Categories: durham, ecclesiastical-stuff, greenbelt
Date: 27 April 2010 05:47:03
Yesterday I got the news that they are pulling the plug on Changing for Good, (a conference I've raved about on here previously and for which the material was still up on this website), and are planning on replacing it with a one day conference, at St. Johns College. The one day event is billed as follows:
"As an alternative this year, we are offering a ‘One Day Only’ event on Tuesday 13 July with Steve Chalke and Applecart (the dynamic drama company). The event will take place at St John’s College and will be accessible for morning, afternoon or evening or all day. The day will include session led by Steve Chalke, and a rich variety of workshops and seminars, Bible study led by Dr Richard Briggs and an exciting drama event called Transforming Parables. The price will be £25 for the whole day or £10 for attendance any of the three sessions."
It appears the only reason that they had to pull the plug on the original conference was that they faced making too much of a loss, (way above the subsidy they had). The prices that they had to be charging to cover costs, (in part because of the way the conference centre had had to change it's way of doing things to cover costs...), were just too much for alot of people to pay. I know that they were trying to keep the price as low as they realistically could, but it was still out of alot of people's price ranges. The one day conference, which is in the college they operate out of is a real bargain and I would really encourage people to get to this is they can. I haven't heard Dr. Briggs, but TOH has and assures me he's excellent and I know Applecart are also supposed to be good and lets face it Steve Chalke is a bit of a legend in his own way, (or he is if you happened to be growing up in the evo sub-culture in the mid-late 80's when you couldn't escape the guy).
Anyway there are a couple of issues this raises for me:
Who are the target audience for these types of events? On one hand they are the "professionals" - lay and ordained- who want to enhance their ministries and get some inspiration. However, particularly for the evening events the aim I guess is to get more local people involved and inspired.
A big problem I think is many of us have turned into "religious tourists", you know the sort who would prefer a few days getting some solid teaching and inspiration to a week on the Costa Del Sol. Or those who would choose to go for a few days to this type of thing, in addition to a couple of week on the Costa Del Soul. Thing is with this type of event it is essentially an academic event offering CPD type stuff, but trying to bill itself, as a summer school, as something with a wider appeal.
The pressure on many of these types of conferences is these days you can get the teaching and get the few days away together, at a much cheaper price and you can take the kids with you. This is what is putting pressure on the good old fashioned style conference centres. We have gotten to a stage where "the summer school" has been replaced by "the conference" or "the holiday". Lets face it if you really wanted to see the likes of Steve Chalke and have a good praise up in the evenings, with the chance to see the odd theatre company production you'd have probably spent part of Easter period at Spring Harvest. Similarly if you wanted the mix of intellectual theologian, theatre and seeing how the arts can impact faith you'd probably go to Greenbelt. Additionally, the sheer range of these types of things on offer now means you can pretty much choose what meets your budget. (I confess it, I go to Greenbelt because it's cheap if you camp....aswell as the fact I absolutely love it).
However, I want to suggest that in this move to becoming "religious tourists", which in itself is no bad thing (I raise my hand as somebody who comes into that category....Greenbelt is my main summer holiday) has left a gaping big hole because summer schools like this do provide something that other things struggle to.
Firstly, the level of discussion and teaching. If you are at a summer school, whilst the language will seek to be as inclusive as possible, there is an expectation that it will be academic. This means that sessions can often go into a bit more depth than the average event is able to.
Secondly, these events are more intimate and allow for a building up of relationships and networking over the week in a way that larger gatherings can't. There is more chance for people to sit in the bar throwing around ideas, some of which may spark something concrete.
Thirdly, they provide opportunities for local people to get fed in a way they otherwise wouldn't. More smaller gatherings, like this, with evenings open to the locals means more locations. It means those who might have caring responsibilities, work commitments or so forth who can only get to the odd thing have the opportunity of accessing what those of us who are able travel do.
Finally, following on from the last point, these types of things can stimulate the growth of local churches. If a large number of people of church can get to the evening events then a spark might catch hold and God might do something through it.
Anyway all that is, I think, a long way of saying I think that it is a real pity that this summer school isn't happening, but I think the one day event looks cool. If you do want to get some good teaching and inspiration this summer aswell as the chance to access some excellent theatre and arts type stuff, besides Greenbelt, you could try The Solas Festival (in Scotland), Detling Summer Celebration or Leading Edge.