We give you thanks, most gracious God, for the beauty of earth and sky and sea; for the richness of mountains, plains, and rivers; for the songs of birds and the loveliness of flowers. We praise you for these good gifts, and pray that we may safeguard them for our posterity. Grant that we may continue to grow in our grateful enjoyment of your abundant creation, to the honor and glory of your Name, now and for ever. Amen. 1979 Book of Common Prayer

Another Earth Day (April 22) has come and gone. It is now May, the flowers are blooming and the trees are thickening each day with shades of green foliage. Robins hop around my front lawn in search of fresh worms after the recent spring shower and the finches are rebuilding their annual nest in the straw wreath that hangs by my front door. I can easily sit back and watch Mother Nature unfold. But I also realize that the seasons during this past year have been unusual. In 2011, Connecticut had over 4 feet of snow, in 2012 we had a few dustings. We had a week of 80-degree weather in March and the forsythia, magnolias, tulips and daffodils all blossomed 6 weeks earlier than usual.

Our environment is changing. Whether this is all God’s plan or not, we humans have responsibility for the care of the Earth, our garden home. We are currently facing extreme climate variability – the earth’s warming is occurring 10 times faster than had previously been estimated and the polar ice sheets are dropping at 10 meters per year. One of the qualities of leaders of the future will be to have “bio-empathy” – the ability to see things from nature’s point of view; to understand, respect and learn from nature’s patterns. Nature has its own clarity, if only we humans can understand and engage with it.

I believe it is the responsibility of our faith community to lead the way in teaching how to be good stewards of our environment. And it can start in our own churches, modeling good practices: recycling all bottles, cans and paper; not using Styrofoam coffee cups (better yet – use real dishes); using electronic means for communication; not relying on print paper for Sunday bulletins. Add your own ideas here.

The climate challenge is about respect for God’s creation. How could the wisdom of our Christian tradition help people engage with the dilemmas of extreme climate change? What is the carbon footprint (the contribution you are making to global warming) of your church? How can churches prepare to react with vision, understanding, clarity and agility in facing the challenge before us and future generations?

There aren’t easy answers and it’s not something we can each do on our own. But individual working together can make a difference. Check out these places to start:

• National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs
• Green Interfaith Network
• Interfaith Earth Network

Accept, O Lord, our thanks and praise for all you have done for us. We thank you for the splendor of the whole creation, for the beauty of this world, for the wonder of life, and for the mystery of love.

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Sharon Ely Pearson is the Christian Formation Specialist for Church Publishing and author of The Prayer Book Guide to Christian Education, 3rd edition and Call on Me: A Prayer Book for Young People. You can follow her on Rows of Sharon www.rowsofsharon.com and Building Faith www.buildfaith.org and Twitter @rowsofsharonp

This is a safe haven.  If you are in an abusive or dangerous situation you can use  our telephone to contact the local sexual assault and domestic violence hotline.

My reaction as I hurried past the church bulletin board was one of thankfulness, hope and pleasure mixed with a brief memory of sadness, loss and regret.

It always pleases me to find churches willing to engage in creating communities free of violence and abuse.  There is much to be gained when churches partner with community agencies to prevent domestic violence.  Although coordinated community responses to violence are more common now, it wasn’t always this way.  Many faith communities still believe the old adage “not in my church” which translates into denying the reality and presence of serious problems like domestic violence and sexual assault.  It’s time to take that phrase “not in my church” and transform it from a statement that implies “those things don’t happen here” to a passionate declaration of our desire to create safe places starting with The Church.

My sadness from viewing that small poster came as I wondered what might be different today if that poster had been available in my church more than 30 years ago.   At that time, I was in college and my dad sent me a newspaper clipping that completely shocked me.  It was an article about an “estranged” husband and wife.  The woman had been walking at the local shopping area when she was suddenly chased by a man with a gun.  He shot her and then shot himself. It was a horrible, violent, premeditated crime; yet, as shocking as that was, what was even more surprising to me was that this woman was a member of my church and her killer was her husband.

