Leeds School of Theology are pleased to partner with Lighthouse West Yorkshire in facilitating a dynamic learning community which will serve Christians already working alongside the marginalised or have a heart to pioneer in this area. Lighthouse is a fresh expression of church that serves adults with multiple and complex needs including poverty, mental health, homelessness, trauma and addiction.
Course Overview
The course, ten Monday evenings (7:00-9:30) over a year, will include passionate teaching which fuses together Biblical studies, theological reflection, interviews with people with lived experience, cultural analysis, historical case studies and cutting edge research on addiction and trauma to inspire and equip the church to engage with those on the margins in a way that looks and loves like Jesus.
Topics
Missional Theology for the Margins
Justice and the Heart of God
Prophetic Hope in a Culture of Consumerism
Suffering, Lament and Spiritual Warfare
Building Community & Leading Accessible worship for Vulnerable Adults
Addiction, Trauma and Recovery
Contemporary Church and the Witness of the Past
Helping without Hurting
Signposting and Working with the City
Tutors
Rev’d Jon Swales lives in Leeds and is married with 4 children. He heads up Lighthouse – a church for those who are battered and bruised by the storms of life and serves as a Team Vicar at St George’s Leeds. Jon has been a New Testament Tutor for Westminster Theological Centre having studied Theology at the University of Leeds , and Biblical Studies at both Sheffield University (M.A) and Trinity College, Bristol (MLitt, ADMT) and currently teaches Old Testament at St Hild theological college. Jon is passionate for the church to engage more fully its missional calling to reach out to the most vulnerable in society.
Katie Ojukwu is a modern languages graduate from Leeds University and Senior Pastor at Lighthouse. She has a particular interest in trauma and is passionate about how the church can respond to some of the most vulnerable and hurting in society in a way that is both radical and sustainable. A passionate communicator, Katie has led seminars and performed spoken word poetry at national conferences such as Soul Survivor, ISAAC and JustLove.
Dates
Venue
All training sessions are held in “The Community Room” at St George’s church Centre in Leeds City Centre, 60 Great George Street, LS1 3DL. Free parking is available in Joseph’s Well car Park (LS3 1AB), across the pedestrian footbridge on the other side of the A58. The venue is also close to both bus and train connections.
Cost
Standard pricing is £200 for the whole course. For former LSOT students or members of the “Discipleship on the Margins” group there is a discounted rate of £180
Lighthouse West Yorkshire is a fresh expression of church and registered Leeds-based charity which reaches out to those who have been battered and bruised by the storms of life. There are over 150 men and women who call Lighthouse their church, many of whom have multiple and complex needs including homelessness, addiction, trauma, poverty and mental health struggles. In addition to our specialised pastoral care, signposting and crisis intervention we gather together three times a week on Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons to share food, friendship and the gospel of Jesus through a friendly and confident mixture of story, scripture, prayer, testimony and song. In the past five years we have seen over 60 be baptised, 70 head off to residential christian communities and many lives be dramatically transformed through the power of the gospel.