Slides and notes from a talk given at the annual convention of the Diocese of Southeast Florida, October 26-27, 2018.
Catechesis and Formation that Work slides
Resources I mentioned
- RenewalWorks, a ministry of Forward Movement that helps congregations learn about their spiritual vitality and create a culture of discipleship.
- Research Summary of what we have learned so far about spiritual vitality in the Episcopal Church.
- The Good Book Club, an initiative to encourage all Episcopalians to read whole books of the Bible together. This is a free offering from Forward Movement and many other partners. (Spanish version)
- The Bible Challenge was created by Fr. Marek Zabriskie as a way to engage scripture by encouraging people to read through the entire Bible or through a particular book. Lots of free resources at the Bible Challenge website. Forward Movement publishes the Bible Challenge, a companion book for reading the whole Bible. There are also books for Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts, as well as the theme of social justice.
- Miqra is a public reading of scripture, in which people read through all of the Old and New Testaments out loud over a weekend. There’s a great summary article with lots of links over at Key Resources. Created by the Diocese of Kansas.
- Living Discipleship is a set of three free one-year courses of congregations. Each year’s material is available for children and youth/adults, in English and Spanish. (Some material is not in Spanish at present.) See next bullet points for each year, which can be done in any order or just one year or however you want.
- Exploring the Bible offers a year-long look at the most important stories of the Bible. For adults, there’s The Path, a kind of digest version of the Bible using NRSV. For those who have never really read scripture, it’s a great way to see the great arc of God’s love for us. There’s also a children’s book and an adult coloring book. All these resources work together with the free course (which can be used without buying anything at all).
- Practicing Our Faith introduces people to the beliefs and practices of the Episcopal Church. There’s a free course and a book for adults called Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs and Practices. Children’s curriculum is forthcoming.
- Celebrating the Saints shows how Christ’s light can shine in the hearts of women and men of all places and times. In addition to learning about saints, the course offers some teaching on the history of our church. There’s a free course and a wonderfully illustrated children’s book.
- Transforming Questions, a free course from Forward Movement for seekers and new Christians. (There’s also a companion book and a participant’s guide for optional use.)
- ChurchNext offers online learning for individuals and groups. You can pay for just one class or subscribe (like Netflix!) and take as many classes as you want.
All of the books mentioned here should be available from Amazon or your local bookstore, though it helps Forward Movement if you buy directly. There are bulk discounts if you’re buying several books. And of course, books are available for all the major ebook platforms.