Difference Website
Visit the Difference Website to learn more about the course and sign up for Host training.
Join the Movement
Sign up to the Difference newsletter to be part of a growing community of people who long to see their faith have an impact. Each month, you’ll receive an email with videos, written reflections and news on how you can get involved.
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Calling all stories
If you've been inspired by Difference, either by participating or facilitating the course, we would love to hear from you!
Get in touch and tell us your story.
Email: Emma.CrickdeBoom@Coventry.Anglican.org
What need does Difference address
We are in a climate where people are really concerned about their livelihoods, their jobs, families, their identity and place in modern society. Conflict is to be expected in any relationship, yet we are often ill-equipped to respond constructively to the fracture, division and difference we face every day.
We experience shared fatigue and anxiety as we navigate these concerns and fractures. Many Christians long for their faith to have a positive impact but feel unsure of where to begin, overwhelmed at the complexity and struggle.
When we see divisions around us in the world and close to home, the Difference course is equipping communities and individuals to build community cohesion, navigate disagreement, and cross divides through our everyday encounters.
Starting with our own relationships and encounters, the course invites us to learn 3 reconciling habits that extend outwards to our community. Participants are equipped to Be Curious of where they are now, to Be Present to truly see and listen to one another, and to Reimagine how we can be communities of active hope and deep relationship, with God and one another.
As community members and leaders focus their efforts on rebuilding and re-energising dispersed communities after a long period of isolation, consider Difference as a tool to regather people and rebuild relationships.
How can I get started?
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To access materials and find out everything you need to know to run a Difference course, create an account on the Training and Resources Hub, you’ll be able to start training straight away, but you can go through the content at a time and pace that suits you. The essential training takes no longer than 30 minutes to complete and you can pause and resume training at any time.
Feel free to have a browse of the site, and you can create a login to have a look at the training here. -
Once you have been through training you will have access to course materials and additional promotional resources to advertise the course to your community.
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This course is designed for both large and small groups and can be run both online or in person.
Experiences of the course:
Watch: Barry’s experience running the Difference course
What localized support can I get?
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Support in getting started with Difference.
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Support for those who’ve hosted Difference before and want to explore next steps.
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‘unpacking sessions’ identifiying needs in your community, to help engage accross everyday differences and reflect them through .
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Think with you how to identify hosts in your surrounding areas and help them grow in confidence.
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Take the habits and build on them in creative ways to bring in societal transformation.
I invite lay and clergy leaders to get in touch by sending an email with your questions or to set up a meeting:
Email: Emma.CrickdeBoom@Coventry.Anglican.org
Reconciliation Enabler of the Diocese of Coventry: Emma Crick de Boom
Working closely with the Archbishop of Canterbury's reconciliation team in both London and Coventry, Emma mobilises, envisions and empowers churches and individuals in the Diocese of Coventry and across the West Midlands to engage with 'Difference'. This is a course that explores what it means to follow Jesus in a divided and conflicted world, equipping people with three formational habits of reconciliation to help see transformation through everyday encounters. The course is designed for both online and in-person groups.
In the Diocese of Coventry, and drawing on the experience of the Cathedral, Emma builds upon the use of the 'Difference' course to embed and better activate the Diocese’s commitment to the gospel of reconciliation. She plays a key part in enabling the Diocese to engage with the Living in Love and Faith Resources. She also be equips and empowers churches, schools, chaplaincies, and individuals to be ‘Partners together in the Message and Ministry of Reconciliation’ throughout the Whole Diocese.