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Adventures in Faith
October 2026

Welcome to Adventures in Faith: where everyone in the Diocese of Edinburgh can explore, learn, and grow in faith and fullness of life.

Welcome to October's Adventures in Faith! We are well into the autumn programme of courses and conferences, some of which you'll find mentioned below. Don't forget to check our events calendar and our courses page regularly for all the latest news. Wishing you much fruitfulness in the coming month!

More Events and Learning Opportunities

The Adventures in Faith: Courses page on the diocesan website is where you can find a whole range of courses running in the coming weeks and months. And check out our Events Calendar for something local that might take your fancy!

Neurodiversity and Worship Workshop

Neurodiversity and Worship: A Practical and Liturgical Theology, Saturday 17 October, 2pm–4pm, in the Walpole Hall (St Mary’s Cathedral).

This important workshop will be led by Dr Léon Van Ommen (pictured), Senior Lecturer in the Department of Divinity and Religious Studies and Co-Director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at Aberdeen University.

“What if our worship could bring us even closer to God and to each other? What if our communities could be blessed even more? By listening deeply to neurodivergent people, we can ... In this workshop, we will listen deeply, in order to worship more faithfully and to be blessed richly. Whether you have a specific role in your church or none at all, everyone is welcome!”

Entrance fee: £5, to cover costs. Register here by 4pm on 16 October.

Epiphany Group

God’s Invitation to Relationship: An Introduction to Ways of Praying
Thursdays from 5 November to 10 December 2026, 7–8.30pm online, free, donations welcome. Find out more.

Growth in Prayer & Reflective Living
Tuesdays 3 November 2026 to 16 March 2027, 7–9pm online plus three in-person Saturdays in Edinburgh, £450. Find out more.

Edinburgh International Centre for Spirituality and Peace

EICSP will be running the following Zoom webinars this autumn. All are on Wednesday evenings from 7–9pm, and you can get tickets for a £10+ donation.

21 October: Ecofeminism: The Spiritual, Ecological, Ethical and Social Foundations
4 November: Spiritual Eldership: Discernment, Wisdom, Leadership and Service
11 November: R S Thomas: The Spiritual, Ecological and Social Vision in His Life and Work
18 November: Politics and Conscience: Spiritual, Ethical and Social Perspectives and Responses
2 December: Spirituality and the Land: Spiritual, Ecological, Ethical and Social Perspectives

Find out more here.

Sarum College

Here are Sarum College's upcoming online courses:

🔹Thinking Theologically about Conflict and Peace | Wednesday 11 November, 1pm–4pm, £70.
🔹Made with Love: Prayerful Crafting for Advent (online option) | Monday 30 November, 10am–4pm, £70.
🔹God Incarnate: Reflections on the Nativity | Mondays 30 November, 7 & 14 December, 6.30–8.30pm, £60.
🔹Theology Catch-Up: Grace Upon Grace | Thursday 3 December, 12–2pm, £25.

Find out more and book.

Heart in Pilgrimage

Rest, Remain, Restore, Renew

22–24 January 2027, The Bield at Blackruthven

This residential weekend retreat is a chance to take time out at the beginning of a new year, restore our energy and renew our vision. Whatever lies ahead, whether changes or decisions or just more of life, this is a chance to focus on the foundation, the solid ground in which we’re rooted — and in which we grow.

Cost: £310. More information and booking at the Heart in Pilgrimage website. Booking deadline 20 November.

GoHealth

GoHealth Festival of Healing 2026 takes place on Saturday 21 November online, and is free of charge.

It will invite us to pause, breathe and explore what helps us become more fully alive, drawing on ancient wisdom, new practices and the growing understanding of health, wellbeing and human flourishing.

There will be worship, teaching, conversation, a special keynote lecture by Steve Coles, the outgoing Chair of the GoHealth Board, and practical workshops.

You’ll need to be a GoHealth member, or on the GoHealth mailing list (which is free), in order to book this conference. Find out more.

GoHealth has created a complete, ready-to-run version of the Everyday Healing Course for church groups. The course runs over four two-hour sessions which include a video and time to talk and reflect. To support leaders there is facilitator guidance, a digital platform and support from the GoHealth team if questions arise.

"Churches have a unique opportunity to become places where people experience healing, not only through particular ministries of prayer, but through the way they welcome, listen, care, worship, pray and live alongside one another", according to GoHealth. The aim for this course is to enable churches to become more confident, compassionate and healing presences in the world.

If you're interested in running this course, a church licence costs £250. Find out more about this option. If you're interested in taking the Everyday Healing course as an individual, you can do so for £70. Find out more about individual access to the course.

St Martin-in-the-Fields’ Autumn Lecture Series, Here I Stand, runs until 23 November. You can access these lectures online for a donation of £10 each. Get the full schedule and book on the St Martin-in-the-Fields website.

Retreats

You can find more than 25 retreat venues that we have come across, or that have been used by members of the diocese, on our Retreat Venues page. There is also a map, so you can see at a glance where the listed retreat centres are based.

The Bield at Blackruthven:
🔹Seasonal Quiet Garden Day | 21 October, 10am–4pm, £75.
🔹Multi-Day Silent Retreat | 3 to 6 November, from £75 (one day) to £375 (four days).
🔹Holding Memories in Light and Colour: A Creative Day of Reflection and Remembrance | 11 November, 9:30am–5:30pm, £75.
🔹Stillness and Stitching | 25 November, 10am–4pm, £75.
🔹HerRhythm | 27–29 November, £355.
🔹Silent Retreat Day | 9 December, 10am–4pm, £70.
🔹Journey Into Healing | 12 December, 9.30am–4:45pm, £75.

