St Albans Centre for Christian Studies

The St Albans Centre for Christian Studies is a central ecumenical resource equipping lay people of any age, ability and shade of religious opinion to play a fuller part in the life of their church and the wider world. Our aim is to be open, educational and entertaining in our efforts to plumb the depths of what it means to be Christian today. A wide range of courses covers a variety of subjects, each with a Christian focus: theology, ethics, history, art, literature, film, music, spirituality, Bible studies and many others.

The Centre was founded in 1975 and since then has developed a reputation for well-prepared and enriching sessions, so much so that people simply want to come back. Many eagerly look out for the next term’s programme!

Based at St Albans Cathedral the Centre is a division of the independent educational charity, St Albans Cathedral Education Trust. It is led jointly by its Director, the Revd Dr David Dickinson and its Administrator,  Iain Lane.  Most of the teaching sessions are on Tuesday evenings in the Chapter House in the Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban, but there are some weekend courses for busy people. To accommodate all our classes we also use a central Methodist Church.

Why study with us?

Developing the old adage that ‘we learn something new every day’, I am conscious that opportunities to learn are abundant in the modern age.  It can be almost effortless as we surf the net. It can be entertaining as we watch sophisticated and well- presented programmes on television covering almost every subject under the sun;  in the blink of an eye, these can whisk us away to other places and other times. Distance learning programmes and correspondence courses can suit some people’s lifestyles as they can be fitted in around busy jet-setting schedules.

But here are four good reasons to study with us:

·  Learning as a member of a group permits you to learn not only from the tutors but also from each other; students support, encourage and stretch each other. Students often express an element of surprise at the range of views and opinions held by others on their courses.

· You will be face-to-face with tutors who, more often than not, have hands on experience of the subjects they teach. Some course tutors are experts in their academic field; others are church leaders who know what they are talking about from the perspective of practical experience as pastors, preachers, Bible students and teachers. You can ask them supplementary questions; you might be able to see them at work in other ways in local churches; and, if the course you choose involves a written assignment, the tutors are at hand to advise.

· Many of our courses stress the importance of learning for discipleship, learning for life and learning simply for the sake of learning inasmuch as attending the course is all that is required. Others, however, give you the opportunity to acquire credits for nationally recognised qualifications. Coming to us will either enrich your understanding of what it is to be a Christian or send you on your way to further study or vocational work – or both!

· Our courses are inexpensive.

We have recently appointed a small team of honorary tutors. Our new colleagues will make sure we achieve our aim to be broad in our scope of Christian studies. Apart from the certificate course, which is the bedrock of our work, our programme differs each year.  Our panel of honorary tutors will ensure that our programme is balanced, so that in any two-year period we include the equivalent of a ten-week course in each of the following fields: New Testament, Old Testament, philosophy and ethics, doctrine, spirituality, history and Christianity’s interface with cultural matters such as music, art and literature. We try to respond to whatever is of current importance, interest or debate – and keep our eyes and ears open for opportunities to include these in our programme. Hence our recent studies on the creationist debate and engaging with the new atheists.

Our goal is no less than to assist people of faith to account for their faith.