The Saturday Courses
Open to anyone, the Saturday Courses are an excellent way of gaining more than would normally be offered in church on Sunday whilst being less demanding than a full-time theological course.
Saturday Courses Login
This area is where registered Saturday Course users can access all lectures and content. If you'd like to sign up, find out more and register below.
One Saturday a month, from September through to April, three lectures are delivered by visiting speakers. These lectures, which are also available to access online, are specially designed to stretch the Christian mind and deepen an understanding of God’s word. The course content covers Biblical Studies, Practical Theology, Christian Discipleship and Christian Doctrine.
Who is the Saturday Course for?
The Saturday Courses, which may be completed with or without essays, are of great benefit to anyone who has a longing to dig deeper into the gospel.
They are also intended for office-bearers – to encourage them to learn how to approach theological, biblical, historical and pastoral issues and thus to develop a greater study of the word of God.
No prior qualifications are necessary – everyone is welcome.
The following awards are available in these courses:
Certificate in Theology
To qualify for a Certificate in Theology, the student is required to submit six essays (normally up to three essays each year).
Diploma in Christian Studies
This is a further course for those who have already gained their Certificate in Theology. To qualify for the Diploma in Christian Studies, the student is required to submit a further six essays (normally up to three essays each year).
And it does not stop there: for every six essays thereafter, a Diploma in Further Christian Studies will be awarded. Indeed, we have people who have been doing the course for 19 years!
When will the lectures take place?
In 2022/2023, the lectures will be delivered one Saturday a month on the following dates:
2022: 17 September, 8 October, 12 November, 10 December
2023: 14 January, 11 February, 18 March, 22 April
The lectures will be delivered from the Chalmers Hall at ETS from 10am to 3.15pm.
Classes at venues other than Edinburgh and Stornoway will make their own arrangements for meeting.
Watch this video, where John Angus MacLeod and Saturday Course student Megan Gray explain to prospective students what the Saturday courses involve.
Further Information
The Saturday lectures for each session are available online for enrolled students.
This facility allows students to watch the lectures live. It also makes it possible to keep the lectures on the website after delivery, so that you can access them as often as you wish until they are removed at the end of the course.
If you are a registered student on the Saturday Courses, you can access the lectures here using the login details that you have been provided with.
For those who are working towards course awards, here are the essay deadlines:
- Biblical Studies: 10 December 2022
- Christian Doctrine: 14 January 2023
- Practical Theology: 11 February 2023
Those who wish to qualify for the award of either the Certificate in Theology or the Diploma in Christian Studies will normally be required to submit three essays each year. Essay titles will be announced early in the course and students will receive guidance on the art of preparing and submitting written assignments. Successful completion of 6 essays will lead to the Certificate in Theology award. On successful completion of a further 6 essays, the Diploma in Christian Studies is awarded.
Students who obtain Distinctions in at least 3 out of the 6 essays will receive a Certificate in Theology with Distinction. Similarly, students who obtain Distinctions in at least 6 out of the 12 essays will receive a Diploma in Christian Studies with Distinction.
And it does not stop there: for every six essays thereafter, a Diploma in Further Christian Studies will be awarded. Indeed, we have people who have been doing the course for over 18 years!
If essays are submitted by email or post please send them to Ruth Smith – [email protected] – or post them to Edinburgh Theological Seminary, The Mound, Edinburgh, EH1 2LS.
Students who wish to attend without submitting the essays are welcome (and will pay a much lower fee).
However, essays offer more than a means of assessment; they are an important educational tool, stimulating students to think through important issues and to express themselves clearly.
Everyone is encouraged to rise to the challenge and every effort will be made to ensure that essay-marks are confidential.
In normal circumstances, groups meet to do the course at the venues below:
- Edinburgh Theological Seminary
- Stornoway Free Church
- Knockbain Free Church
Classes at venues other than Edinburgh and Stornoway will make their own arrangements for meeting.
Mound Books is the official book supplier for all our ETS reading lists.
Their opening hours are Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 5pm and books may be ordered by telephone (07863 905900), e-mail ([email protected]), or through their website (www.moundbooks.com).
Each book has been heavily discounted and postage is free to any UK address. When ordering through the website, shipping costs for Europe and the rest of the world will appear automatically at the checkout.
Books may also be ordered by phone, by e-mail or online from the bookshop.
On successful completion of the course, all students will be awarded a Completion of Studies certificate at the Seminary’s Annual Awards Ceremony in May.
- Standard: £268 a year
- Concessions: £78
- Veterans (four or more years’
faithful attendance): £44 - Full-time Students: £39
- Auditors (no essays): £44
- 18 and under: Free!
The Saturday Course Admissions Policy can be found here.
For further enquiries, please email the ETS Offices ([email protected]) or phone +44(0)131 376 3148.
Registration for the 2023-2024 courses will open in June 2023.
Lectures in 2022/2023
Practical Theology
Christian Pastoral Care: Biblical Background, Purpose and Practices
Lecturer: Andy Hunter
Pastoral care in Christian ministry can be needed in many different situations and contexts. In these series of lectures, we learn that the goal of Pastoral Care is not simply to provide academic and theoretical knowledge, although learning of that kind is a necessary foundation. Rather, it is to explore how to approach this subject and its real-life examples with a Biblically balanced and compassionate understanding of the challenges and complexities in this area. We also look at some Biblical tools for the application of pastoral care in the context of Christian ministry.
Biblical Studies
People Jesus Helped
Lecturer: Alex MacDonald
There are two ways of learning about Christian life and witness. One way is to follow the teaching, such as in the epistles of the Apostle Paul. Another way is to learn from the narrative parts of Scripture, such as the Gospels. It is significant that more than half of the Bible is composed of narrative. Sometimes, of course, it is difficult to deduce teaching from narrative. However, this is not the case with the Gospel narratives of Jesus’ interaction with people. So this series will consist of studies of Jesus’ personal, pastoral and evangelistic interactions in the Gospels.
Christian Doctrine
Creation and New Creation: How Grace Restores Everything
Lecturer: Cory Brock
To understand the power of Christ’s cross, one must first see the problem the cross addresses. That problem is both personal and cosmic, that creation is fallen. The apostle John famously says, “For God so loved the world that he sent his only Son.” He invites us there to understand Christ’s salvation in the light of God’s love for the world, for people and for everything else. The apostle’s creed reminds us: God almighty is the maker of heaven and earth. Therefore, God loves that which he has made and will not leave it to die. In this course we will explore the doctrines of creation, the fall, and re-creation or how the grace of Christ restores nature. The work of Christ is the work of restoration and so Christ came to be our great physician.
