McTraining!

What do you do when you hit a crossroads in life? After working in film and television for the last 15 years, in London and Glasgow, a couple of years ago I was becoming aware that I had the potential to have some time on my hands. I felt that God was challenging me to do something, but I didn’t know what!

I was the stereotypical 30-something man, married with kids, mortgage, estate car, lawn mower. But one thing I had kept in the back of my mind was to get some form of Bible training. While working, this always seemed like a worthy ideal.

Bible training?

Reaching a crossroads, however, forced me to seriously consider the possibility of undertaking Bible training. I had dipped my toes in the water by previously taking a couple of modules at a local Bible college.

Having lived in London in the mid-1990s I had heard people mention the Cornhill Training Course in passing but really didn’t know much about it. It was only when my wife noticed that the course was being set up in Glasgow, and due to start two weeks later, that the cogs began turning and I signed up.

It was Willie Philip, previously director of The Proclamation Trust, who was behind bringing the Cornhill model of training to Scotland when he accepted the call to be minister at St. George’s-Tron Church in Glasgow in 2004. ‘Having seen the huge blessing that Cornhill has been for many years in England, I was keen to help meet the pressing need for such solid and practical training in real ministry in Scotland’, says William.

Doors open

And so it was, in September 2006, that the Cornhill Scotland Training Course opened its doors for the first time. 12 students stepped in from a grey Glasgow street and sat looking at each other sheepishly across the lecture room. It was a very levelling occasion. Men and women of all ages, all mixes of backgrounds, starting the learning process together. The variety of backgrounds included teaching, medicine, computing, business, nursing, social work, and crofting, and countries varying from Nigeria, India, Northern Ireland, the United States, and even England!

Julie Rowbory, for example, came from teaching. For her, going back to studies was ‘a bit odd at first. It was particularly strange to be getting homework instead of giving it! But it was very exciting to be able to learn important things which would help us in our future ministry’. Julie and her husband David are now in Kenya with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Or Graham Shearer, who had previously studied theology. ‘When I completed my theological degree at the age of 21, I knew that I was in no way ready to even begin to be a minister.’ I was really impressed with Graham’s honesty, and that after eight years in social work God had brought him back to thoughts of full-time ministry. For him, Cornhill provided the preaching instruction that complemented his theology studies, as he prepared for ministry. Graham, with his wife Sarah — who also did the course — is now associate minister at Hamilton Baptist Church.

Strange feelings

For me, becoming a mature student meant a total re-adjustment — not just my weekly schedule — but my whole mindset. The daily work routine that had long ago set its stamp on me now had to give way. Let me tell you, it is a very strange feeling to be sitting in a lecture room on a Monday morning being taught from the Bible, when your brain is telling you that you should be at work, sitting at a desk, on the phone, or chatting to a colleague about your weekend. There was a clash between feeling the immense privilege of being taught from the Bible, and the very unnerving feeling that this was a completely unreal scenario — that I should be out in the world earning my crust of bread like all the other thousands of people in Glasgow’s business community.

What God can do

The more I’ve been asking people about Cornhill Scotland, the more I realise just what God can do with us when we offer ourselves to him when we find ourselves faced with change. Edward Lobb, the course director for Cornhill Scotland, had spent nearly 30 years as a parish minister in England before taking the bold step to move his entire family, including his elderly mother, complete with 100 chickens and a dog, to Glasgow to take on the new role. ‘I recognised the strategic importance of training people in the Bible’, said Edward, ‘and jumped at the opportunity of this change in ministry. Running the course has been very stimulating and stretching. I have probably learnt more about the Bible in the last two years than the previous ten due to preparing lectures and thinking of how to teach the Bible with trainee Bible teachers in mind. The students are hungry to learn and their progress and confidence in handling the Bible grows quickly, especially during the first term.’

Edward has now been joined by Bob Fyall, or ‘The Professor’ as he is affectionately known to the students. Bob is a Scot who ministered, and lectured, for many years in Durham.

I can certainly identify with a growth in confidence throughout the first term. I hadn’t realised how practical the course was or that it would involve teaching and preaching at my placement church. However, once I got over the shock, I really began to see the benefits of this style of training which enabled me to handle the Bible correctly and to communicate its message. It was quite a steep learning curve, and the first-time fellow students gave on-the-spot feedback in preaching class, which required a very thick skin. Thankfully, by the end of the course, when the training was almost complete, feedback in preaching class helped to add to, and hone, the skills learned on the course.

Exploring opportunities

One of the current students on the course, Richard Henry, had also come from a business background and I was keen to hear his thoughts on deciding to undertake full-time study. ‘I wanted to take the time to explore the opportunities that God may have for me, and also to explore my gifts.’ At present, Richard is still considering what he’ll do after the course.

I found myself in a similar position to Richard. I had come into the course without any definite plans, but gradually, from about halfway through the year, felt a desire to use what I learned on the course to work for a church. When the opportunity arose to work for a city-centre church in Glasgow in evangelism, I jumped at the chance. I had been involved in church outreach activities for several years but, before being trained, the thought of working for a church seemed very distant.

Just three years ago I was a director of a television company in Glasgow. Now I am working just a few hundred metres down the street in a city centre church. The two positions are poles apart and yet I can clearly see God’s hand at work. I had only made one decision — to do a one-year course — but God’s amazing plans continue in the background.

Vision

I like Willie Philip’s vision for the course, and the way it is already working to encourage and train those who find themselves at a crossroads in life, and are considering the option of full-time Christian study.

If you would like to know more about the Cornhill Scotland Training Course then visit http://www.cornhillscotland.org.uk, call Ann Lightbody (0141 333 0152) or email info@cornhillscotland.org.uk.

About Cornhill Scotland

Bible training?

Doors open

Strange feelings

What God can do

Exploring opportunities

Vision

Brian Murray

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