Pathways runs three times a year and takes twelve weeks. It is for people who are new to faith, people returning after a long gap, and people who have been here for decades and have been quietly carrying a question they were never given room to ask.

How an evening runs

Doors open at seven with food, because most people come straight from work and the conversation is better after eating. At half past we take one topic for about twenty minutes, and then split into tables of six for the rest of the hour. We finish at nine, and we finish on time.

There is no requirement to speak. Roughly a third of the room says nothing for the first month, and that is expected and fine.

What we cover

• Who Jesus was, according to the people who wrote about him
• Why there are four gospels and not one
• Prayer, when nothing seems to happen
• Suffering, and what the Bible does not claim about it
• Doubt as a normal part of belief rather than a failure of it
• What baptism means, and what it does not commit you to

The best question anyone asked last term was “how do you tell the difference between God and your own opinion?” We spent two evenings on it and did not fully answer it.

Practical details

Childcare is provided in the room next door — tell us when you register so we can staff it. There is no cost. There is no register taken, and no one will follow up if you stop coming, though you are always welcome back.

Register at the welcome desk on a Sunday, or email the office and Kathryn will call you.