For many years there has been in the Oxford area a Trainers’ Workshop network. This is a network that met in gatherings of ten to twenty people on a weekday four times a year in a pleasant setting to learn experiential skills and insights for life in the church.
Context and needs continue to evolve, and in June 2008 six members of the network gathered to think and talk, and review the Trainers’ Workshop history, purpose, ethos and constituency.
The group looked at the cultural, structural and economic context of the church today,
and considered what value the network has for its members and the church. It recognised that for the future the network needs a different slant.
Inspiration came from the story of the Syro-Phoenician woman in Matthew’s Gospel where she has a spirited exchange with Jesus; having first told her his work wasn’t for people outside the Jewish nation, he then warmly affirmed her when she pointed out that “even the dogs get the crumbs that fall from the table”. [Matthew 15.27].
So came the idea of ‘Crumbs under the table’ – those rejected and neglected places, away from the centre of the action, where important things can and must happen. It’s not sufficient to concentrate only on power bases and successful practitioners. Robust life and fruitfulness are also to be found on the margins.
There is an important place for opportunities to be edgy – for church people and leaders to get together and support each other in understanding some of the uncomfortable realities of faith, spirituality, and Christian behaviour and responsibility; for space to recognise issues of today and to discover together how to address them.
The remit, then, is engaging with today’s church and complexity, and paying attention to fruitfulness at the edges.
The group is now working as a small team to co-ordinate and deliver a programme for educators, counsellors, clergy, trainers, and pastoral care practitioners. The programme will be designed to make exploratory and experiential opportunities available, alongside the given responsibilities and the training provided through the church.
