Faith Foundations Course Success in Kingswinford Parish

Kingswinford Parish have had great success with a course they developed called Faith Foundations, for adults who want to know more about Christianity. It has led to a growth in faith for those attending, bible study and friendship groups, baptisms and confirmations, and one person now also exploring the path to ordination.

Chris Smith (pictured) led on developing the course when he was Assistant Curate in Kingswinford parish, before he moved on to Pensnett. The course takes place over 6 evenings and one all-day session and is aimed at being a good overview of the main tenants of Christianity, with sessions focused on why Jesus lived and died, the Holy Spirit, prayer and on the bible.

Adam Hadley said: “We were looking to develop a course that would both honour our tradition and support adults in our parish who are new or returning to church, or looking to understand more whilst on their discipleship journeys.”

Food is an important part of the course with each session starting with the group sharing a cooked meal together.

Adam remarked: “We’ve just run this course for the third time, and we’ve now established quite a nice tradition of some of the members of the previous group cooking and serving the meals to the next group. While with the all-day session we go to the pub for lunch!”

He added: “We’ve seen a good number of confirmations as a result of this course, a deepening of understanding of theology, and had lots of really good conversations. We’ve also found with these groups journeying together, that this has built community; friendship groups have formed and flourished.”

A bible study group developed out of the first group which is run by Jacob Davey who is now exploring ordination!

Jacob said:

“Faith Foundations was a fantastic stepping stone for building my understanding of the Christian faith. By exploring scripture together—delving into its history, context, and spirituality—our group grew in our understanding of discipleship and formed a close bond. Inspired by this journey, we decided to keep going!”

“We now meet bi-weekly for a Bible study to continue exploring scripture, praying together, and sharing our growth. For me, it has deepened my understanding of my calling toward ordination, and I know others in the group are also discerning where God is leading them. In short, Faith Foundations has made scripture and the Bible truly accessible to newer Christians.”

Kingswinford parish are planning to run the course again in early 2027 as a lunchtime course. Look out for more information on their Facebook pages.