Are you producing a new course for this coming Lent?
Yes, we produce a new course every Lent - available for purchase in the previous Autumn. If you would like to receive details of our new course by post when we send them out each Autumn, please email your name, address and postcode to mailinglist@yorkcourses.co.uk
RC Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols
Paula Gooder
Jim Wallis
Inderjit Bhogal - Closing Reflections
Dr David Hope introduces the course.
The course booklet is written by Bishop Stephen Cottrell.
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How much time should I allow when planning a session?
Good question! If you have plenty of time and you are meeting in a comfortable room with coffee, I would schedule about one and a half to two hours. But it is possible to meet for an hour and still get something useful out of the time. If the latter, you might consider spreading the material over 2 weeks. But of course the best groups from our point of view are those that meet for a whole day, do all 5 sessions in one go, reel home exhausted - and then order another course!!
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How to use our course materials
It helps enormously if each group member has their own personal copy of the course booklet (or notes).
There is no need to consider all the questions - a lively exchange of views is what matters.
There is no prescribed formula for when to play the CD or audiotape. Some groups will play the 14 minute piece at the beginning of the meeting. Other groups will prefer to play it at the end - or to play 7/8 minutes at the beginning and the rest halfway through the meeting.
The track markers (on the CD only) will help you find any section very easily, including the Closing Reflections. Or you can ignore these markers altogether, if you prefer.
A transcript is available for each course, setting out the words as spoken on the CD/audiotape. Group Leaders may find this helpful as they prepare. In addition, reading the transcript can help some group members feel more confident about joining in the discussion, while others may wish to go over the recorded material at leisure after the session.
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Do you offer Advent Courses - or courses for other seasons?
We produce an annual course in good time for Lent each year. However, as none of our courses is 'Lent specific', they can be - and frequently are - used throughout the year. Our courses, usually in 5 parts, can be shortened for use in Advent.
Also, the Archbishop's School Series of booklets (plus audiotape on Prayer) and our Topic Tapes have been used by groups as discussion material.
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Where can I find a list of all your courses and products?
The column at the left hand side of the screen gives the titles of all of our current courses. Click on a title to jump to its relevant page for full information.
Or you can click on the Courses tab at the top of the page. At the top of our Courses page there is a Download button which allows you to download a pdf of our current list of courses and products.
Or you can email us at courses@yorkcourses.co.uk giving us your full name, address and postcode, and we will be happy to post you as many copies as you require.
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I am a new Group Leader. Can you help me?
Many Study Groups have inexperienced Leaders. This is one of the reasons why our CD/audio tape is such a key element. It gets the meeting off to a good start. And the wide range of questions in the course booklet ensures that Leaders do not flounder if discussion dries up.
Below you will find a few practical tips drawn from wide experience which will, we hope, be of help to all groups.
We aim to let our material do most of the work for group leaders. But careful planning is still important and many group leaders find the transcript very useful. Because it shows the entire conversation on the CD/audiotape at a glance, a transcript greatly reduces preparation time.
Please click on the link below to download an organiser's checklist in Excel format, that you can personalise to suit your own requirements.
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