“Form is an excellent, tried and tested way of deepening discipleship and getting equipped in Christian ministry and service. I commend it wholeheartedly.”

The Rt. Revd. Dr. Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield.

WHAT IS FORM? Do you want to draw closer to God? Do you ever wonder what God’s plan for your life is? Do you want to be a more effective in your witness and mission? Form Training is a year designed to enable you to step into the life that God has planned for you. It’s an opportunity to be formed by God, formed in community and to form others. Form Training is a year dedicated to helping you deepen your relationship with God, a place to get to grips with the Bible and to hear His voice. It is a place where you will experience a faith filled community and where you will be nurtured to fulfil your potential. You will share times of breakthrough and times of shaping, you will help others grow and become more attuned to God’s voice. You will be trained in evangelism and mission and have opportunity to put all that you are learning into practice.

Choosing to give a year to Form Training is a commitment to Meet God,

Be Challenged and See Change. Form Training is more than a course,

more than a programme; it’s a year that will impact the rest of your life.

“I am convinced that Form is a much needed pathway for laying courageous foundations for growth and service in the Kingdom of God. It is a no brainer to take a year so you can sort out your stuff and in order to live the rest of your years well. Giving attention now to the formation of your character, identity and gifting will enable you to serve God, others and yourself better. I recommend this training as one of life’s great investments.” Rich Wilson - National Team Leader for Fusion, Leadership Team at Open Heaven Church, Loughborough

[fusion] - passionate about student mission

HOW FORM WORKS Jesus lived his life spending time with God, with a close community of

friends and ministering to others. This 3 dimensional lifestyle can be

expressed as: UP Time spent with God, His Father.

IN Time spent with his disciples, his close community and his friends.

OUT Time spent with those in need in the

world, showing them in word and

action the better life he came to bring.

Form Training is structured in such a way as to reflect and encourage this

balanced lifestyle. Each dimension of the training combines teaching with

practical application and calls for personal commitment to get the most from

the year.

TEACHING PRACTICAL PERSONAL

Connecting with God The Bible, Books and Themes

School of Theology

Engage Morning Prayer

Bible in a year Spiritual Disciplines

Living the Life Community, church & leadership

Form Community Huddle

Accountability Cell & Cluster Mentoring

Evangelism & Mission Mission Thursdays

Personal Mission Serving

UP

IN

OUT

To reinforce this practical learning, trainees complete a variety of projects

throughout the year. These projects give trainees the chance to think, study

and discuss topics together, then write, present and lead others, thereby

creating a vibrant, interactive learning environment.

UP

IN OUT

“FORM is an excellent discipleship and equipping programme which offers students amazing opportunities for growth within the context of a vibrant, city changing church. It is Word and Spirit based and mission focused. I unreservedly recommend it.”

Revd. Dr. Mark Stibbe - Father’s Heart Trust

A FORM WEEK Form Training is designed to combine work and study. Trainees find

part time work in the community to support themselves, pay for the

course and to ground their learning and experiences in the real world.

Previous trainees have worked in retail, teaching, hospitals, care work,

events management and childcare. Form Training takes place on

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-5, with the expectation that trainees

will be present at one or more of the weekend church gatherings. Each

day is a mixture of teaching and practical experience giving time to

process and put in to practice what is being learnt.

Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun

Am

Work

Teaching

Work

Teaching

Work

Day O

ff

Church

Pm

Huddle, Engage

and study

Thursday

Mission

“For me form was about learning how to live a life of discipline and of grace, learning what it means to really love God and those around me, learning that who I am and what I do are not the same, and that the first is not defined by the second. Form teaches you about community and His awesome provision. So don't worry if you think you can’t afford it because He can, and He provided for us over and over. God seemed to meet everyone wherever they were at - for me there were no bolts of lighting or huge changes but just a steady consolidation of the truth and freedom I have in Christ. It's also a lot of fun!” Lois - Form trainee 06-07

TEACHING OVERVIEW Over the year you will cover a variety of teaching topics as you explore what it means to Meet God, Be Challenged and see Change.

MEET GOD (Formed by God) Bible - An overview of the Bible, individual books and the big themes of scripture.

Connecting with God - How to hear God, to talk with Him, worship Him and connect with Him through the Spiritual Disciplines.

BE CHALLENGED (Formed in community) Living the Life - What it means to live the life of a disciple in the 21st

Century, including money, sex, power, faith, love, forgiveness, selflessness,

healing and wholeness, identity and the LifeShapes discipleship tools.

