Many from the Buckingham Park congregation at Aylesbury spent the weekend of 12th - 15th February 2010 in Exeter for our annual retreat. On the Sunday we visited the church at Dawlish where BBS graduate Learie Bacchus (1991) led the worship and teacher / governor Steven Whitehead made a presentation to introduce the Distance Learning Programme.

Coming so close to the end of year festivities, we were very pleased with the turn out at this, our final event of 2009. Patrick Boyns and Steve Whitehead travelled to Bristol for the afternoon event which began with a short time of praise followed by a presentation on the school's development and new Distance Learning Programme. There were a good number of questions asked and some healthy interest expressed.

Following tea, teaching sessions were conducted on Biblical Genres and Early Development of the Text of the Old Testament. We are thankful for the congregation who supplied all with food and refreshments, and for the tremendous interest and support in these new developments.

The Launch Event at Reading proved to be another useful occasion in the ongoing development of our new programmes. A good deal of interest was expressed in the possibility of studying the curriculum from home and a good number of questions addressed.

If others are interested in hosting a Launch Event, please get in touch!

Last weekend's Taster Day at Kirkcaldy was a hit! All who came were treated to four teaching sessions and a presentation of the school's new Distance Learning Programme.

Patrick Boyns and Mark Hill travelled to Kirkcaldy to conduct the day's events and presented sessions on: Visionary Leadership; King David; The Fruit of the Spirit and Early Development of the Text of the Old Testament. The sessions were designed to encourage others to consider pursuing more serious Bible study and often raised more questions than provided answers.

The congregation kept all well supplied with food and refreshments throughout the day. Mark and Patrick stayed over and taught a Bible class and preached on the Sunday morning before heading back south. It is hoped that we will be able to conduct more events like this north of the border in 2010.

Look out for upcoming events near you ...

Kirkcaldy - on Saturday, 28th November we will be holding a Taster Day at Kirkcaldy. Patrick Boyns and Mark Hill will be presenting sessions from various areas of the school's curriculum. Plans are to conduct sessions from the modules:

"The United Kingdom of Israel" (OLD05)
"Galatians" (NEW09)
"The History & Development of Biblical Texts" (GEN01)
"Leadership" (PRA06)

The day's events will commence at 10 am and will include 4 sessions with inter-session breaks. Things should finish by no later than 4 pm. A light lunch will be supplied and the congregation would appreciate knowing how many will be present for catering purposes.


Reading - on Sunday, 6th December, the Reading congregation will be hosting a Distance Learning Programme Launch event after their weekly assembly. More details to follow shortly.


Bristol - we will be travelling west to Bristol on Saturday, 12th December for another Taster Day - look out for more details!

We were back at Loughborough later this week for the first of a number of Distance Learning Programme Launch Events we are planning to hold around the country. A good number turned up to listen to presentations on the rationale for the programme, within the context of the history and work of the British Bible School, and the introduction to the first Introductory Module.

Our new banner displays were on display, along with our new advertising postcards. There was plenty of opportunity for questions and answers at the end and we are pleased that a number are signing up to enrol as new part-time students.

Look out for our new postcard adverts! The Publicity Group recently commissioned Aubrey Boyns to design a postcard around the theme 'Mission is possible' and this is what he has come up with - we are delighted! With an increased emphasis on mission, the idea is to promote the opportunities the school offers to help prepare workers for service, according to the abilities God has given us. The flip side of the card simply points others to our web site where there are details of our Extension and Distance Learning Programmes.

This afternoon saw further progress in the preparation of the Distance Learning Programme as several gathered at Loughborough to film the first of a series of panel discussion programmes aimed at illustrating various approaches to understanding the Bible. Under the chairmanship of Module One Tutor, Steven Whitehead, our guest panellists, Paul Hill, Adrian and Gill Limb performed admirably. Using a recently constructed set background supplied by FreeDimension Media Group, this first episode will appear in Unit Three of the first Module.

At a recent meeting of the school governors it was decided to focus attention on the development of the Distance Learning and Extension Programmes. The need for a much more flexible access to the curriculum is seen as a priority, as well as being necessary to sustain a residential programme in the medium to long term. To this end a new strategy paper, A Bible School For Our Time, has been compiled to help move things forward as development continues.

"The world is in as much need of salvation as ever. People are living and dying without ever hearing the simple message of the cross of Jesus. Paul wrote to Roman believers asking “how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?” One might be tempted to ask: “and how will they be sent unless they are first prepared? And where will they become prepared if there is no provision for training?”

The people of God have always needed servants who will devote themselves more fully to the mission of God, according to the abilities and opportunities he provides. They need shepherds and teachers, those who will feed them with the Word that is able to build them up and keep them from harm. The need to teach others “who will be able to teach others as well” is as vital now as it ever has been. But without adequate training there would be no workers prepared to take the message of Christ into an increasingly hostile world. And without thorough grounding in the Word it would only be a matter of time before essential truths of Scripture were lost or forgotten amidst ever-increasing moves towards secularism.

Training God’s people for mission may take many approaches. Traditional full-time classroom-based training has its place, as do more contemporary methods involving distance and part-time learning. Apprenticeship and In-Service Education and Training might also play an important part as seen perhaps in a number of New Testament examples. Whatever methods may be employed, training is essential and must be part of the planning of any mission-minded people - to train those who have been won to Christ to win others also. Rufus Anderson, the 19th century mission strategist who was particularly concerned with the self-propagation of local mission work, wrote: “Without education, it is not possible for mission churches to be in any proper sense self-governed; nor, without it, will they be self-supported, and much less self-propagating.” The importance of education and training among the people of Christ has long been recognised as essential to healthy growth."

The paper continues where the initial strategy document left off, with a further analysis of statistics relating to student numbers and the proportion of those coming from the U.K. It briefly reviews recent developments before addressing the issues of vision and curriculum relevance. Access to the curriculum is a major consideration and the rationale behind the focus on flexible provision.

If any with a particular interest in the development of the school would like to see a copy of this paper, please get in touch with us.

More filming took place today for the distance learning programme which should see its launch in June 2009.