Unfortunately, due to a low level of interest Dust & Ashes has been cancelled. Our apologies. A Lenten Urban Retreat A short, afternoon time for reflection in the city, for those who wish to ponder the nature of the season. Following previous successful urban retreats, this is a second opportunity to take time to focus
Not simply a baby in arms and Saviour on the cross – this is the starting point for this retreat. The incarnation did not happen so that Jesus could die, nor was his death primarily a consequence of his birth despite the words of hymns and creeds. Jesus’ life, particularly his three-year ministry, showed us
A monthly workshop course on music – its purpose and potential, how to use it imaginatively in congregations and much more.
Led by John L. Bell, Jane Bentley & Carol McArthur.
The course is open to all who are interested in the potential of music in the church – its importance in worship, pastoral work, and spirituality. Each evening is self-contained, so that participants may come for the whole course or specific evenings.
In this residential retreat, John L. Bell will explore the challenges of scripture and contemporary experience.
A monthly workshop course on music – its purpose and potential, how to use it imaginatively in congregations and much more.
Led by John L. Bell, Jane Bentley & Carol McArthur.
The course is open to all who are interested in the potential of music in the church – its importance in worship, pastoral work, and spirituality. Each evening is self-contained, so that participants may come for the whole course or specific evenings.
A monthly workshop course on music – its purpose and potential, how to use it imaginatively in congregations and much more.
Led by John L. Bell, Jane Bentley & Carol McArthur.
The course is open to all who are interested in the potential of music in the church – its importance in worship, pastoral work, and spirituality. Each evening is self-contained, so that participants may come for the whole course or specific evenings.
Despite God making men and women in the divine image, a common presumption of many believers is that it's really just the men that matter. Hence we know or hear a fair amount regarding Abraham, Moses, David, Peter and Paul, but not quite so much about the women in the Old and New Testaments. Their stories,
A weekly opportunity to worship @ weeWONDERBOX This session - 2018-19 - our monthly cycle of worship will follow a set of sequential themes that many who are familiar with the Iona Community will recognise: Quiet Time Prayers for Justice & Peace Prayers for Healing Act of Commitment On months that have a fifth Wednesday,
John Bell will be exploring the hidden, the forgotten, the humorous and other exoticisms in the bible and in aspects of Jesus' life and ministry. To book, contact the church office, zurich@anglican.ch or 044 252 6024. Cost CHF 40.- includes lunch.
The Bible for the People / Strands of Celtic Spirituality John Bell will engage with Scripture and explore insights for living and believing in these two sessions, as part of the ISN 2018 programme.
The poetry of the Psalms, which has fascinated people for three millennia, is totally diverse in emotional range, spiritual depth and subject matter. It can be argued that one poem is the source document for original sin, while another suggests that nature is engaging in a cosmic symphony without any need for human direction. It
If we want to be more like Jesus, we have to do more than sing praise songs or concentrate on his birth and his death, which are separated by thirty three years of life. In this retreat, we will look at aspects of his ministry, teaching and relationships, and aim to identify false assumptions whilst
During this retreat, Pádraig Ó Tuama will help us explore some of the lyrics and some of the life of Leonard Cohen, looking at his Jewish heritage, his appropriation of liturgy, his engagement with poetic form and his unflinching honesty in the face of a life lived with art and pain.
In conversation with Kathy Galloway Tonight, weeWONDERBOX is delighted to host this event with Jim Forest, the renowned US writer, activist and co-founder of the Catholic Peace Fellowship. Jim has been a tireless worker for peace since the early 1960s and is one of the few people still living who knew Thomas Merton as a
Christianity is a global faith. We have celebrated that by sending missionaries and bibles abroad. But what have we received from those who are not ‘like us’? Here we engage with biblical and spiritual insights, writings and songs from our fellow Christians abroad, and receive them as gifts for our growth in faith. Everything will
... and his Production-Consumption Society today - a DVD-based study series featuring Walter Brueggemann “It is a journey from slavery to covenant that we keep making over and over again… Pharaoh has immense power always to draw us back into slavery.” (Walter Brueggemann) A weeWONDERBOX faith exploration and study course for Lent. Using discussion
...led by John Bell. Friday 7-9pm In Praise of a Global God (singable songs from around the world) Sat 10am-12 noon Scripture in Nature Sat 1-3pm Incarnate Jesus Sun 9.45-10.45am Lecture Sun 11am Worship
...with John Bell. Cost of $40 includes refreshments and workshop materials.
