Tony Watkins

I love helping people learn. I am an enthusiastic communicator and have taught, trained, and preached in a wide range of contexts from church groups through to academic contexts and international conferences over many years. I welcome invitations to speak, especially on contemporary media and the Bible (particularly the Old Testament prophets and wisdom literature). I also often speak on worldviews, culture, missiology, media analysis, and media production. See below for more details. 

I am comfortable engaging with both Christian and secular audiences, and aim to help people learn in a variety of styles: multimedia, interactive workshops, facilitating learning through small groups, mentoring individuals, formal lectures, and more.

Some background

I started preaching in churches as a teenager and have since been involved in a wide variety of up-front roles in many different contexts. Several years as a secondary school teacher gave me a solid grounding in engaging the attention of a reluctant (sometimes even hostile!) audience. My five years on the staff of UCCF (Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship) enabled me to develop my skills in training as well as teaching. I learned a great deal about cross-cultural speaking during my eight-year leadership of the Congregational World Assembly of Youth, and subsequently in other contexts (especially through my involvement with European Leadership Forum and the Lausanne Media Engagement Network). After joining Damaris in 1996, I further developed my skills in helping people learn through interactive multimedia workshops as well as in traditional teaching and training styles. Since leaving Damaris Trust in 2014, I have been a freelance speaker, trainer, and writer. I have been an adjunct lecturer at NLA University College, Kristiansand (Gimlekollen School of Journalism and Communications), Norway, since 2003, and was a visiting lecturer at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, from 2014 to 2017.

Topics

I will happily speak or provide training on a very wide range of subjects but areas of particular expertise include:

  • Bible teaching: Tony particularly welcomes invitations to teach the Bible, especially the Old Testament prophets and wisdom literature. [More details]
  • Engaging with the media: Theoretical frameworks and practical processes involved, as well as looking at lots of examples - especially from cinema and literature - and a biblical foundation for why this is important. [More details]
  • Understanding films and literature: workshops on how to watch films and read books with a greater awareness of worldviews and the deep longings of the human heart, and therefore how to respond to the messages which they communicate. Exploration of specific film-makers and authors. [More details]
  • Aspects of culture: Helping people understand both how our culture has developed, and some of the enormous changes that have taken place in recent decades. [More details]
  • Worldviews and ‘social imaginaries’: How to think about and engage with worldviews and the ways in which people view and relate to their society. This includes thinking about our deepest human longings – especially for ‘fullness’ or flourishing. I am also very happy to focus specifically on several of the major worldviews, including secular humanism and Buddhism. [More details]
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© Tony Watkins, 2020
The Tony and Jane Watkins Trust oversees and supports the ministries of Tony and Jane Watkins in Christian training, education, and communication. It is a charity registered in England and Wales, no. 1062254.
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