DOUG GAY - EMERGING CHURCH - Emerging from where and to where?

Tuesday 13th May from 7.30pm - 9.30pm at the Sporting Lodge, Low Lane, Stainton, Middlesbrough TS17 9LW. (For directions click here)

The term 'emerging church' is much hyped and hard to pin down. Doug Gay will suggest a model for thinking about the processes and practices at the heart of Emerging Church. He will also look at how Emerging Church fits into the wider backdrop of change and reform in the church. Part analysis, part manifesto, the session aims to open a conversation and dialogue about taking part in the church's future.

Doug grew up in the Brethren tradition and was active in the Christian Union at St. Andrews University. He gradually moved into a more inclusive understanding and approach to Christian faith without denying the importance of his roots.

For several years, he and his wife lived in an area of urban deprivation in Glasgow as an indication of their commitment to the impoverished church. He studied theology at Glasgow University and after ordination went to Hackney where, as the minister of the United Reformed Church, he tackled a congregation which was on the verge of dissolution. He managed to build up both the bigger congregation and a second congregation of people who did not normally go to church, in the evening. The URC offered him a scholarship which enabled him to complete PhD studies and last year he was given a lectureship in Glasgow University.

John Bell describes Doug as "perhaps one of the most widely read and intelligent people I know." His range of interests is extremely wide. He is a rock musician in his own right, and, along with colleagues in Glasgow, ran an event called the Late Late Service for a number of years. This was an alternative worship service, maximising visual stimuli, as well as producing and recording music of their own composition.

He is now sought after to lecture throughout Britain and North America and has a particular interest in practical theology and the life of the church.

Tuesday 13th May 2008 from 7.30pm - 9.30pm at Sporting Lodge, Low Lane, Stainton, Middlesbrough TS17 9LW. (For directions click here)