Some people believe them, some avoid them and some say they don't matter. But the miracles featured prominently in Jesus' life. In discerning the differences between them, we may be able to see how they nurture rather than confuse our faith. This retreat will be led by John L. Bell.
Exploring the Bible without getting bored When we read or hear a passage from the Bible, it often doesn't stick. How could we stay with it, play with it, chew on it and even be changed by it? This autumn weeWONDERBOX offers an experimental series of evenings exploring the Bible creatively. Through collage, wordles, image-making
A two day international conversation on how to make friends with Holy Scripture, enabled by the Wild Goose Resource Group The Bible ... ... open or closed? ... public or private? ... experience or theory? ... dynamic or dead? Many lay people feel inadequate when speaking about the Bible. And quite a few ministers
Exploring the Bible without getting bored When we read or hear a passage from the Bible, it often doesn't stick. How could we stay with it, play with it, chew on it and even be changed by it? This autumn weeWONDERBOX offers an experimental series of evenings exploring the Bible creatively. Through collage, wordles, image-making
Programme includes sessions on 10 Things They Never Told You About Jesus, and Sung Text in Faith Development. John will also preach at the main Sunday morning service.
THE IRENAEUS PROJECT FOR SPIRITUALITY 'Come & See' conference 2019 including workshops with John L. Bell: God's Gift of Diversity - looking at how this theme runs through the scriptures and should run into the Church. Body of Christ or Audience of Strangers - looking at the necessity to constantly rebuild community within the congregation.
with John L. Bell For some people the Psalms are evocative of what they learned by rote in childhood. Others associate them with particularly poignant events – weddings and funerals. Others yet may regard them as an unnecessary intrusion between the Old Testament and the Epistle when a nice worship song would be much preferable.
Do you think of yourself as someone who lives creatively? Do you habitually draw on art, writing, making things, time outdoors, to reflect on life? Are you curious about the practices that others practise, that help us stay alive, especially in the darker months of the year? If you’re a resounding ‘yes’ or a yearning
A Soul Marks Art & Prayer workshop taster with Carol Marples Image © C. Marples Another chance to enjoy the Art and Prayer taster workshop earlier in the year, in case you missed it first time around! This workshop combines practical artwork, image, music, word and silence: no artistic experience is needed. All are
John Bell is now unable to attend, due to bereavement. Join us in Little Rock for an “outside the box” Association of Presbyterian Church Educators Annual Event! Bring your ideas, questions, imagination and passion as we discover together how God is sending us out to make disciples through retreat, mission, and justice ministries. John L.
John Bell regrets he has had to postpone this event, due to bereavement. Rescheduled for March 5th-7th 2021. For many believers, the Psalms comprise an essential part of the liturgy of Holy Communion—a welcome pause between the Old Testament reading and the Epistle. The Psalms are much more than this. They are words which nourished
Lament for Lent weekly @ weeWONDERBOX God isn't afraid of our grief, doesn't cower when we complain and does not take our lament lightly. Through biblical exploration, discussion and creative expression, we'll have the opportunity, rather than saying "Fine thanks", to let the unsaid out. This six-week series is based on the Church Mission Society's
LITTLE VOICES: BIG DIFFERENCE - Spring 2020 Day of Reflection organised by the Leeds Diocesan Justice & Peace Commission. “Where people seldom sense the power of scripture and song in their liturgical life as it reflects or responds to the realities of lived life, we need to recapture the sight of a God who so
To the casual reader, humour in the Bible can be totally lost, mostly because we have a habit, when reading privately, of hearing the dullest lector or priest reading the verses in a monotone. But the humour is there, in the Old Testament and in the New for those who have ears to hear. Horror
'Into the Books of the Bible - a world of life' In 2020, a new Bible was published in Denmark, in an accessible translation. In this conference, the workshops, lectures, liturgies and discussions will inspire and explore how to use the Bible in a new way. Large parts of the programme will take place in
Led by John L. Bell. For some people it is a bogus reality, for others a source of delight, but what was God's purpose in bestowing those made in God's image with imagination? In this retreat we will look both at the Divine imagination as exhibited in scripture, and at how our lives are fed
