In 2017, Holy Trinity Church launched a new range of learning opportunities for adults (church members and others) to help equip them for more effective Christian discipleship at work, in their personal relationships and in the community. A survey before Easter 2017 indicated the areas of interest and concern that people most wished to explore and their preferred timing and frequency of events. The Planning Group take all these factors into account, alongside continuous feedback from events, in arranging an annual programme.
Our Next Event
How Should We Read the Horrible Bits in the Bible?
Date: Wednesday 29th January 2025
Time: 7.30 to 9.15pm
Where: Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church, 46 Westbury Hill, Bristol, BS9 3AA
How to book
To book online, please fill in this form.
Alternatively, you can book by emailing office@westbury-parish-church.org.uk or by using the form in church.
What’s it about?
Our speaker will be the Revd Dr Helen Paynter, Tutor in Biblical Studies, Director of Theological Education and Director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence at Bristol Baptist College.
She will be exploring what we are to make of stories of a vengeful and destructive God, and of Jesus’ more violent, dismissive parables and sayings.
Admission is free, with a retiring collection – we hope to see you there.
Previous Events
Forgivable?
With the Revd Dr Stephen Cherry, Dean of Kings College, Cambridge
Wednesday 4th December 2024 at 7.30pm at Holy Trinity Church
We explore aspects of forgiveness, the subject of Dr Cherry’s two recent books. What is forgiveness? How does it work? Are there things that cannot be forgiven? Are there things that shouldn’t be forgiven? Is there an obligation on Christians to forgive?
Dr Cherry’s approach to forgiveness is radical, liberating, personally moving, biblical and mind-changing.
You can listen to a full audio recording of the talk below.
Where Is God When Difficult Things Happen?
With the Revd Dr David Firth, Tutor in Old Testament Studies at Trinity College Bristol
Monday 30th September 2024 at 7.30pm at Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church
We consider this most ancient – yet also highly contemporary – question with help from Psalms, Ecclesiastes and the Book of Job.
I’m Not a Robot?
With Dr Mowbray, a lecturer at the University of Bristol on the ethics of artificial intelligence
Monday 9th October 2023 at 7.30pm at Holy Trinity Church
We explore the opportunities and challenges of AI, machine learning and robots, discussing ethical issues related to AI and the questions that people of faith (and others) should be asking.
What Is Truth?
Saturday 26 November 2022 at 10.15am at Westbury-on-Trym Baptist Church
A panel of people who are in the Truth business – a scientist, a senior lawyer, a journalist, a historian and a philosopher – come together to help us understand, discuss and ask questions about the meaning of truth.
Why Church?
With The Very Revd Dr Mandy Ford, Dean of Bristol
Monday 18th July 2022 at 7.30pm at Holy Trinity Church
The Eucharist Today
With Canon Bruce Saunders
Sunday 23rd January 2022 at 1pm at Holy Trinity Church
The Learning Community is back after its long Covid hibernation. The Eucharist Today is a follow-up to the 2019 session on the early history of the Eucharist and brings us up to date, through the dramatic changes that have happened in the last 50 years, offering a chance to discuss what we do today.
Save Our Planet
With the Revd Dr Martin Gainsborough, former Diocesan Environmental Adviser, and speakers from Green Christian and Extinction Rebellion
Saturday 8th February 2020 at 1pm at Westbury-on-Trym Methodist Church
The challenge to people of faith and how we respond.
In Tune with Heaven
With David Ogden, composer and church musician, and Canon Bruce Saunders
Monday 25th November 2019 at 7.45pm at Holy Trinity Church
David Ogden and Canon Bruce Saunders discuss the role of music in worship, how it has developed and how it can enrich worship today.
The Story of the Eucharist
With The Revd Dr Paul Roberts, Tutor in Worship and Church History at Trinity College Bristol
Wednesday 6th November 2019 at 7.45pm at Holy Trinity Church
The Revd Dr Paul Roberts traces the development of the service of Holy Communion from its earliest Jewish roots to the present day and explains the shape of the liturgy today.
The Beauty of Holiness
With Canon Anna Macham and Canon Robert Titley from Salisbury Cathedral
Wednesday 2nd October 2019 at 7.45pm at Holy Trinity Church
Canon Anna Macham and Canon Robert Titley from Salisbury Cathedral discuss what they value about Anglican worship, how it works and what makes for good worship.
How to Read the Bible Really Badly!
With the Revd Dr Helen Paynter, Director of the Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence and Coordinator of Community Learning at Bristol Baptist College
Tuesday 7th May 2019 at 7.30pm at Westbury Baptist Church
The Revd Dr Helen Paynter shares some of the many better ways to read and understand this most ancient library of books.
Living Well
With the Revd Dr James Woodward, Principal of Sarum College, and Dr Andrew Clark, a leading Bristol psychotherapist
Saturday 2nd March 2019 at 10.15am at Westbury Methodist Church
The Christian Gospel promises ‘life in all its fullness’. What are the habits, attitudes and situations that prevent us from living well and how might we manage those factors in ourselves and others around us?
In this double-header, the Revd Dr James Woodward unpacks the Gospel promise of living and dying well, and Dr Andrew Clark explores the issues that help or hinder mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing.
Inclusive Church?
With the Very Revd Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark
Wednesday 28th November 2018 at 7.45pm at Holy Trinity Church
Despite some recent progress, the Church is still seen by many as a bastion of prejudice and discrimination, especially on issues of gender and sexuality. How welcoming are we as a Christian community?
The Very Revd Andrew Nunn examines the Gospel challenge to today’s Church.
A Reason to Believe
With The Very Revd Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Bristol
Wednesday 17th October 2018 at 7.45pm at Holy Trinity Church
‘Do we need God today, and if so, what’s the story?’
When we take away the guilt and fear associated with Christian preaching in past generations, why should normal people today believe in God?
The Psalms: Singing a New Song
With Dr David Firth, tutor in Old Testament Studies at Trinity College Bristol
Wednesday 26th September 2018 at 7.45pm at Holy Trinity Church
The Psalms have played an essential part in Christian worship from the earliest times. They framed the monastic day and are a characteristic part of Anglican morning and evening worship and of the Eucharist. Some of the most popular hymns are based on Psalms. But the Psalms are and were originally part of Hebrew spirituality.
Dr David Firth, who teaches the Old Testament and has written on the Psalms, explores their origin, their poetry and spirituality, and how the Psalms continue to be a resource for contemporary Christian discipleship.
Dr David Hoyle, Dean of Bristol, helps us to tell a more positive story.
