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Part 1. Lifelong Faith Formation
Lifelong & Lifewide Faith Formation for
Everyone!
Faith Formation Goals
Churches want faith formation that helps people. . . grow in their relationship with God throughout
their lives live as disciples of Jesus Christ at home, in the
workplace, in the community and the world develop an understanding of the Bible and their
faith tradition deepen their spiritual life and practices engage in service and mission relate the Christian faith to life today participate in the life and ministries of the faith
community
Holistic Faith & Formation
A way of the head (inform) demands a discipleship of faith seeking understanding and belief with personal conviction, sustained by study, reflecting, discerning and deciding, all toward spiritual wisdom for life.
A way of the heart (form) demands a discipleship of right relationships and right desires, community building, hospitality and inclusion, trust in God’s love, and prayer and worship.
A way of the hands (transform) demands a discipleship of love, justice, peace-making, simplicity, integrity, healing, and repentance.
(Thomas Groome)
GROWTH IN
FAITH
Caring Relationshi
ps
Rituals & Milestone
s
Church Year
Seasons
Learning the
Tradition
PrayingSpiritual Formatio
n Reading the Bible
Serving Working
for Justice Caring
for Creation
Worshipping
Faith Forming Processes
Faith Forming Processes
1. Caring relationships2. Celebrating rituals and milestones3. Celebrating the liturgical seasons4. Learning the Christian tradition and
applying it to life today5. Praying, devotions, and spiritual formation6. Reading the Bible7. Serving people in need, working for
justice, caring for creation8. Worshipping with the faith community
Religious Transmission
Factors Promoting Faith Growth
The combination of the following factors makes an enormous difference in religious outcomes during emerging adulthood:
1. the teenager’s parental religion 2. importance of faith3. prayer4. Scripture reading 5. lack of religious doubts6. personal religious experiences 7. having supportive nonparent adults in
the churchThese most influential factors make differences of sizeable magnitude in substantive outcomes.
In these seven factors alone, we have identified some powerful teenage factors associated with and, we think, causing differences in emerging adult religious commitment and practice. 85% chance of being Highly Religious as an
emerging adult if you were in the top 25% on the scales of:
1. parental religion2. prayer3. importance of faith4. Scripture reading
Factors Promoting Faith Growth
Family Religious Socialization
Faith
Parental Faith
Parental Modeling
& TeachingPrayer
Scripture Reading
75% chance of being a Highly Religious emerging adult if you were in the the top 25% on scales of:
5. having support nonparent adults in the church,
6. having personal religious experiences 7. lack of religious doubts
Factors Promoting Faith Growth
Factors Promoting Faith Growth
Approximately 70% of youth who at some time or other before mid-emerging adulthood commit to live their lives for God, the vast majority appear to do so early in life, apparently before the age of 14.
Most make their first commitments to God as children or during the preteen or very early teen years.
Many religious trajectories followed in the course of life’s development seemed to be formed early in life.
Factors Promoting Faith Growth
Parental Influence: The single most important social influence on the religious and spiritual lives of children and adolescents (and emerging adults) is their parents.
Embedded Family Religious Practices: Effective religious socialization comes about through specific religious activities that are firmly intertwined with the daily habits of family life.
Making a Difference in the Life of Families
1. Nurturing the faith life of parents and grandparents
2. Teaching and resourcing parents and grandparents to provide religious socialization and model the Christian faith and practice
3. Engaging the whole family in worship and community life
4. Equipping families to engage in faith practices5. Building family assets 6. Encouraging parents to develop a warm,
supporting, affirming, and authoritative parenting style
Family Assets - Search Institute
Family Assets
Families with more assets are more likely to: Have children who are actively engaged
in school and who earn higher grades Act in socially responsible ways like
spending time together serving their communities.
Teach youth to make good decisions. Foster positive identity and values. Nurture spiritual development. Build social-emotional skills. Encourage healthy life habits.