Abernethy Kilmalieu:
🔹Faith in Nature: Outdoor Church Learning Community | 6–9 November, from £150.
🔹Rediscovering Grace: Learning to Breathe Again | 16–20 November, from £480.
🔹Behold! Looking Attentively at Art, Nature and Scripture | 5–8 February, from £378.
🔹Mission Enablers' Retreat: A Time for Reflection, Recharging and Support | 5–8 March, from £295.

Whitchester Christian Centre:

🔹Ministers/Clergy Retreat
10–14 November, any two nights or more at discounted full board rate.

🔹CS Lewis and Prayer
20–22 November, £195.
🔹Advent Retreat
27–29 November, £195.
🔹Christmas Houseparty
24–27 December, £345.

Advent is a season that demands our attention, calling to us in imperatives: watch, wait, prepare, listen!

This online retreat in preparation for Advent will explore the various ways the Advent voice calls to us through scripture, classic spiritual teaching, poetry and our own experience. Speakers are:

Paula Gooder, scripture scholar and author of more than 25 books, including the forthcoming The Gospel of Mark in her Biblical Explorations series

Rebecca Stephens, Chair of the Meister Eckhart Society and author of the forthcoming Grounding the Soul

Alison Jack, Professor of Bible and Literature at the University of Edinburgh, and lead editor of Scottish Religious Poetry

Richard Carter, founder of the Nazareth Community at St Martin-in-the-Fields and author of 100 Reasons for Living.

Tickets are £20, or £12 for Church Times subscribers. Find out more.

Children and Young People

The SEC Provincial Youth Overnight in September was hosted by St Mary and St Peter's Church, Montrose in Brechin Diocese and brought together teenagers and youth leaders from all seven dioceses, including the Diocese of Edinburgh. There was seaside fun, fish and chips, lots of cake and a night spent in the church. On Sunday the young people confidently led worship at a joint service, where they received a very warm welcome.

This week, the Provincial Youth Team is leading a pilgrimage to Iona! On their Facebook page you can catch a video of Claire Benton-Evans talking about pilgrimage.

If you'd like to get Youth and Children's updates directly from the Province you can sign up here.

beHeld Training and Prayer Breakfasts

The next 'beHeld' training morning, for anyone working or volunteering with children and young people, is on 28 November. We asked one of the attendees at the 26 September session what they thought of it:

"I found the training very helpful. It was very friendly and welcoming. I liked very much that we started off with prayer and hymns. It was so helpful and interesting to listen to the speakers and I very much appreciated their openness, knowledge and experience. It was also great to meet and speak with other people working with children and young people and to hear about their thoughts, experiences and ideas. I also appreciated the questions and answers at the end of the session.

"While I come from an education background and have worked a lot with children and young people, I am new to working with children and young people in a church setting. So it was so helpful to hear about the groups and experiences and ways of working in different churches and thinking together about the ongoing process of developing the ways we work. I found it inspiring to hear Rachel [Gardner] speaking about putting all children and young people right at the centre of our churches."

beHeld costs £15 per session, which is excellent value, but the diocese will cover the cost of one ticket per charge. Just email us at [email protected] with your name and charge, and we'll book you in for the final session this year, which is on 28 November.

If you work in Youth and Children's Ministry, you're also invited to a series of Wednesday morning beHeld prayer breakfasts. The next three are 21 October, 11 November and 9 December. Email Rachel Cooney, Director of Children's Ministry, at [email protected] if you'd like to come along.

BRF courses and resources

If you've been thinking about starting Messy Church in your charge, there are a couple of online, free masterclasses coming up that will help:

Starting Your Messy Church Masterclass
Tuesday 10 November, 7.30–9pm
Thursday 19 November, 1–2.30pm

Find out more here.

BRF also have a wide selection of resources for parents, from books to events and courses. Check out their Parenting for Faith collection on the BRF website.

Awareness Days for November

We list Awareness Days on our website here. Most entries have links to external websites that provide information and resources for the particular cause or event.

Have You Tried?

In this section, we share a resource that might help you explore, learn, or grow in your faith: it could be a book, a podcast, an email subscription, or something else!

Fruitfulness on the Frontline

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In September, LICC relaunched their Fruitfulness on the Frontline resource. The frontline is "an ordinary place where God calls you to live and work with people who don’t yet know Jesus", according to LICC. The programme encourages you to use the 6Ms of Fruitfulness to spot how God is already at work through you day by day:

Model godly character
Make good work
Minister grace and love
Mould culture
Mouthpiece for truth and justice
Messenger of the gospel.

You can delve into Fruitfulness on the Frontline as deeply as you like and with as many people as you like! There is a book, small group course, podcast and devotional app. The app and podcast are free; the book is £10; a single licence for the small group course is £15; a licence for up to five groups is £50, and for up to 10 groups is £90. Find out more here.

Adventures in Faith: All Day Every Day!

Homepage – Outlines what Adventures in Faith is, with links to other landing pages.

Newsletter – Links to all previous newsletters and to sign-up for emails.

Calendar – Events happening across the Diocese, in congregations and partner organisations.

Courses – A list of courses & retreats from across the UK: something for everyone!

Awareness – Awareness days that link in with our faith and Marks of Mission.

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Youth and Children

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Cathy Ballantine, Communications & Support Officer

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