Term starts with evangelism week

13 January 2012

Evangelism was the theme of the first week of the new term at Trinity in which all full-time students joined to learn together in a Plenary Week, led by the Principal, Canon George Kovoor.

We were privileged to be joined for one day of the course by Revd Nicky Gumbel, Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton, and his wife Pippa (in the photo above with George Kovoor). They were interviewed by George Kovoor and later answered questions from students.

Nicky Gumbel explained how the Alpha course began (not as an evangelistic course but as discipleship training), and how the meal, the teaching input, the small groups, the weekend away and the leader training were the key components, and he shared some of the many lessons that they had learned through running the course over the years. He mentioned how Alpha was progressing in other denominations and countries. Although an early criticism of Alpha was that it was too intellectual and middle class, the positive response to its use in prisons and in a variety of settings demonstrated how it could be locally adapted in fruitful ways.

Nicky and Pippa responded to a range of questions from the Trinity students, including one about the church as an institution. Nicky thought that, like marriage, without love, the institution could be lifeless, but with love, the institution gave stability, strength and a covering which enabled blessing to flow.

The session ended with a time of waiting upon God, pray expectantly for the presence of the Holy Spirit. ‘We were left with an overall impression of their humility and wisdom, and an encouragement for us to trust that God would work in people's lives', writes Revd Bill MacDougall, Director of Part-time Courses, who teaches Pastoral Theology at Trinity.