School Chaplaincy Training of Trainers weekend Sept 2019

This was held at the Conforti Institute in Coatbridge, a conference and retreat centre run by the Xaverian Missionaries. ACTS funded the event and twelve booked in. They represented a range of denominations: Baptist, Congregationalist, Independent Evangelical, Assemblies of God, and Church of Scotland. Due to family circumstances one withdrew on the morning and another withdrew a couple of days before. Two others could only stay for one day. All those attending received resource packs with useful material. Each pack contained five print publications of assembly and school events, a copy of Steve’s ‘Time for Reflection’ textbook, a number of papers, and a memory disk with 2.6Gb of useful resources. The resources were in six files: CVE material, Curriculum for Excellence, Assemblies, Useful Resources, Religious Observance/Time for Reflection Policies, and Video clips. Sessions involved demonstrating exemplar material (i.e. experiencing and sharing Time for Reflection events), lectures, discussions, small group work on scenarios and sharing one another’s stories and experiences. There were times and opportunities for informal fellowship and getting to know one another. There was very positive feedback: “Good fellowship and sharing with others”, “Excellent resources”, “I gained time to think more about opportunities of chaplaincy”, “I gained being upheld and supported in working with school chaplains, ideas, inspiration”, “It was a chance to learn, share, think and be encouraged and equipped (the resource pack is fab!)”, “I gained an understanding of the role of chaplaincy in modern school situations and where chaplains fit into and can complement Curriculum for Excellence by being part of the school community”, “We need more events like this” ,“Great weekend”.

Steve Younger, 13/14.09.19