That was when I first became acquainted with domestic violence (although it wasn’t called that then). The battered women’s movement was in its infancy/early childhood in the 1970s and the range of services available now weren’t common and widespread at that time.  My church was completely unprepared to respond to this tragedy.   If this were to happen in your church today, would you know what to do?  Would your pastor be equipped to respond appropriately?  What would your congregation do?  How should our churches respond to domestic violence in our midst?

I suggest we take a cue from the ancient call of Jesus to PREACH the good news.  The gospel of Jesus is one of liberation from sin, captivity, fear, imprisonment, death—from all those things that bind us and keep us from abundant life—that certainly includes domestic violence.  Let’s look anew at the word PREACH and walk through the steps that lead us into the ministry of domestic violence prevention.

Pray.   We need to pray for victims of abuse and for those who are abusing them.  Battered women need to hear that they are not alone; that God and our church members care about them and their safety.  Abusers also need to know that we are praying for them, that they can change, that they will be held accountable for their behavior and that domestic violence is wrong.  Do not underestimate the power of speaking about domestic violence in pastoral prayers, condemning it as sin, lifting up both abusers and those they abuse (not by name) and supporting them spiritually. Preaching on domestic violence from the pulpit is a clear and compelling way to reach many people with life-saving information.  Not only are there many texts in scripture that lend themselves to domestic violence sermons, but pastors who preach about domestic violence and let their congregations know that they are aware of abuse dynamics are much more likely to receive requests for help from parishioners.

Read.  There is a wealth of information available from books and publications to videos to websites.  Research the helping agencies (governmental and non-profits) in your community.  Be prepared to give referrals to community services and domestic violence professionals.  Pastors can provide spiritual care to both abusers and victims while referring them to specifically trained professionals for counseling, therapy, safety planning, shelter and batterers’ intervention (not anger management) programs.  I recommend reading Do’s and Don’ts for Pastors and Rabbis and A Commentary on Religious Issues in Family Violence.

Additionally, here are some titles of books and videos that are helpful for personal and group study.

Women, Abuse and the Bible by Catherine Clark Kroeger, Domestic Violence: What Every Pastor Needs to Know, Violence in Families: What Every Christian Needs to Know, and Ending Violence in Teen Dating Relationships by Al Miles, God’s Reconciling Love by Nancy Murphy, Keeping the Faith by Marie Fortune, Broken Vows: Religious Perspective on Domestic Violence, Wings Like a Dove: Healing for the Christian Abused Woman and Domestic Violence: What Churches Can Do (available from FaithTrust Institute) and I Believe You (Diva Communications).

Educate. After educating ourselves we can begin to share our knowledge with  others.  Sunday School or small groups are perfect venues for hosting an awareness seminar, churches can partner with community education groups to sponsor educational conferences, we can post phone numbers for the national domestic violence hotline, shelters, and support groups on bulletin boards, in newsletters and Sunday worship bulletins and we can teach our youth about dating violence and healthy relationships in youth groups or at youth retreats.  You may want to bookmark and browse these helpful websites and remember that education is an on-going process. I highly recommend taking advantage of the online training and webinars offered by these organizations.

Religion and Violence E-learning (RAVE) believes that every abused person who looks to a faith community for help deserves to receive accurate, compassionate, practical help with SAFETY as the top priority.  RAVE provides information (best practices and what to avoid), shelter referrals and resources, and online web-based training  to religious leaders and congregations.  Based on 15 years of social science research that examines the relationship between faith and domestic violence, RAVE believes that churches and their communities are co-partners in responding to abuse and working together.

FaithTrust Institute is a national, multifaith, multicultural training and education organization with global reach working to end sexual and domestic violence.  It offers a resource store, news blog, articles and training (both online and personalized) addressing religion and abuse.  Check out the specific  information on a training partnership between FaithTrust Institute and the Lutheran Community Foundation.

Peace and Safety in the Christian Home (PASCH) is a coalition of academics, professionals, clergy and laity whose goal is to increase peace and safety in Christian homes and in the world by addressing and decreasing all forms of abuse.  Their site offers publications, an article archive, bookstore and referrals to international and domestic agencies that help abused persons.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) works to eliminate personal and societal violence against women and children by building coalitions at local, state, regional and national levels; supporting community-based safe home and shelter programs, providing public education, technical assistance, policy development, legislation, and assisting in organizational development to under-represented groups.  They also focus on efforts to eradicate the social conditions that contribute to violence against women and children.

You may also want to learn what faith-based women’s groups are doing.  For many years domestic violence prevention has been a national focus of United Methodist Women (UMW)  and Women of the ELCA.   These women’s groups are strong advocates for all women and do excellent work on many levels to address domestic violence and support battered women.

Advocate. To be an advocate is to support, defend, recommend, speak or plead on behalf of others.  Some of the steps discussed above such as hosting an educational forum are examples of advocacy.  Lobbying, writing letters to legislators and newspaper editors, supporting victims by accompanying them to legal proceedings or providing financial assistance are other examples of advocacy. If a woman has to leave her home, having a church help her with emergency expenses such as groceries, clothing, school supplies, rent, medical bills or utilities is a huge relief and a concrete example of being a compassionate advocate.

Care.  This is the motivation for doing things.  As Christians we must care about people just as Jesus did.  My favorite verse that inspires me to care about domestic violence is found in Philippians 2:4   “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” Freedom from domestic violence is in everybody’s best interest and our homes and churches must be safe places to live, grow and thrive.  No one should have to choose between safety and faith.

Help.  Once we have decided to care about domestic violence, become educated through reading, prayer and advocacy, we will find that ministry has already started.  I applaud the little and big steps that lead individuals and churches into domestic violence prevention ministry. Whether it is providing a safe space to make a phone call or running a shelter every day of the year, each helpful act leads us one step closer to a violence-free world.

As I finish writing this article, I am in the midst of planning a conference on domestic violence titled “Why, God Why:  Breaking the Cycle of Violence.” This event is open to all United Methodists and our ecumenical partners.  I’m pleased that there are members of Lutheran churches who have registered for this event that will take place on April 14, 2012.  If you’d like more information or want to register for this day long conference, visit our website at www.pnwumc.org/why.  My hope is that more districts, annual conferences, synods, presbyteries, dioceses and archdioceses will take up the challenge of making our homes and churches safer places, so that no church family will experience the tragedy that mine did 33 years ago.

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Ellen Johanson has more than 30 years of experience in sales, marketing and customer service in faith-based non-profits, corporations and governmental agencies.  Her interest in faith-based violence prevention work grew out of membership in a church that utilized the services of FaithTrust Institute to address clergy sexual misconduct.  Ellen subsequently worked for FaithTrust Institute for nearly 13 years prior to coming to the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church where she currently is the manager of the Regional Media Center, a media ministry that serves United Methodist Churches and our ecumenical partners in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska.

Our synod is sponsoring a first -time ever “Celebrating our Faith through the Arts” event in April. It came about as a result of a retreat with our synod’s Faith Formation Resource Team. For years members of this team have led workshops on Christian basics and everything related to Christian education (teacher training, choosing curriculum, discipline, using a teacher’s manual, etc.). Our retreat leader – during one reflective time together – asked us to share our passions as we went around the room. I was surprised and delighted to learn some new things about my colleagues. Some of their passions included drama, art, music, and writing. If this is where our passions are, why not lead a workshop or have an event focusing specifically on faith formation and the arts?

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Throughout all time, human beings have expressed themselves through the arts. Music. Dance. Visual arts. Drama. Writing. Drawings were painted on cave walls. Dances were part of rituals around a campfire. Stories were told of great accomplishments and small. Music echoed through the halls of great cathedrals.

For me, the arts have been a way to encounter God and have, therefore,  played a significant part in my own spiritual formation. I have seen movies that have strengthened my faith;  heard music that sends me into a kind of spiritual realm; and, read books and poetry that make me think about my relationship with God.

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I have since convened a group of youth and adults to help plan the synod’s faith and arts event. The energy around the room is amazing. It has been awhile since I have been part of a planning group that is as enthusiastic as this group. Our goals for this event include introducing people to the idea of having an arts festival in their own congregation, sampling some of the art offerings, and providing an opportunity for the synod’s artists to network.

In addition to encouraging our congregations to sponsor an arts festival, what can we do – as resource center directors – to provide support for our artists? What can we do to encourage Sunday school teachers, Bible school teachers, worship planners and leaders and small groups to focus on the arts and faith when they gather together?

Here are some ideas. I am also including links to webpages that you may find helpful.

Music

Music is already a large part of our faith experience. But, we can try new things to find connections between music and faith. How about going to a live concert to support musicians? Afterward consider these questions: Did the music stir you? In what ways? What do you think the musician/composer was trying to convey?  Listen to music from a culture other than your own and ask yourself the same questions. Share stories of your musical experiences. What song or hymn speaks to you most? What is it saying to you? What musical piece has given you goosebumps or has made you feel as though you were floating in the heavens?

Learn some chants and use them in a group or in private devotional time. Taizé chants are some of my favorites. Go to iTunes or Amazon and search for Taizé. Listen to some samples. It is possible to pick up the chant by listening to them on these sites.

Visual arts

Visual arts range from pottery and sculpting to painting and photography and more. Something to remember is that the art itself doesn’t have to have a specifically religious theme in order for observers to reflect on it and find a spiritual connection of some sort. Picasso’s art, for instance, isn’t very religious as perhaps as some of Rembrandt’s paintings.  But, we are more likely to draw others into faith conversations when we look at art that is rooted in real life experiences or expressions of color and form. I was reminded at a conference recently that young people are more likely to respond to “Guernica” and examine that disturbing work from a faith perspective than they are to respond to the blond haired, blue-eyed painting of Jesus. A conversation around art works may include these kinds of questions:  What does this work of art say about sin, evil, grace, love, hope, creation, redemption, salvation, humankind? What is the back story? What do we know of the artist and the circumstances in which he/she lived/lives? How does the work move you?

Encourage others to try their hand at creating some kind of artwork: make pottery, paint, take photographs. What if Sunday school teachers told their students (children or adults) to take photos during the week that show where God has been on the move? Or take photos sharing where have they seen examples of grace and forgiveness?

A member of our planning team is Margo Reed, a 10th grader, who is an avid photographer.  I asked her if she could choose some of her photographs that we could project on a wall during our closing worship for our synod arts event. Before the day was over, she had selected 36 of her own photos AND wrote a commentary about the pictures. I made a short video with her photos and added her text to each slide. Our whole team was blown away by her photos and commentary. This is an example of how the arts move our young people. It is for this reason that I share her photos in this link to the video “Create!” Sometimes young people – and adults as well – are able to express their faith more profoundly through pictures than through words.

Dance

In Kathleen Kline-Chesson’s article (see the link below), Kathleen points out that unlike Christians today, the Hebrews did not make a division between body and spirit. “Dancing before God was an experience of both revelation and response; an intense and vital expression of love, praise, thanksgiving, mystery, fear and even anger. Scripture records Miriam’s dance of thanksgiving before the Israelites as they were delivered at the Sea of Reeds (Exod. 15:20-21) and David’s dance of ecstasy before the ark (II Sam. 6:14) The Psalms, written to accompany acts of worship in the temple, offer many examples of dance and liturgical movement. To dance was to praise God with the fullest expression of joy. To kneel and bow down was to show reverence and obedience.”

Check out the links below to learn more about faith and dance:

St. Gregory of Nyssa – St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco offers a lot in the way of arts. In the sanctuary, there are paintings of dancing icons. They use “paperless” music and use instruments other than an organ from time to time. In this video clip (see 2:39) members of the congregation DANCE around the altar as part of the Eucharist at the Easter Vigil.

Community Choreography Projects – Artistic director Barrie Barton is doing something special with her “Community Choreography Projects.” Dancers and choreographers may glean some ideas from this website.

The Living Word: Dance as a Language of Faith – Kathleen Kline-Chesson provides some food for thought in this article on liturgical dance.

Drama

Last spring, I attended Princeton Theological Seminary’s Forum on Youth Ministry. One of the seminars I attended was called, “Beyond Bathrobes: Christian Drama and Storytelling,” led by Tom Long of “Friends of the Groom.” He and a colleague participated in the daily worship services at the forum, providing intensely moving sketches of various types. During the seminar, several of us volunteered to participate in some the sketches as he taught the seminar group. As a participant in one or two of those seminar sketches, I was just as moved as when I was a witness to the sketches presented in worship. Drama – whether it is plays, sketches, readings, or movies – can be a  powerful tool for helping people make connections between their life and faith.

Popular movies can also help us look at faith and life issues.  Watch movies and look for signs of grace and forgiveness or redemption and hope or other faith themes.  Sometimes interesting parallels can be drawn between movies and the biblical narrative. There are many good resources to find online to help leaders plan discussions around movies.

Here are a few links I recommend:

Friends of the Groom On this website, interested persons can order sketches and dramas or invite Tom Long and “Friends of the Groom” to lead workshops.  I highly recommend them!

(From IMAGE)  “The 2011 Arts and Faith Top 100 Films” – This is just one magazine’s list of “top 100″ films related to faith. See what you think. What films would you add? What films are surprises on this list?

Spirituality & Practice: Resources for Spiritual Journeys – Frederic and Mary Ann Brussart published “Cultural Information Service” in the 70s and 80s. Now they have a website where they comment on films and books and connect them with spiritual practices.

Hollywood Jesus – Hollywood Jesus reviews films and points out some possible religious themes in today’s popular movies.

Reel Spirituality: Faith, Film and Culture – This is a link on the Brehm Center webpage. Check out the blogs related to films and faith.

Written Word

Who hasn’t been stirred by a poem or a story? There are many ways to explore the written word in congregations. Some congregations, for instance, have book clubs. Members read on an agreed upon novel and then gather together to look at themes and meanings. What other ways can the written word be explored in congregations? Some of the same questions asked about art and drama can be asked about the written word. Where is God present in the story? Where are signs of grace, faith, hope, sin, redemption? How is this story like our own stories? Check out the following website for resources related to literature.

Spirituality & Practices: Resources for Spiritual Journeys – This particular page of the Spirituality & Practices website focuses on literature.

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In addition to the resources for each of the “arts” areas above (music, visual arts, drama, dance, and writing) the following resources relate to all of them:

The Society for the Arts, Religion and Contemporary Culture -Notes from the website: “The Society’s purpose and program are based on the belief that the roles of the arts and religion are decisive. They reflect the struggle to conserve and to recover depth and wholeness, to reaffirm personal responsibility in the face of dehumanization, to define the ground for human freedom and creativity in a culture which tends increasingly to impose impersonal tyrannies over mind and spirit. Religion in isolation from the arts is starved of concrete embodiment of its insights into the fullness of human life. Art gives religion the eyes to see ourselves in all our dimensions, the ears to hear the voice of our inner lives and the instruments with which to communicate with each other. At the same time, the past suggests that the arts realize their potential most fully within that transcendent, unifying vision which is the heart of religion.”

Ruminate Magazine: Chewing on Life, Faith and Art – Ruminate is an award-winning quarterly literary arts print magazine engaging the Christian faith. Ruminate publishes poetry, short stories, photography, visual art reproductions, short fiction, memoir, creative nonfiction, essays, reviews, and interviews.

Image – This link points to “Image” where interested persons can subscribe to the magazine and/or follow some of the art-related blogs. Image touches on all the arts.

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Questions for you:

Is there an art expression that move you most? If so, what is it and why do you think that particular art form affects you as it does?

What resources do you have to share for those interested in exploring their faith and life through art?

What congregations in your area are sponsoring arts festivals? How do you lift up their work so that members of other congregations can experience them?

A few months ago, I met with directors from 5 other resource centers (9 were invited) and found it to be an energizing experience. During our time together, we discovered that we had a lot of similar concerns and issues. For example, we gasped and laughed about our horror stories of trying to retrieve overdue items. As a result of our conversation, we unofficially designated one member to be the ‘collector’ for our resource centers as she has the best success.

