Meet Tom: A church planter on our dispersed learning programme

Last December, Tom Morgan moved to Swindon to help plant a church. After finding out that he had been approved to pursue ordination through the Church of England, Tom says, ‘I was looking for somewhere to train where I could be fully involved in my context but still have some of the benefits of residential training.’

Tom joined Trinity College Bristol’s first dispersed learning (DL) cohort to complete the Diploma in Theology, Ministry, and Mission. These full-time non-residential students engage in ministry in a local context close to home and combine this training with six block weeks of study at college spread throughout the year. In their cohorts, they attend weekly virtual tutor groups for additional formation time and support for their time in context.

‘The DL community is very strong,’ Tom explains. ‘We meet weekly virtually from around the country, we’re informally in contact constantly through What’sApp, I’m in a virtual prayer triplet with two other guys, and when we’re at college the processing time we have together in the evenings is invaluable. We’re all fairly missional in our different contexts. I’m enjoying learning from other people who are different from me, who are plugged into different contexts.’

Tom has also appreciated joining the residential community in worship and meals while at college for block weeks.

‘Another big benefit is that training through Trinity allows us to be in church every Sunday. Consistency is really important in the first year and a half of a church plant,’ he says.

To find out more about dispersed learning at Trinity, contact our admissions office: admissions@trinitycollegebristol.ac.uk or 0117 968 0254.