Daily & Home Life
Through the day: meal times, car times, morning and bedtime, exits and entries, family sharing times
Through the year: church year seasons, rituals and celebrations
Through the lifecycle: milestones and rites of passage
Through key family moments – good times and hard times, times of joy and sorrow
Through life issues and life skills: parenting, decision-making, financial planning, communication, and more
Online Life
Daily & Home Life
Community Life
Church Life
Settings for Faith Formation
Intergenerational & Generational
Process At Church At Home In Community
Online
Caring Relationships
Church Year Feasts & Seasons
Learning the Tradition
Prayer & Spiritual Formation
Reading the Bible
Rituals & Milestones
Service & Working for Justice
Worship
Planning Lifelong Faith Formation
2. A Faith Formation Network
IntergenerationalFaith Community
Children & Parents
Adolescents & Parents
Young Adults
Mid-Life Adults
Mature Adults
Older Adults
New Operating System: Faith Formation Network
Intergenerational Faith Formation
Caring
Celebrating
Learning
Praying
Serving
Intergenerational Faith Formation
1. Caring: Community building activities, storytelling, mentoring, social events
2. Celebrating: Intergenerational Sunday Worship, whole community sacramental celebrations, milestones celebrations, church year feasts and seasons
3. Learning: Structured IG learning programs (weekly, monthly, small group); incorporating IG learning into age group programming
4. Praying: IG prayer experiences, prayer partner, IG prayer groups, spiritual guides
5. Serving: IG service projects and mission trips (local, global), church-wide service day, monthly IG service, IG service nights at church
Age GroupFamily
All Ages
On Your Own & Small
Groups
At Home
Large Group:
Course, Workshop,
RetreatChurch Life
& Events
Community Programs, Events, & Activities
Online Activities & Resources
New Operating System: Faith Formation Network
Network Programming
A wide variety of diverse faith formation experiences, programs, activities, and resources to match with people’s diverse needs and tailored to their busy lives.
Multiple ways to learn and grow Online/virtual & Gathered/physical Mobile - available anytime &
anywhere.
Baptism
Mentors
Faith Practices
@ Home
Prayer, Rituals, Bible,
Family Conversation,
ServiceParent Faith Formation &
Parenting Skills
Workshops CoursesOnline
ResourcesSupport Groups
Milestones
Baptism Anniversary, First Prayers,
Start of School
Family Learning
Programs
Church Gatherings
Small GroupsWorkshops
Parent/Family Online
Resource Center
Families in the First Decade of Life
Intergenerational
Experiences with the
Whole Faith Community
Sunday Worship
@ HomeSeasons of the Year
Family Life
Practicing Our Faith
Milestones
For Parents
Children’s
Programs &
Events
Families with ChildrenFaith FormationNetwork
Family Faith Formation Network
Intergenerational Experiences & Connections
Youth Group
Confirmation
Program
Adolescent Life Issues
Parent-Teen
Activities &
Resources
Bible Study & Religious LearningPrayer &
Spiritual Formation
Service Projects Mission
Trips
Milestones
Youth Leadershi
p
Parent Education & Support
Groups
Youth Faith FormationNetwork
Prayer & Spiritual
Life
Daily Devotion Resources
Spiritual Mentoring Resources
Prayer Group Resources
Spiritual Practices Course
Resources
Retreat Resources
Day at the Monastery Resources
Online Prayer
Intentions
YouthNetwork
Intergenerational
Experiences &
Connections
Weekly Gatheri
ng & Worship
Life Issues,
Transitions, &
Milestones
Scripture Enrichme
nt
Faith Enrichme
nt
Spiritual Enrichme
ntJustice, Service, Mission
Third Place Care
Discovering Faith (Alpha Course)
YA Community Events
Social Media
Connections
Young Adult FaithFormationNetwork
Intergenerational
Experiences &
Connections
Sunday Worship through
the Week Scriptur
e Enrichm
ent
Spiritual Enrichm
ent
Faith Enrichm
ent
Discovering Faith
Life Issues
Service &
Mission
Grand-parents
Adult Faith FormationNetwork
Spiritual Enrichme
