The purpose of the pioneering course is to validate the pioneering spirit, creating a beachhead for making Kingdom ground and championing a voice for change in church as we know it.
COURSE DETAILS
TRAINING
For the 2023-24 course we are exploring a hybrid of online, in-person and residential training. Our training will primarily be delivered through 3 Hubs:
Throughout the year we’ll meet in these Hubs for training days. These will be a mixture of onscreen and in-person teaching and breakout conversations. We’d suggest that you make every effort to join your nearest geographical Hub but there is also an online option. All 3 Hubs will come together for a January residential weekend.
COURSE THEMES
The course covers 5 main areas:
Personal spiritual development
Living a missional lifestyle
Church in today’s culture
Building a discipleship culture
Missional leadership
PERSONAL STUDY
It is expected that each participant will put in a minimum of 3 hours per week of personal study and reflection. Alongside recommended reading to accompany the training, there are also tasks and reflective writing pieces set between the training dates.
MISSIONAL CONTEXT
Forge exists to help practitioners learn on the job and so it is expected that you will have a missional context where you are applying your learning throughout the course. The missional context will be clarified and agreed with each participant at the start of the course.
COURSE DATES
September 22-23, 2023
Residential. Friday – Saturday in Ballyards Castle Armagh.
November 18, 2023
Gathering in Hubs 10am-4pm. (Belfast & Dublin)
January 13, 2024
Gathering in Hubs 10am-4pm. (Belfast & Dublin)
March 9 or April 6, 2024
Gathering in Hubs 10am-4pm. (Belfast & Dublin)
May 24-25, 2024
Residential. Friday – Saturday in The Lucan Centre, Dublin.
WHAT WILL IT COST?
The course costs £500 / €575 and this includes lunch on the training days and all accommodation and meals on the residential weekend.
We encourage each participant to raise some of this from any supporting church / denomination, some from personal supports and some from the participant as a sign of their ownership of the process.
This cost can be paid over the year in agreed installments if preferred.
WHAT OTHERS HAVE TO SAY…
“The good folks at Forge Ireland are not only dear friends and colleagues, but are in my opinion the outstanding practitioners of missional church in Ireland. If you are concerned about the future vitality of Christian discipleship in this ancient land, I highly recommend the Forge tribe in whatever they do.”
“I would highly recommend the Forge course. It has enabled me to have space and time to think about what God is calling me into in this next season. It was great to be with likeminded people, even over zoom to stretch my thinking into what it means to pioneer a new way of doing church that allows connection into the community and grows disciples. A very well thought out course with lots of opportunity to process and learn together.”
“I wish I had been subject to a number of these ideas and challenges long before now. I would recommend this course to anyone who is longing to see God’s church renewed in today’s post Christian culture”
“I would highly recommend the Forge Ireland Course if you are considering planting a church, or interested in pioneering a new missional initiative. I benefitted greatly from the input at the gatherings, and the required reading and missional tasks throughout stimulated both thinking and practice. This along with the ongoing support and mentoring, ultimately spurred me on to develop an opportunity through the local church, for individuals to begin exploring the Christian faith in a regular Bible study. The Forge Pioneer Course has also broadened my insight and understanding around the practices and challenges for church planting which was been helpful in contributing to conversations at a denominational level. The cohort of participants on the Forge Course was diverse in their backgrounds, experience and context for mission. This encouraged rich discussion which was a great blessing leading to new friendships.”
“I would highly recommend Forge as an organisation and the team themselves, many of whom I know and would count as friends. Combining missional thought-leadership and deep an inspiring practioner-driven coaching Forge creates the environment to spark Kingdom dreams and visions in leaders. The Forge team are living examples of the training itself and are able to walk alongside the ups and downs of pioneering missional leadership. If you have a Kingdom dream then these are the people and this is the place for you.”