Westminster College is delighted to offer a wide range of short 3-5 day courses throughout the 2023-24 academic year. We hope that you will find something to help you go deeper in your exploration of your faith and discipleship or resources and an opportunity for reflection on your ministry.

Who are these courses for?
These short courses are relevant to anyone engaged in lay or ordained ministry. They are particularly suited to anyone who might be:

• thinking about your faith and would like to explore a particular topic in more depth
• considering what God is calling you to do and would like the opportunity to study
• a Lay Preacher or Worship Leader, Children and Youth Development Officer (CYDO), Church Related Community Worker (CRCW), or Minister of Word and Sacraments, looking to develop new knowledge and fresh skills for your particular ministry

Above all, these short courses offer the opportunity to deepen your knowledge while reflecting on your current practice.

How does it work?
You sign up to register for a course by submitting the booking form, which lists the course offerings and dates, to the Tutorial Office and paying the course fee. We will then send you access to its online resources. There is often (but not always) some preparatory reading or exercises to be done before the course begins. You can choose to write something at the end of the course, such as a research paper or integrative essay, if you wish, but this is not essential.

If we are still delivering a course on-line, it will be delivered by a mixture of face-to-face Zoom sessions and guided independent study. Otherwise, courses are usually run in classes based at Westminster or at Ridley Hall, one of our partner institutions in the Federation.

What are the classes and sessions like?
Class sizes vary between 5-25! There is always a wide range of age, backgrounds, and experience in the room, which makes for a very rich learning experience. Face-to-face sessions are a mixture of lecture-style content, seminar-style discussions and small group work. Independent study sessions usually involve watching a video or reading an article and then having the chance to reflect on it.

Classes are taught by the teaching staff at Westminster or our colleagues in the wider Cambridge Theological Federation. Often we teach modules together, which creates an exciting ecumenical environment for learning.

Do I need to have studied any theology before?
No! All of these courses are suitable for those who have not studied theology before. In the course descriptions below, we have indicated the level of the course (1-4). If you have not accessed degree level material before, you might find it most accessible to start with the lower level courses first.

I have more questions. What should I do?
Please contact the Tutorial Office (or on 01223 33 06 49), who will then connect you with the Director of Studies if necessary.