nt
Online Courses Resource
Apps & E-newsletters Resource
Online Prayer &
SpiritualityResources
Small Group Bible Study Resources
Retreats Resource
Day at the Monastery Resource
Spiritual Book of the Month Club
Resource
Monthly Spiritual Practices
Series
Resource
Adult Faith FormationNetwork
Adult Faith Formation Network
Network Theme
Activity 1Resource
Resource
Activity 2Resource
Resource
Activity 3Resource
Resource
Developing Network Programming
Current Activities & Programs
New Activities & Programs
Three Seasons of Programming
Fall Season: September 1 –
January 1
Winter/Spring Season:
January 1 – May 1
Summer Season: May 1 – September 1
Fall
Winter-Spring
Summer
Digital Platform
Other Platformswww.wordpress.org www.wix.com
www.squarespace.com
Connected Faith FormationVirtual & Physical Settings
Online Faith
Formation
Mostly Online with
Regular Interactio
n in Gathered Sessions
Online Faith
Formation &
Gathered Sessions (Flipped Classroo
m)
Gathered Program
with Online
Components
beyond the
Program
Gathered Program
with Supportive Online Content
Extending Church Events with Online Content
Event or
Program
TALKConversati
on Activities
LEARNReadListenWatch
ACTPracticesServiceProjects
PRAYDevotions
Bible Reading
Daily Prayer
SHARE Blog
FacebookVideo
Projects
You can extend. . . . Sunday worship Church year feasts
and seasons Sacrament and ritual
celebrations Children, teen, or
family programming VBS and summer
camp Mission trips and
service projects Retreat experiences. . . . and more
Extending Worship with Online Content
Church Life
Daily & Home Life Online Life
Experience of Worship in the Congregation• Sunday
worship and lectionary
• Church year feasts and seasons
• Church rituals: baptism, communion, funerals, etc.
Experience of Sunday worship, rituals, and church year seasons in daily life • Reflecting on the
sermon and readings at home
• Practices: Lectio, etc.
• Application to daily living
Online worship, church year, and lectionary resources on the church’s faith formation website• Lectionary
commentaries online
• Video reflections and commentary
• Online activities and projects
Extending a Church Season with Online Content
Church Life Daily & Home Life
Online Life
• Ash Wednesday
• Lenten Sunday liturgies
• Stations of the Cross
• Lenten prayer • Lenten retreat• Lenten service• Lenten soup
suppers
• Fasting• Praying• Service/
Almsgiving• Lectionary
reflection• Family
activities
• Lenten learning resources
• Lenten calendar
• Daily Lenten prayer
• Weekly table prayer
• Video resources
• Online retreat experience
Lent
Online & Gathered Programming
Flipped Classroom
@ HomeExploring the Content- print, audio, video,
activities
@ The ProgramApplying the Content:
Create – Practice - Perform - Participate
Flipp
ed
Cla
ssroom
Flipp
ed
Cla
ssroom
Personalized pathways for discipleship & faith growth. . . . Guide people in discerning their
religious and spiritual needs Equip people with the resources and
tools to learn and grow at their own pace
Provide mentoring and support for the journey
Personalized Faith Formation
Create expectations for participation in faith formation and church life by providing a seasonal/yearly growth plan with a variety of options for experiencing the Christian faith through community life. For example:
Sunday worship Church year feasts and seasons Service/mission projects Retreat experience Faith practices @ home, e.g. reading the
Bible, praying, rituals, and more
Faith Growth Plan
Current Roles Developing
religious content Designing
programming Managing
programming Teaching/
Facilitating programming
Emerging Roles Designing
learning environments—architecture
Curating religious content and experiences
Emerging Roles
Curated Faith Formation
Curating Content & Experiences
1. Church Programs & Activities
2. Denominational Resources3. Community Programs &
Activities4. People Resources5. Print, Audio, Video
Resources6. Art, Drama, Music7. Websites, Courses, Blogs 8. Apps & Digital Resources
