I’ll first start off by explaining what exactly this place is.

Capernwray is an international Bible school that is under the Torchbearers International group. Their mission is to proclaim the transforming presence of Jesus Christ through biblical teaching and practical training, equipping men and women for service in His church worldwide.

Capernwray is located in the countryside just outside of Lancaster, England. The Hall itself was built in early 1800s, and was bought in 1947 by Major Ian Thomas who created the school that we now know today.

Capernwray has much more history that I won’t go too deep into now, but follow this link below to learn more!

History of Capernwray

I’ve known about Capernwray for basically my entire life. My Dad attended when he was just 18 years old back in 1982-83. I’ve heard stories and seen this place through photo albums throughout the whole of my childhood. Much of the things Dad experienced while he attended 40 years ago, I would get to experience during my stay at the school. From working on the farm, to drinking English breakfast tea. Some things just don’t change.

I honestly never actually planned to come here. Attending Capernwray always seemed to be a far fetched dream of mine. It wasn’t until Sarah and I were traveling Europe last fall that the opportunity came up. We stayed with Swiss gentleman that Dad had went to Capernwray with and hitchhiked all through Europe together. After staying with his family for a few days, the thoughts of me actually attending Capernwray began to creep in. I chatted with Sarah about it, and she was in full support. I began the process of applying while we worked at the surf hostel in Portugal last December.

Just a few months later on April 7th, I was flying out from Boston heading to Manchester, England. I’d then make my way North to attend the Spring Semester at Capernwray, along with 110 other students from 70 different countries around the world.

Taking the train from Manchester to Lancaster

I would be living, learning, and studying the Bible over the following weeks. With six lectures a day, mandatory bible reading, weekly memory verses, studying for assignments, and writing papers it really is quite the immersive experience.

The days would end up flying by! The schedule would run something like this:

7am: Breakfast

9am - 12:40: First four lectures of the day.

1pm: Lunch

2pm - 5:30pm: Free Time/Sports

5:30pm: Dinner

7pm - 9pm: Last two lectures of the day.

9pm - 10:45: Sports/pool/Free time

This is what most of my days looked like Monday - Thursday.

Friday: A work day where all the students participate any kind of work that needs to be done around the property. From housekeeping, to gardening and farming there was quite the variety of jobs that students would be assigned to. (Fortunately I was placed with the farm crew)

Saturday: This was usually a free day for the students to do what they pleased. It was when we would go out and explore cities that were close by, sleep in, catch up on studying, or sometimes do community outreach (All students had the opportunity to serve in some capacity in the community that surrounded the school).

Sunday: Every student was assigned to a local church that they would attend/serve in for the 10 weeks of Spring school.

The vast majority of the time at the school was spent in lectures, studying and reading the bible. The lectures covered a very wide range of topics from books of the bible, to world missions. Here are a few of the topics:

The book of Deuteronomy
The books of 1 & 2 Kings
The Trinity
New religious Movement (Cults)
The Gospel and Social Action

There were many many more! Most lectures were given by guest speakers, however many were taught by some of the leadership at Capernwray. I personally thought the school did a fantastic job of giving a very wide variety of topics and opinions! Having so many guests come speak also made for a nice change in teaches styles that kept things from becoming boring.

It was not all about studying and work though! With 110 students from all across the globe, there of course had to be some healthy competition. Anytime we had free time, there was always something to do with somebody. From playing outdoor sports like soccer (football), spikeball, and frisbee to going inside to the games room for pool, pingpong or foosball. The staff would also organize weekly events and competitions.

Capernwray was such an incredible experience for me in many different ways. Following in my Dads footsteps, learning so much more about the bible than what I had already known, growing spiritually for myself, and also making friends that love God from all over the world! I plan to hopefully return to Capernwray or another Torchbearers school one day with Sarah!

There are a million things about this experience that I did not cover (I could type for DAYS), so if you have questions please reach out!

Also check out both Capernwray's Website and Torchbearers if you feel like this might be something you are interested in.