ArtServe festival 2025

Bookbinding and Journaling           Facilitator: Michelle Pickering

In this workshop, you will learn key bookbinding techniques to create a hardbound, handstitched book. No previous experience is necessary. As we make our books, we’ll explore different ways we can journal, and Michelle will provide a few options that participants may want to work through over the weekend, linked to our Festival theme, giving you time to sit privately and write, draw and reflect. We will use the Bible as our template, our wellspring, to consider the different ways you can use the books you make as a way of documenting in words or images, your life, faith and journey with God. You may, of course, use it in an entirely different way – the choice is yours.

Michelle is a member and Trustee of ArtServe, and a Methodist Local Preacher. As an avid crafter, she enjoys a wide range of crafts, currently focusing on bookbinding, needle felting and quilting.

Bringing comfort, strength and encouragement to others through our artwork            Facilitator: Chris Duffett

Join Chris Duffett and be guided in painting simple scenes that speak of God’s love and care for those around you. This workshop could have been called ‘Painting prophetically in evangelism’ but that sounds way too scary! Come and learn to unpack the scary words of evangelism and prophecy in a way that flows like a river from you. No previous experience necessary.

Chris is an evangelist and artist, author, tutor, and Baptist Minister – and our keynote speaker for this Festival weekend.

Music workshop for instrumentalists – to be confirmed

Poetry in worship     Facilitator: Richenda Milton Daws

There is a deep well of poetry from which we can draw to inspire prayer or meditation on God. Some of the poems that move us may have been written with no religious intent at all, but they can still be channels through which we hear the divine voice. All participants are invited to bring a favourite poem along to this session, where we can share our responses and encourage each other, choosing beautiful words to enrich our worship.

Richenda is a Licensed Lay Minister (Reader) in the Church of England and a lifelong lover of poetry. She is editor of Transforming Ministry, the magazine for Lay Ministers in England and Wales, and a former Chair of ArtServe.

Quiet Space – A Digital Retreat Resource             Facilitator: Jac Hicks

With calm nature photographs from your phone or camera (or provided stock photos), plus a Bible text and wellbeing words and phrases, create a PowerPoint to use in worship, during prayer. Also useful for small groups, or for yourself as a personal retreat. No previous experience with Power

Point is necessary, but you are welcome to use your own laptop with PowerPoint loaded if you wish. All retreats will be saved and can be taken away on your own data stick, or transferred to you electronically.

Jacqui was an Arts Adviser with The Methodist Church and has been involved with ArtServe since its conception. She is an experienced workshop leader and loves bringing ways of using the arts in all forms to your worship.

Songwriting   Facilitator: Rob Newton

A workshop for anyone, regardless of musical ability. Using a simple chord structure, we can create a new song for use in worship, from either scripture or other original ideas. Participants will be shown how their ideas can be transformed into a modern worship song. These will be shared amongst the group and possibly used in the Sunday worship.

Rob has been songwriting and performing for 50 years and 35 of these in a church context. As well as writing original worship songs he also re-writes and recycles older hymns for the modern world.

Sound and Sensation           Facilitator: Gill Barrett

Do you have a love for music and different sounds and wish to explore musical sound in a new and creative way? You don’t have to be musical to be ‘soundly’ creative! This workshop will allow you to feel the full sensation of music using our body, basic instruments, and plenty of new sound creators, using everyday objects to create sensory music which will hopefully take us to a new dimension as we explore our response to biblical passages.

Gill Barrett is a retired Head teacher and still works part time in special education. She loves music, and plays in a worship band, sings, and plays guitar. She has a passion for fully immersive worship through outdoor experiences and engaging all the senses.

Visio Divina   Facilitator: Jenny Harris

Visio divina, sacred seeing, is an ancient form of prayer that continues to be a powerful method of meditation. Art becomes the sacrament that opens our hearts to the indwelling Spirit of God. We will do a visio divina exercise using an icon, and explore how visio divina can be used both in worship and for individual prayer.

Having travelled to Russia and Greece visiting orthodox churches and seeing some amazing Icons, Jenny has tried to write them herself – without success! So instead she has found more creative ways to use them in worship as a Methodist Local preacher.

Well blessing and well dressing – to be confirmed

Wellsprings is at:

Yarnfield Park Conference Centre,

Yarnfield, Stone,

Staffordshire, ST15 0NL

 Yarnfield Park Training & Conference Centre