Seminars on Saturday 24 May at Cliff Festival
Saturday morning
Practicing Holiness: why heroism is never the answer 11:15am-12:15pm | Holiness literally means ‘set apart’, but, if that’s the case, why was Jesus' ministry ‘among’ the people, rather than ‘apart’ from them? What’s the difference between being heroic and being holy? Join us for this panel discussion with a difference as we deconstruct holiness and build a fresh understanding of what it might mean to ‘be holy’. | Panel discussion |
| The Currency of Holiness 11:15am-12:15pm | Jesus said we cannot worship God and Mammon. How do we understand that today, in how we earn, spend and save money? What can JustMoney offer and how does Scripture and faithful community support us? | Sue Richardson, JustMoney Movement Library |
Evangelism and Holiness Through Unexpected Secular Channels 11:15am-12:15pm | How might television or the Twelve Steps or TikTok be a medium of the Holy Spirit – or not? We expect to encounter and grow in holiness through worship, prayer, and Scripture, but what about through secular media? Or in a room where addicts of many faiths and none are seeking spiritual healing? Join us to ponder, play and push into new terrains that the Holy Spirit may be coursing through – for our own salvation and for that of religiously-unaffiliated people. | Seminar Room 1 |
When Good People Do Bad Things 11:15am-12:15pm | Abraham is usually described as the Father of Faith and as Sarah as a great matriarch. However, faithful followers of God can do bad things. In this Bible study, we will look at the story of the patriarchal family trying to conceive a child through their Egyptian slave Hagar in Genesis 16 and the suffering that this leads to in Hagar's life. What is the cost when good people do bad things and how can we as the church take a stance against injustice? This seminar will be livestreamed to our Facebook and YouTube pages. | Samuel Chadwick Lecture Room |
Saturday Afternoon
Spreading Spiritual Holiness #1 1:30pm-2:30pm | A movement of spiritual and social transformation. Methodists share an extraordinary founding story and rediscovering its dynamic energy, rooted in the holiness of God, has the potential to rejuvenate us for the present age. This is the first in a series of three connected seminars over the weekend. | Library |
Avoiding Mission Drift 1:30pm-2:30pm | Join Rachael Heffer, Head of Mission for the Evangelical Alliance, as we explore the risks and possible reality of ‘Mission drift’ within our church networks, organisations and even our local church ministries. Join us to explore how to avoid it, to review and renew your missional goals and how to stay ‘mission true’ to effectively reach people with the good news of the gospel. | Rachael Heffer Seminar Room 1 |
Ministries Drop-in 2pm-3pm | A drop-in session with one of the Methodist Church Ministries, Vocation and Worship team. If you’re sensing a call to explore lay leadership or ordained ministry, or considering worship leading or local preaching, this is a space to find out more and ask any questions in an informal chat. The Ministries team also support those already in ministry. | Ministries Team |
Sacred Struggles: Pursuing Holiness Amidst Conflict 3pm-4pm | Join us for this session with contributors online from Israel/Palestine as we explore how we understand and follow a call to holiness in the midst of conflict. With a particular focus on the Holy Land and the powerful witness of the non-violent resistance of Christians there, we’ll explore how we can work for justice peacefully. In a time when division seems so pervasive across the globe, can a life of holiness, based on the example of Jesus Christ, be justice-seeking and peace-making? | Jude Levermore |
Careful Holiness in the Climate Crisis 2:30pm-3:30pm | The striving for holiness embedded in our Christian tradition is part of the spiritual journey which led the whole of society into seeking to be bigger and better in all things – this included virtue and love, but also extraction, production and consumption of the planet’s material resources. How can we carefully find new ways to be holy which offer freedom from the tyranny of growth and instead encourage downward mobility in all things towards living in smaller, greener ways? | Library |
Here I Am, Send Me? 3pm-4pm | Even when we are willing to answer God’s call to see justice, peace and transformation, we can look at the world around us and feel overwhelmed. Where do I start? How can I even hope to make a difference? In this workshop, we will explore some practices of justice-seeking that help keep us hopeful and able to respond to God’s call. | Kerry Scarlett & Rachel Lampard Seminar Room 1 |
Saturday Late Afternoon
Cliff College Alumni Network Event 3:30pm-5pm | The Cliff College Alumni Network (CCAN) is open to anyone who has studied with Cliff College for a year or more. Join us for an opportunity to meet and chat with other former students, hear news and updates from the College and pray for the ongoing work that Cliff does in training women and men to spread Joyful News. | Cliff College Alumni Network Terrace Tent |
Mission Ignition! 4:30pm-5:30pm | Are you wondering how to help your church to grow? Are you curious about how to creatively engage in mission in your community? What’s your church’s future story? Come and play the mission incubator game with the Evangelism and Growth team to get new ideas, inspiration and fuel for mission. | Holly Adams Hope & Anchor |
'Glory began Below' Holiness: a Methodist understanding of place and presence 4:30pm-5:30pm | David Leese, General Secretary of the Wesley Historical society, will explore how Methodist experience and practice affects our practical understanding of holiness. Drawing on wide ranging and surprising aspects of worship, hymnody and early Methodist behaviour, we will seek to reflect on the importance of place and presence to inform our understanding of holiness today. | Library |
Going Upstream to Seek Justice 4:30pm-5:30pm | The injustice in our world that we are called to address is inherently political. Come and learn how you can love your neighbour and seek justice by engaging with your MP to challenge systems and structures which perpetrate injustice. We will also be introducing you to JPIT’s Constituency Action Network, a network of churches developing positive and meaningful relationships with their MPs. | Seminar Room 1 |
When Dreams Change 4:30pm-5:30pm | There are dreams we all have for our children pre-parenthood. For parents of children with additional needs, some of those dreams have had to change or have been lost as our child's needs have changed. During this session we will look at one of the aspects of the When Dreams Change course - when life looks different. | Samuel Chadwick Lecture Room |
Saturday Evening
Showing up Authentically in an Artificial Age 9:30pm-10:15pm | What does it mean to follow Jesus in a world of artificial intelligence, deep fakes and fake news? Andrew Stobart leads you through key features of contemporary culture to open you up to fresh ways of understanding and engaging. This seminar is a taster for Cliff College's upcoming unit, 'Foundations: Issues Facing the Church Today'. | Andrew Stobart Samuel Chadwick Lecture Room |