Certificate Programme:

At the heart of our programme is a six-module St Albans Certificate in Theology which we launched in 2005 and are now offering in a revised form. The course is designed as a mixture of lectures, case studies, plenary discussions, individual study and small group work. It can be taken in full or you can opt to study the modules that interest you.

Each module is approved by NCFE and is offered under their Investing In Quality Licence which monitors the standards under which StACCS operates. Those who attend a module receive a certificate of attendance and participation, whilst those who successfully submit a short assignment receive a certificate of achievement. We welcome both levels of interest and commitment.

On completion of all 6 modules the St Albans Certificate in Theology is awarded. For more details see our certificate pages.

In the certificate programme this term we offer:

Module 2: An Introduction to the Old Testament

This ten week course will introduce the books of the Old Testament and explore questions about their authorship, meaning and content. It may be taken as part of the certificate programme or as a stand alone course.

Tutor: Revd Dr Kevin Walton, Canon Chancellor, St Albans Cathedral
Venue: Marlborough Road Methodist Church, St Albans
Date: Tuesdays from 10 January 2012 (no session on 14 February)
Time: 8.00 pm
Cost: £85 (£75 if signing up for the whole certificate programme, please ask for details)

For directions to Marlborough Road Methodist Church follow this link. For Satnav please use post code AL1 3XQ.

Saturday Study Days

Study days aim to open up areas of interest and provide a basic introduction to a topic which might be studied more deeply on other courses or by private reading. Designed for busy people the days are intended to be comprehensive and clear. Each day includes a break for morning coffee (provided) and for lunch (please make your own provision).

Heavenly reading: spirituality and study
Saturday 28 January 2012

Exploring the special relationship between spirituality and study, Br Patrick will trace the history of the library, illustrating his lecture with slides of many ancient libraries. He will also look at figures like Dr Johnson, Jonathan Swift and Oliver Goldsmith. ‘Disciple’ literally means ‘learner’, but you will have a different understanding of ‘study’ after this lecture. The lecture aims to be accessible to all, educational and inspirational.

This will be the sixth time that Br Patrick has given a lecture for StACCS at the Abbey and we are delighted to welcome him back. Br Patrick is a De La Salle brother and scholar in residence at Sarum College, Salisbury, where he teaches on spirituality.

There is no charge for the lecture, but donations will be welcome on the day. To assist with catering, and because the venue has a safety limit of 80 people, please book a place in advance.

Tutor: Br Patrick Moore
Venue: The Chapter House Crypt, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Saturday 28 January 2012
Time: 10.30 am, cake and coffee. 11.00 am to 12.30 pm, lecture.
Cost: donations on the day, but please book in advance as places are limited and are unlikely to be available on the door.

Augustine in a day
Saturday 11 February 2012

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was arguably the greatest Western theologian, yet his voluminous output and precision of thought mean that the subtlety of his doctrinal positions is often hard to grasp. The day will start by discussing Augustine’s life and influences, partly based on his well-known Confessions. We will then examine his thought concentrating particularly on the areas of Trinitarian doctrine; church and sacraments (Donatist controversy); and the Fall, original sin and grace (Pelagian controversy). It will be seen that, from papal centralisation through Luther to modern evangelicalism, Augustine's ideas essentially define Western Christianity.

Revd Isabella Image is an Anglican curate in Luton and is also currently studying for a doctorate in patristics.

Tutor: Revd Isabella Image
Venue: The Chapter House Crypt, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Saturday 11 February 2012
Time: 10.30 am to 3.30 pm
Cost: £18 (including morning coffee & biscuits)

How to read Job as a Christian
Saturday 18 February 2012

The Book of Job describes the travails of a man of the ancient near East, who measures his wealth in livestock, and who probably was not even an Israelite. He receives the most effusive praise offered any character in the Old Testament, and then his life is upturned through unparalleled devastation. That livestock is lost, along with everything else Job holds dear, including his comforting image of God’s benevolence. How can modern Christians read and relate to this book so foreign in its setting and so distant from our experience in the superlative suffering it describes? More than that, how can we relate to a man who rails against God in the midst of his affliction, who accuses and chastises him? Is Job an example to follow or to avoid? This morning grapples with these questions as we take a closer look at Job’s wrestling match with God.

