The Gateway Forum

Next Forum

Tyndale’s New Testament: Celebrating 500 years of the Bible in English

Speaker: Neil Rees

Date & Time: Sunday, 29th November 7-9pm

Venue: Cirencester Baptist Church Chesterton Lane, GL7 1YE

Cost by Donation Please Register in Advance

Poster

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How did we get the English Bibles we use today? Exactly 500 years ago in 1526, William Tyndale published the first ever English translation of the NT from Greek – ultimately sacrificing his life in pursuit of this goal. But did you know that Tyndale was born and worked on this masterpiece in secret, right here in Gloucestershire? And that his work is matched only by Shakespeare in its impact on the English language? Yet because of the power of church & state, he was pursued, betrayed, executed, his work nearly destroyed, and was never given credit – even though all English Bibles to follow relied on his work as their basis.

Come and discover the extraordinary story of Tyndale’s life and translation!

Q&A time will follow.

About the Speaker

As Chairman of the Tyndale Society in the UK, Neil Rees is the ideal speaker to present this final talk of 2026 for the Gateway Forum. His exquisite knowledge of Tyndale’s life, history, theology, linguistic craftsmanship and global impact will be an enriching and delightful experience – all the moreso for taking place in Cirencester, right near where it all began. Don’t miss out!

Refreshments from 7pm; Welcome & Intro, then a 1 hour Talk, followed by 30 min Q&A.

Previous Gateway Forums

Is The Bible Patriarchal?

Speaker: Dr Elaine Storkey
Venue: St Catharine’s Church, Gloucester Friday 25th September, 7-9pm

Elaine Storkey is an award-winning author and highly-regarded speaker, academic, theologian, and biblical scholar. She has lectured around the world and written on a broad range of topics, perhaps best known for her work in Christian feminism and perspectives on gender in the Bible, as well her global advocacy opposing violence against women.

Elaine writes: The Bible has sometimes been criticised as a document written by men for men, where women are presented through male narrators and lawmakers, and where God is seen in male terms. If this has a divine stamp of approval where does it leave women? This talk will pick through some of the issues behind this position, but will argue that it misunderstands the nature of biblical literature, and the God it discloses.

If you missed it, you can view the talk via the YouTube link below:

The Rest of Life

Speaker: Rev Dr Tudor Griffiths
Location & Date: Hillview Church, Hucclecote, Friday, 10th July, 7-9pm

Retirement raises questions of identity (Who am I? now that I am no longer…). Tudor Griffiths explores some of the Biblical teaching about Identity in Christ, that can help not only in retirement but in preparation for the same. He further explores the Biblical idea of Rest as a helpful way of thinking about retirement as a sabbath of life. Retirement is the last stage of life, but in the meantime we can live in joyful hope, while not being unrealistic about the challenges. Along the way we can draw on wisdom from the rather neglected book of Ecclesiastes and also from the eighteenth-century poet and hymn-writer, William Cowper. The talk is aimed at getting us thinking – not giving all the answers!

If you missed it, you can view the talk via the YouTube link below:

Josephine Butler: Patron Saint of Prostitutes

Speaker: James Greig (Oxford based lawyer-theologian-historian).

Date & Location: St Matthew’s, Cheltenham: Fri 27th March, 2026

James Greig explores the remarkable and compelling story of this local heroine whose faith drove her to act at great personal peril, yet whose legacy has been largely forgotten. Fifty years before women gained the right to vote, Josephine Butler (1828-1906) a devout Christian from a privileged background – became one of the most courageous social reformers in modern history, fighting a powerful patriarchy, reaching out beyond boundaries of class, status and social norms, to befriend women whom society had rejected.

Confronting great opposition and risk, she advocated for radical changes in British law – laying the foundations for the humanitarian system of justice we take for granted today. In light of the Epstein files and the challenges of contemporary sex trafficking today, this is the ideal time to rediscover Josephine Butler’s inspirational story.

If you missed it, you can view the talk via the YouTube link below:

I (Thou) Robot: God, Morals and Machine Beings

Speaker: Rev Dr Stephen Goundrey-Smith (scientific theologian and ethicist, ordained CofE minister).

Date & Location: Christchurch, Abbeydale, Fri 9th Jan, 2026

Stephen explores the ethical and theological issues that machine beings – robots, cyborgs and artificial intelligences – present humanity and the contemporary world. What does it mean to be human… or not? He looks at some robots in popular culture, and discusses the salient cultural features and ethical issues machine beings present, using a framework for Christian ethical evaluation of transhumanist and other futuristic technologies. Issues include themes of: autonomy, nature, embodiment and the image of God (imago Dei). He concludes by exploring how humans can relate to machine beings, and the goodness (or otherwise) of machine beings’ contributions to the world.

If you missed it, you can view the talk via the YouTube link below:

The Nicene Creed at 1700 Years

Speaker: Speaker Dr Daniel Button (theologian & director of Gateway Theology School)
Date & Location: St Andrew’s Church, Churchdown, Friday 26^th Sept

Dr Daniel Button celebrates the 1700^th anniversary of the council of Nicea, an event filled with mystery, intrigue, theological brawls, and the beginnings of a Church-State relationship still in place today – for better or for worse. Around the world Christians still repeat the Nicene creed as a benchmark of faith, yet we often know little about how it came to be, or the strange events around its formation.

If you missed it, you can view the talk via the YouTube link below: