Infusing Best Practices of Faith Formation into Your Congregation

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Infusing Best Practices of Faith Formation into
Your Congregation

• New England Association of United Church
  Educators
• May 7-9, 2013

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Workshop Outline

• Overview of Best Practices
• Case Studies
• Small Groups
• Discussion

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• What is Faith Formation?
• An engaged process of learning and practice
  integrated throughout all aspects of
  congregational and daily life

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Best Practices

• General Approaches/Pedagogies
• Faith formation is a lifelong endeavor.
• Faith formation in the 21st century requires a
  spirit of adaptation to new challenges.
• Faith formation addresses the diversity of
  peoples spiritual and religious needs.
• Faith formation takes place in a diversity of
  settings in order for faith to be fully
  integrated into individuals lives and contexts.

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Best Practices

• General Approaches/ Pedagogies (cont.)
• Faith formation utilizes a variety of formats and
  technologies for learning and growing in faith.
• Faith formation is both a formal and informal, an
  intentional and an unexpected, process.

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Best Practices

• General Approaches/Pedagogies (cont.)
• Faith formation requires intentional
  intergenerational activity through communities of
  practice.
• The role of the Christian educator is not
  primarily to be a singular teacher or
  facilitator, but rather, a co-nurturer.
• The role of the Christian educator is not to be a
  content creator, but rather, a content curator.

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Best Practices

• Worship, Mission, Discipleship
• There is a strong connection between a
  congregations faith formation and its worship.
• The use of drama, art, and music in faith
  formation has a profound impact on individuals
  and congregations.
• Service and mission provide profound
  opportunities for conversation and on-going faith
  formation.
• Faith formation and education, when understood
  within the broader context of discipleship,
  creates a more holistic understanding of the task
  of this ministry.

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Best Practices

• Children, Youth, Young Adults, and Families
• Intergenerational faith formationbringing all
  age groups together to learn about their faithis
  an effective way to accomplish the goals of
  lifelong faith formation.
• Congregations in which children, youth, and young
  adults are active participants and leaders in the
  whole life of the church are communities of vital
  faith formation.
• The role of the home is critical to faith
  formation.

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Best Practices

• Children, Youth, Young Adults, and Families
  (cont.)
• Vital formational childrens ministry is about
  story, ritual, and relationship.
• Vital youth faith formation makes connections
  between a personal God, youths communal
  concerns, and their role and agency in their own
  lives and in world.
• Faith formation for young adults is different
  than faith formation for older adults.
• Vital faith formation for children, youth, and
  young adults occurs when adults engage their own
  faith in meaningful ways and serve as models for
  them.

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First Congregational Church Battle Creek, MI

• A Spiritual Playground
• http//www.fccbc.org/pdf/SmallGroups/SM-Faith20Fo
  rmation.pdf

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McFarland UCCMcFarland, WI

• Messy Church
• http//www.mcfarlanducc.org/
• https//www.facebook.com/media/set/?seta.10151215
  495860960.506767.187599905959type3

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Kirkwood UCCAtlanta, GA

• The City
• www.kirkwooducc.com
• http//www.onthecity.org/

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• Small Group Discussions
• What one or two best practices speak to you or
  excite you the most?
• How/where might you begin to incorporate these
  practices in your own ministry context?
• What are some indicators of what success might
  look like with regard to your identified best
  practices?

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• Contact
• Rev. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi, Ph.D.
• Minister for Christian Faith Formation Research
• Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Team,
  Local Church Ministries
• 1-866-822-8224 ext. 3866
• hajbik_at_ucc.org