Dr Will Kynes has recently completed a doctoral thesis on allusions to the Psalms in the Book of Job at the University of Cambridge and is now Liddon Research Fellow and Tutor of Theology at Keble College, Oxford .

Tutor: Dr Will Kynes, Tutor in Theology, Keble College, Oxford
Venue: The Chapter House Crypt, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Saturday 18 February 2012
Time: 10.30 am to 1.00 pm
Cost: £12 (including morning coffee & biscuits)

Longer courses

Great Contemporary Moral Issues
Wednesdays 11 January to 21 March 2012

Among issues which are of great moral concern today are the family, animals, abortion, euthanasia, multiculturalism, immigration, freedom of speech and religion, capital punishment, war, and world hunger. This course is an intelligent and comprehensive introduction to these issues.

Dr Karim Esmail was educated at Oxford, Cambridge, and Harvard. Formerly Burney Student at Cambridge, Research Fellow at Oxford, and Visiting Fellow at Harvard. Acting Director of Studies (Philosophy & Religious Studies) Cambridge. Currently, he lectures at Oxford, Cambridge, and London and he is an Advisor to Birkbeck College, London.

Tutor: Dr Karim Esmail
Venue: St Albans Cathedral
Date: Wednesdays from 11 January 2012 (no session on 22 February)
Time: 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm
Cost: £75

Short courses

Many people find evening classes difficult to attend: the hectic pace of modern life makes it difficult to get to ten consecutive Tuesday evenings, and after a long day at work energy levels can be low. However, a short course of two or three evening sessions is often more accessible, so each term we offer a small number of short courses on a variety of themes.

What do Christians know?
Tuesdays 10 to 31 January 2012

"What do Christians know?”, or perhaps “Christianity is just stupid”, is often about as far as people get in a philosophical critique of Christian faith. But are they right? Is it impossible to talk about Christian faith in a manner which is understandable and credible to the modern mind? Or does any such attempt reduce Christianity to something with no worthwhile content? Or is it that the modern mind needs to change? Come and find out!

The Rev’d Dr David Munchin is Rector of the Welwyn Team ministry. After studying mathematics at Imperial College London, he read theology at Oxford and London Universities. He is the author of several articles and Is Theology a science?, published by Brill.

Tutor: Revd Dr David Munchin
Venue: The Chapter House Crypt, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Tuesdays 10 to 31 January 2012
Time: 8.00 pm
Cost: £32

Donne undone
Tuesdays 7 to 21 February 2012

Three evenings with the poetry, preaching and personal biography of John Donne, Dean of St Paul’s 1621 to 1631, and one of the greatest religious poets and writers of love poetry in the English language.

Tutor: Revd Dr David Dickinson, Director, StACCS
Venue: The Chapter House Crypt, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Tuesdays 7 to 21 February 2012
Time: 8.00 pm
Cost: £24

Lectures

The Gospel of Mark
Thursday 26 January 2012

In the church year beginning on Advent Sunday 2011, Mark’s Gospel is read semi-continuously in the Revised Common Lectionary. In this one-off lecture Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, will introduce the main themes of the Gospel, helping your hearing of the Gospel through the year become clearer and more enriching.

Tutor: Very Revd Dr Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans
Venue: The Lady Chapel, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Thursday 26 January 2012
Time: 8.00 pm
Cost: £5

Dickens and Christianity
Monday 20 February 2012

2012 sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens and to mark the occasion StACCS is delighted to welcome an acknowledged Dickens expert, Professor Valentine Cunningham, a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, to explore with us Dickens’ own spirituality and the representation of Christianity in his writing.

Tutor: Professor Valentine Cunningham, Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Venue: The Lady Chapel, St Albans Cathedral
Date: Monday 20 February 2012
Time: 8.00 pm
Cost: £5