christian conceptions of the ascended Christ.

2.30-3pm Coffee

Available to pre-book (£4). Available to pre-book (£4). Pre-booked catering available in the Oldham room.

3-4pm Can Psychoanalytic Thinking be Useful in Troubled Times?

Martin Hall

An introduction to the psychoanalytic tradition of thinking about the nature of human development, and how contemporary issues of loss and change affect individuals, groups, and institutions in similar ways. Beginning with Freud and his preoccupation with the question of God, the lecture will also consider how Reformation and post-Reformation thought influenced the development of psychoanalytic ideas that originated in Scotland.

Speaker: Ms June Campbell MPhil, DipSW, retired Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist, formerly Adult Psychotherapist and Lead Clinician in Childhood Sexual Abuse Service, Royal Edinburgh Hospital.

4-5pm The Life and Work of Harry Guntrip: Christian Minister and Psychotherapist

Martin Hall

Speaker: The Rev Helen Alexander, retired Church of Scotland minister, also trained in Adult Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

What the Guntrip Trust Offers

Martin Hall

Speaker: The Rev Iain Telfer, retired Church of Scotland minister, latterly Dept of Spiritual Care, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and currently Chair of the Guntrip Trust.

Venue information

In line with fire safety regulations attendees using a wheelchair must be able to self-transfer to an evac chair in order to safely evacuate the building.

This venue is fully accessible however, if you require disabled access, please email pippa.innes@ed.ac.uk so that we can ensure we accommodate this.