We had a “show & tell” time focusing on how to successfully keep resources together when returned, (i.e. book & DVD, student & leader guide, etc.) and what resources are popular  (re:form) and unpopular (Gilligan’s island & Ponderosa). We talked about the availability of resources digitally and pondered how that will impact our resourcing.  Techniques for promoting resources and making connections are always part of the conversation. Despite the driving distance for three attendees (2 ½-3 ½ hours one way) we decided not to try a virtual meeting through Cover It Live and will meet again in the spring. We hope to take advantage of other events to get together such as the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators conference.

Despite having a lot of things on my plate professionally and personally I found this to be a real uplifting time with my colleagues. They are experiencing similar struggles as us and even though some centers are closing, other centers are being told that resource ministry is more important than ever. Most everyone seems to be in a state of flux, but yet we carry on. We continue to do our best to connect with new and old congregations and leaders, providing encouragement and resources to everyone who asks. (Recently a Presbytery resource center recently supplied social justice resources for a Hindu!)

Whether it is face-to-face or electronically I encourage you to ask each other for ideas, best resources and to also share the hidden gems that you find when searching for something maybe even totally unrelated. We and others will all be strengthened as a result!

Karen Kaufman is the resource center director for the Northeastern Ohio Synod.

(Sharon has been serving as the Christian Formation Specialist for Church Publishing Incorporated /Morehouse Education Resources since November 2007. Prior to that, she was the  Resource Center Director at Yale Divinity School’s Ministry Resource Center as well as the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. She is also an author and has a blog, Rows of Sharon).

The last two decades have seen dramatic political, economic, social and cultural changes affecting virtually every dimension of American Christianity. This new environment has definitely had its impact on Resource Centers and will demand new thinking and new models, practices and technologies in order to support and address the needs of the congregations and judicatories we serve. Addressing the spiritual needs of all generations will continue to be a challenge as we have also been impacted by lower budgets, increase of the cost of goods and more dependence on digital technology.

Many of us have seen fewer visitors to our Resource Centers. We are called upon to be out and about with those we serve, bringing resources (and our expertise) to the local congregation. We are learning how to put our collections online, develop more comprehensive websites, and engage in social media. And more of the resources, especially curricula and faith formation materials are available digitally – either downloadable or totally online.

In September 2009, CNN published a story, “The Future of Libraries: With or Without Books”:“Books are being pushed aside for digital learning centers and gaming areas. ‘Loud rooms’ that promote public discourse and group projects are taking over the bookish quiet. Hipster staffers who blog, chat on Twitter and care little about the Dewey Decimal System are edging out old-school librarians.”

The Digital World

The relevant Resource Center of the future will be a marketplace for ideas. Forward-looking directors (and their judicatories) will create a conversational loop with its clientele. Being active on Facebook, Digg and Twitter they will share the latest news, resources and trends in ministry. As digital books replace traditional printed publications, the role of a Resource Center Director will be one of discernment and vetting much more than in previous decades.

As Phyllis Tickle states, we are entering into a new Reformation[1]. The cultural changes brought about by the Gutenberg Press had an enormous impact on Christianity. That new way to interact with a surplus of content never before accessible to the common masses is not that different than what we are experiencing today. Today social interaction is a form of content itself. It is up to Resource Centers to take an active role in the creation and collaboration within this ethereal user generated content. Our role is to offer our expertise and guidance in how congregations and individuals interact with all that is now offered via the web (and more), much of which is not in keeping with our traditions and theological perspectives.

Many of us are digital immigrants (those of us born in the era of rotary telephones and manual typewriters) who are trying to catch up with “digital natives” (those who have always had desktop and palm-sized computers).[2] John Roberto of Lifelong Faith Associates has spent a great deal of time and energy in recent years imagining what faith formation would look like if our churches fully embraced using 21^st century technology. One of the ways he has shown how this can be done is through “curating” resources via the Faith Formation Learning Exchange (www.faithformationlearningexchange.net).