Church, Community and Leadership - The ‘What’ and ‘How’ of

church, church history, what it means to be community, learning to lead and

ministry gifting

SEE CHANGE (Forming Others) Evangelism & Mission - We are all called to play our part in God’s

redemptive plan. Learn the theory, study the history and be equipped to be

effective in reconnecting a broken world with the heart of God the Father.

“Form was an extremely significant year. It really helped to break God, and the depth of his Kingdom, out of the box. I learnt afresh the freedom and joy of what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus. I learned to listen to God in new ways. I had the opportunity to seek, trust and depend on God - to see God's faithfulness and power at work by being forced to step outside of my comfort zones. God used the year to open and close doors and provided a truly unique and sacred space to work out what life has to offer. It was also great to begin to understand and appreciate the importance of living in community with others. Finally, through the process of being transformed inwardly, God powerfully helped me to focus more on him and ultimately on others - to grasp the simplicity of what it means to know and love the Lord and be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world. Amen to that!” Sara - Form trainee 05-06

MISSION Mission Thursdays On Thursday afternoons, trainees get an opportunity to grow in mission

and evangelism. In the first term trainees engage in simple confidence

building and experience mission currently ongoing in the church. By the

end of the year the trainees will have been part of planning and

implementing their own strategic mission.

Personal Mission We believe that Mission is a lifestyle. Through Form, trainees will

discover that God wants to use them right where they are, that God is

already at work in the lives of the people that they meet, and that they

can play a part in seeing the lives of their friends, family and colleagues

changed.

Serving Trainees will have opportunity to serve in the church. From being part

of the prayer and hospitality teams to being exposed to church

ministries, there are so many opportunities to try something new and

serve others.

Overseas Mission Trainees will get the chance to go oversees on a week long mission trip.

Previous trips include Switzerland, Northern Island, Vietnam and Uganda.

The mission trip is an additional cost but trainees work together to raise

funds through events and sponsorship.

“The fact that you set aside a year to go deeper with God and with others shows that you want to seek first the Kingdom. My testimony is that as you engage with form and seek God and as he leads and prompts you to speak, listen and act then He really does amazing things.” Andy - Form trainee 06-07

TEAM & SPEAKERS As part of your Form Training you will hear some great speakers from

St Thomas’ Church and beyond, these include:

Course leader: Dr. Alan Ward Alan studied theology at St John’s Nottingham and is training part time for

Baptist ministry. He has been part of the church for many years and has

worked in many areas of ministry including pastoral, youth and children’s

ministry, international students, young families and clusters.

Speakers including: Rev. Mick Woodhead Mick is Rector at Crookes and his primary role is to build up and encourage the church to seek first the Kingdom of God in their lives, and to then share that better life that Jesus gives with others. Mick has helped pioneer the ‘Lifeshapes’ teaching tool, and the ‘Cluster and Cell’ church model.

Rev. Tom Finnemore Tom joined the team as curate after studying Theology and training for the Anglican ministry at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and has also worked on the staff of Holy Trinity Brompton in Central London. Tom is now responsible for heading up the student team.

Rev. Nick Haigh Nick oversees missional communities connected to the church, particularly the young adult 'Life'

movement and cluster 'plants', and also heads up Alpha. He joined the staff team after leading ‘The

Net’, a fresh expression church in his home town of Huddersfield.

Bob and Mary Hopkins Bob and Mary Hopkins work for Fresh Expressions helping develop ways of engaging effectively in fresh expressions of church. They played a key role in establishing the Anglican Cell Network and lead Anglican Church Planting Initiatives writing in various books on the subject.

Martin Garner Martin is the leader behind the FreeSpirit Trust, equipping churches and ordinary Christians in

pioneering mission, seeing lives and communities radically changed.

“I really enjoyed my form year because it gave me the tools and the time to invest myself in other things – both inside and outside church – in a way that wouldn’t have been possible if I’d been in full-time work or study. I loved the variety of input that we had and the structured teaching was helpful, but beyond that there’s loads to be learnt simply from spending time with other people learning to follow Jesus. Expect God both to grow good fruit in your life and to cut away the deadwood. I learnt things about God during my form year that I’m sure will stay with me for the rest of my life.” Steve - Form trainee 07/08

COST The form fees are £950. This amount includes: o all teaching resources and notes o lunch one day a week, breakfast one day a week o end of term fun events (e.g. Christmas dinner, ice-skating) o expenses for local / day missions o but not the end of year mission trip (the location varies each year and as a result so does the cost) You need to consider living costs too. More detailed breakdown of cost of living etc are available at request.

For more details about Form and/or to acquire an application form please contact;

Alan Ward - alan.ward@stthomascrookes.org 0114 267 1090

www.stthomascrookes.org/form

St Thomas Crookes, Nairn Street, Sheffield, S10 1UL 0114 267 1090