CANCELLED. Sadly, the Abbey is now closed to any further programme sessions in 2020. For some people it is a bogus reality, for others a source of delight, but what was God’s purpose in bestowing those made in God’s image with imagination? In this week we will look both at the Divine imagination as exhibited
The Scottish Church Theology Society 2021 Conference will feature presentations on the Psalms by SUE GILLINGHAM, Emeritus Professor of the Hebrew Bible at the University of Oxford, ROWAN WILLIAMS who has recently retired as the Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and JOHN L. BELL who works for the Iona Community in the areas of worship,
For many believers, the Psalms comprise a central part of the liturgy of Holy Communion - a welcome pause between the Old Testament reading and the Epistle. The Psalms are much more than this. They are words which nourished the spirituality of Jesus. They abound in insights regarding God's relationship with the natural world, they
The miracles of Jesus don't so much get a bad press as get overlooked. It is as if they are an impediment to belief. If they were few in number, they might more easily be jettisoned in favour of Jesus’ 'rational' teaching. But they are not. Cut them out of Mark's Gospel and the pages
There are ten Commandments and eight Beatitudes. The former are considered to be restrictive (Thou Shalt Not), the latter rather vague (to be 'meek' sounds a bit insipid). They are long due for refreshment. John Bell will argue that the Commandments are about liberation, and the Beatitudes about the potential in all of us. This
The Psalms, which we often see as an intermission between two Sunday readings, have a more profound significance. They were, and still are, one of the foundations of Jewish spirituality. In this retreat we will explore how they can enliven our own devotional life and belief. Led by John Bell.
For some people it is a bogus reality, for others a source of delight, but what was God’s purpose in bestowing those made in God’s image with imagination? In this week we will look both at the Divine imagination as exhibited in scripture, and at how our lives are fed and nurtured by the creative
To the casual reader, humour in the Bible can be totally lost, mostly because we have a habit, when reading privately, of hearing the dullest lector or priest reading the verses in a monotone. But the humour is there, in the Old Testament and in the New for those who have ears to hear. Horror
The notion that 'Christmas is a time for the kids' has helped to turn the Advent and Christmas seasons into a babyfest. It also eclipses the significance of incarnation, the importance of adults and even the connection to a woman who murdered a man in a campsite. This short retreat will pull back the curtain
Familiarity may not have bred contempt, but it might have bred low expectation or presumption when it comes to the psalms. For many worshippers they are most commonly experienced as the obligatory interlude, spoken or sung, between readings from the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament Letters. For the less liturgically inclined, a narrow selection
The last thirty years have confronted us with changed perceptions regarding women, race, ecology, national identity, global connectivity, rogue states. All of these have been the stuff of conversation, but often the churches have lacked a vocabulary with which to engage the faith it professes with the realities that surround us. This workshop, led by
The great biblical heroes with whom most people are familiar have names like Jacob, Moses, David, Gideon, Samson, Peter, Paul. Curiously not many women appear in the line-up of biblical greats. But they are there, even if their witness does not feature in Sunday morning readings. The hope is that in this retreat we will
Like the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes have such a revered place in Christian faith that in previous centuries some churches had the texts inscribed on their inside walls or interpreted in stained glass. But what do they mean, especially for today? Terms such as ‘the poor in spirit’ or ‘persecuted for righteousness’ sake’, words such
Gather, Celebrate, Serve - for the last century and the next! 100 years ago, Massanetta Springs' ministry began, as people gathered to be challenged and inspired through preaching and instruction, and to raise voices in song in praise to God. The Bible and Church Music conference is the official mark of the centennial. John Bell
There are over thirty of them in the Gospels; but a combination of science and scepticism seems to have diminished interest in the phenomena. In this retreat we will look at the miracles, not as puzzles to be solved, but as some of Jesus’ most profound teaching blocks as regards justice, humanity and God’s biases.
This retreat offers the opportunity to reflect on matters of life and faith, regarding which traditional Christian attitudes have been challenged, causing many people to change their minds or amended their theology. We will consider issues such as Biblical Truth, Race, Environment, Sex and Gender Issues, Technology and Public Worship. We will draw on the
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