The Antioch School was developed to fulfil a need for foundational training of church members, nurturing their faith, equipping them for service within the church and world. It aims at Growing Disciples.
It has been planned with four modules, of which Peter Blackburn was responsible for writing and presenting the first. The first School was conducted in the Maroochy Parish, Queensland, in 1991 with ten percent of the congregation involved in the first module.
The material for the first module, Christian Basics, is now available in PDF format. The material for the other three will be released when it has been re-written. (Note PDF - Portable Document File - format can be read with an Adobe Acrobat Reader, available FREE from Adobe).
This material is copyright. Permission is given for the printing and use of this material by congregations and individuals. It has been consciously prepared having in mind the needs of the Uniting Church in Australia. Others may wish to adapt the material for their own particular denomination. Notification that you are doing this would be appreciated.
The Antioch Story (a 10k PDF file) is designed for use in the opening of the first session of Module 1. It relates the story of the Christians in Antioch in Acts 13. "The Antioch Christians had experienced the power of the gospel and the Holy Spirit. They had a thirst to learn, to grow in understanding of their faith. They put it into practice in both evangelistic outreach and practical help."
Module 1 Christian Basics aims to help participants "to gain a mature understanding of the Christian Gospel, Christian beliefs and the Church’s mission in the world and to relate Christian beliefs to daily life."
Module 2 aims "to establish a deeper understanding of the contents of the Bible, concentrating on Biblical events in their historical setting and major themes and narratives. It is hoped that this will produce a more mature knowledge of the Bible which will prompt a more confident reference to and use of the Bible in daily life and witness."
Module 3 aims to "help each believer discover and use their spiritual gifts for building up the Body of Christ and to help individual members and the whole Body to communicate the Gospel effectively in the Australian context."
Module 4 aims to help participants "to understand the wholeness God intends for us all in Christ, to discover ways of overcoming our own barriers to personal wholeness and to become people who can help to encourage others to personal wholeness.