What does this mean for today’s Resource Centers

Today’s Resource Center needs to be agile and collaborative. We need to be in partnership with our ecumenical brothers and sisters. We need to be in touch with the local congregation by building relationships and offering easy access to new ideas and materials that have been vetted by experts – us! And we need to keep abreast of what excites people, how they learn in today’s world and what the trends are in the world around us that has such an impact on our church.

Trends in Faith Formation:

1. Using the word “formation” instead of “education.” Formation includes worship, service, mission, keeping time, fellowship & community socialization and education & learning. Instruction is learning facts and figures; education is incorporating those learnings into personal experience and action.
2. There is a hunger for understanding how to read scripture – seeking to fully understand what we mean by “scripture, tradition and reason” taking into account personal experience – needing to unpack the difference between what one’s denominational tradition is vs. others’ as well as personal experience.
3. Interest in intergenerational methods of engaging each other through learning and community building – the church is one of the last places where multi-age groups and several generations gather together
4. There is a hunger to learn spiritual practices for a busy life style, such as Centering Prayer, walking the labyrinth, and praying with beads. Using blogs and the Internet for spiritual practices, mediation and connecting with others is also increasing.
5. Faith at home – learning how to pray as a family; reading scripture together and seeking ways to connect what is read at home and church with real life in the world
6. No denominational loyalty to curriculum being chosen – we need to teach how to use our “denominational lens” when discerning what materials to use
7. Wanting free and easy – but looking for substance – downloadable and a menu of choices
8. More mission-minded – wanting to reach out into the world as a response to the Gospel – how are we helping individuals and groups reflect on these experiences? How are we helping make the connection between wanting to help others with our Baptismal Covenant?
9. The Sunday education hour occurring before or after the worship so all ages can be engaged on an age-appropriate level for study
10. Experiential learning in which all the senses are engaged – Montessori-methods and learning centers allow for a variety in learning activities. “Traditional” Sunday School curricula tap into multiple intelligences, understanding that we learn in different ways. The day is gone when the teacher is the expert and the student is coming to be fed the answers.

Effective Christian Formations programs of the future will:

• Be engaged in issues of environmental sustainability, global issues, healthy ways of living, ethical decision making

• Involve networking and resource sharing

• Connect with Interfaith groups

• Be experientially focused

• Make full use of technology in all its rapidly developing forms and functions

• Tap into people’s passions, relating faith to the world – it will be relevant

• Involve immersion experiences

• Be about sharing personal stories in a variety of settings and technologies; putting questions of faith “out there” for response and reflection

• Be centered on mentoring and relationships across generations

For more information:

• Faith Formation 2020: Envisioning the Future (Lifelong Faith Journal, Volume 3.2, Summer 2009). http://www.lifelongfaith.com/lifelong-faith-journal.html
• Embracing Emergence Christianity: Phyllis Tickle on the Church’s Next Rummage Sale (A 6-Session Study with DVD) Morehouse Education Resources, 2011.
• Faith Formation and the New Digital Media (Lifelong Faith Journal, Volume 4.1, Spring 2010).
• The Institute for the Future http://www.iftf.org/tyf and http://www.iftf.org/2010MapoftheDecade
• Get There Early: Sensing the Future to Compete in the Present by Bob Johansen (Barret-Koehler, 2007)  

by Cindi Eckert

A new year always brings a sense of adventure, newness, and a change of pace to the soul. Isn’t it exciting to think that as we step into a fresh new year, we enter a season of renewal? We have hope for the year, and pray for a good one! We have just celebrated our Savior’s birth.

Now we take down our lights and pack our beloved Christmas treasures carefully and lovingly into boxes, to store for next year. The time has come for us to huddle down and experience some introspection: Where do I see myself in the next New Year?

A wonderful blank canvas has been laid out before us- just waiting to be filled. This year I challenge you to walk closer to Jesus, for Christ’s birth dramatically changed the world as we know it.

When Christ entered the world, the Gospel was proclaimed to the ends of the earth. Celebrating Christmas therefore, is celebrating the wonder of Incarnation, something that Christians cherish and hold close to their hearts. Jesus Christ and his life on earth was dedicated to expressing the fullest possible way humans could unite with God.

