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The Rest of Life

Speaker: Rev Dr Tudor Griffiths

Date & Time: Friday, 10th July, 7-9pm

Venue: Hillview Church, Hucclecote. 26 Colwell Ave, GL3 3LX

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

The Rest of Life

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!

About Rev Dr Tudor Griffiths

Tudor was born and brought up in South Wales; he was married for 20 years to Nelleke from Holland, with whom he had two sons. Ordained in Brecon Cathedral, he spent the majority of his career serving in both ministry and mission – in Wales, Uganda, and locally in Cheltenham and Gloucester – before ‘retiring’ to the Welsh borders, only to become the mayor of Chepstow! 

Tudor is an author, historian, and theologian, with a doctorate in mission history.  For the last 25 years he has been married to Anna and enjoys immensely being a grandfather of five.

Previous Gateway Forums

The Rest of Life

Speaker: Rev Dr Tudor Griffiths
Date & Location: Hillview Church, Hucclecote, Friday, 10th July
 
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.

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 26th Sept

Dr Daniel Button celebrates the 1700th 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: 

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