John Coles visited the London Hub of the New Wine Training Partnership last night to see first hand how the students are getting on and to sit in on some of the teaching.  I asked him what his first impressions were and about the implications of this model of training for the local church.

Tonight I visited the London Hub.  There are 14 students here this year coming from 9 different churches.  Seven students are studying for the Certificate in Kingdom Theology and 7 for the Graduate Certificate.  The evening started with tea and coffee before we gathered as a group to read two psalms, reflect on God's goodness and praise him together.   The two groups then split up to watch video lectures from Bob Ekblad on Isaiah (Undergrads) and from Crispin Fletcher-Louis on Mark's Gospel (Grads).  During this 90 minute slot there was time for lively discussion and prayer and each group had a video conference live with their lecturer.  The evening finished with Chris Pemberton doing some practical teaching on time management.

I caught up with a couple of students and asked them how they were finding the courses so far and what was impacting them.

Dr Bob Ekblad lectures on the NWTP courses in Old Testament and Mission.  For decades he has been involved in ministry in Central America.  He has just returned from a week in Honduras with a team from his ministry organisation, Tierra Nueva, and brings the following report:

Fountain of Life Church in Ashill, Norfolk today hosted two events for interested church leaders and prospective students as they launched the East Anglia Hub.  Courses will commence in September 2010 and already there are a number of students lining up to apply. 

Freddy Hedley is the Hub Director.  He is also a writer and training consultant, focusing predominantly on church planting and missional leadership, is part of the Anglican Church Planting Initiatives team and is a Fresh Expressions Associate Missioner. His background is in planting and leading cells and missional communities, first in north London and then in Sheffield, before moving to Norfolk with his wife Ali and daughter Maisie to worship and serve on the staff at the Fountain of Life church in Ashill.

At a visit to St Pauls church, Addlestone; John Coles spoke to the vicar, Stephen Sizer, about the New Wine Training Partnership and the hope that the courses being offered in Kingdom Theology will raise a new generation of leaders who can lead like Christ in every sphere of life. .

Last night saw the NWTP students gathering for the first night of teaching in their local Hubs.  There are 16 students at the Hampshire Hub meeting at Christ Church, Winchester; 13 students at the London Hub meeting at St Mary Bryanston Square and 8 students at the Gloucestershire Hub meeting at Trinity Cheltenham.  The students will now spend the next 4 Monday nights together with time to worship and pray together, to engage with teaching via the internet in Old Testament and History of Christian Spirituality from lecturers from Westminster Theological Centre and to receive input from local teachers in the area of Leadership & Ministry.

The students reached the end of their residential teaching week full of enthusiasm for all they have learned.  It has been an intense week with 6 hours of lectures a day, but the programme has also included many opportunities to pray and worship together as relationships are being built for the year ahead. 

Some comments received from students can be found on this page:

http://www.nwtp.org.uk/about/students-comments

Earlier today 37 students from 3 Hub locations (Gloucestershire, Hampshire and London) gathered together at a conference centre in London Colney to start their courses in Kingdom Theology.  There was much excitement, and some nerves(!), as we all gathered to worship and then the students started off on their studies.  The week ahead will see them studying Old Testament, History of Christian Spirituality and different areas of Leadership & Ministry; all in the context of prayer and worship.