Christmas changed everything. God is reachable, through the power of Christ when Jesus took on flesh. So ask yourself, is there room in your hearts for Christ today? This year? To the end of time?

May his love shine bright for you and upon this world as we begin anew.

(Cindi has been the Director for the Sierra Pacific Synod for three years. Cindi sees Resource Centers as valuable and important assets for congregations. She believes Resource Centers serve as a nexus between the technology of today and the timelessness of our faith.)

Why join LACE? Here are ten excellent reasons:

1. It is fun to share ideas with others.
2. It is helpful to share your good ideas with others. It builds up the body of Christ.
3. You need a supportive network when your church is in a budget crunch or a new pastor adds more items to your job description or when you are working sixty hours a week and only getting paid for thirty.
4. You need encouragement and advice from other Christian educators who have more experience than you.
5. You need to give encouragement and support to Christian educators who are new to the field.
6. You learn about new trends in the field of Christian education, children’s ministry, adult education and confirmation.
7. You learn about new and old resources which make your work easier.
8. More of the work previously done by the ELCA church-wide office is being carried out by networks. LACE is the place for Christian educators to go for resource-sharing and support.
9. You don’t want to miss out on the really cool e-newsletter that comes out almost once a month with resources, ideas and information about learning opportunities as well as a quarterly written publication, TIPS.
10. Because God wants us to live and work in community, not in isolation.

REMEMBER: Laces tie us together so that we can go places!

Among the resources I plan to review or revisit are the following:

• from DeWitt Jones: Everyday Creativity, Celebrate What’s Right with the World, and Focus Your Vision

• from StarThrower: Differences, Red Cars, We are the Ones, and Second Chance

If you’re familiar with these videos, you’ll know them to be timely sources for helping us see God’s presence in many different ways. Whether planning for the future, helping a congregation think creatively about mission and identity, or simply looking for ways to stimulate thoughtful conversations, each of these resources is extraordinary.

How will you re-create this summer? What promises and possibilities are you hoping to enjoy?

*a beloved pastor’s beautiful spirit clearly evident despite the disease that is taking his body

*the excitement and willingness of a volunteer whose task will be organization of a super-unorganized office closet

*the blessing of learning and community found in conferences (ie. Book of Faith Jubilee at Luther Seminary; Annual Recreation Conference at Montreat)

*the sharing of ideas across churches, synods, denominations, countries, and the worldwide web (for instance, I just learned about www.volunteerspot.com)

*a pastor’s contientiousness to return a DVD to the resource center that involved a detour for the church bus and senior citizens’ field trip

*the fragrance of honeysuckle that will just about knock you over

*a sacred meal shared with family in the form of grilled hotdogs in pretzel buns (it can happen…I was there!)

*a blog celebrating the Global Mission of our church, the ministry of young adults, and the work of the spirit in Poland

These are just a few of the simple things for which I’ve been especially grateful today. Thanks be to God!

With resources and resource information exploding exponentially, resource centers have a critical role to play as curators (custodians) of an overwhelming amount of resource information.
Roberto is editor of Lifelong Faith, a journal about the theory and practice of faith formation (www.lifelongfaith.com) and an articulate voice for lifelong learning. His presentations at the Book of Faith Jubilee, April 29-May 1 (www.luthersem.edu/jubilee) stimulated a lot of conversation about resource ministry. His work on the Future of Faith Formation and the Bible included an introduction to what he calls Faith Formation 2020: Vision and Strategy (www.lifelongfaith.com/presentations).

Resource ministry from the beginning has been about shared resources, best practices, and making informed choices. The collaborative work of curating resources, serving as custodians and stewards, is right on the mark!

Check out the following to share with your congregations and faith formation leaders:

• www.lifelongfaith.com

• www.faithandleadership.com

• http://www.e100challenge.com

• http://bibleresources.americanbible.org/bible-resources/bible-resource-center

• http://www.sadlierreligion.com/webelieve/

• http://lifekids.lifechurch.tv/