in person to share their reflections. • Create a six-week program for youth or adults on understanding the history, tradition and practices of world religions with guest speak- ers from around the country/world presenting via video-conferencing or online. The program can use the Patheos world religions website as a text for study (
www.patheos. com). • Develop a justice and service center online and in their congregational space where people of all ages can learn about pressing social issues, explore biblical and church teach- ing on justice, and find ways to act together through local and global projects and organizations.
Creating a network We live in an age of networks—our families, schools, workplaces, religious congregations and social circles. Networks—collections of people (and their resources) con- nected through relationships—aren’t new. They’re as old as human society. What is new is that our under-
standing of these collections now includes Internet-based networks like Facebook, Twitter, video chat and conferencing, blogs, wikis and interest-based online social networks. Religious networks in both our
online and offline worlds can help us with our spiritual development and faith growth pursuits. We can turn to people, organizations and resources anywhere in the world to help us answer questions, connect to relevant content and resources, or just share experiences. Programs, classes and books are
no longer the center of faith forma- tion experiences but are nodes on a much broader network that is life- long and life-wide. Congregations can create faith formation networks around: • Ministries and activities such as Sunday worship, service and mission
24 The Lutheran •
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projects, and programming (chil- dren’s faith formation, youth minis- try, vacation Bible school). • Age groups and generations: chil- dren, adolescents, emerging adults, young adults, midlife adults, baby boomers, older adults. • Families and households across the life cycle. Here are two illustrations of such networks. Example 1: A faith formation net-
work for families with children. This can begin with the baptism of a child and extend through the first decade of life. Central to this network is an online faith formation center (a web- site) where families can find the con- gregation’s programs and resources, connect with others and share their experiences. Such a network blends virtual and
physical settings, as well as a variety of faith formation formats for content and activities, including with a men- tor, at home, in small groups, in large groups, in the congregation, and in the community and world. This network can include:
• Mentors. Connect new parents with those who have experience (the grandparent generation). They can meet regularly (in person, by phone or video conference) to support the cou- ple as parents and as people of faith. • Faith practices at home. Provide parents with faith practices— rituals, milestones, prayers, Bible reading, family conversations and more—geared to the age of their growing child and family. Con- nect parents to websites with free additional resources, such as www.
vibrantfaithathome.org from Vibrant Faith Ministries, an ELCA lifelong learning partner. • Parent faith formation. Offer par- ents opportunities to grow in faith in physical settings such as workshops, presentations and retreats. Also pro- vide online settings such as courses, videos and print resources. • Parenting education. Provide parent
education programs and resources (knowledge, skills, practices) through church- or community-based pro- grams and online resources such as ParentFurther (
www.parentfurther. com) from Search Institute. • Support groups. Organize and host groups in the church and community. Or connect parents to existing groups such as MOPS—Mothers of Pre- schoolers (
www.mops.org). • Family faith formation gatherings. Conduct these three or four times per year around content appropriate for families with children, such as church seasons (Advent-Christmas, Lent, Easter), Bible themes and stories, and faith practices. • A parent blog or wiki. Give parents the opportunity to connect, share and ask for assistance through a blog or wiki that is included in the congrega- tion’s online family resource center or a special page on Facebook or a group on Google+. Example 2: A faith formation net-
work for church events and programs. This kind of network can deepen people’s experience of Sunday wor- ship, children’s faith formation pro- grams, youth ministry, vacation Bible school, mission trips and so on. Using the congregation’s website,
extend worship all week long with activities and resources focused on the Sunday readings and sermon. Extend vacation Bible school with at-home activities based on its themes. Or extend a congregational service or mission trip with continu- ing education and action projects. The possibilities are endless. To see an example of an online
resource network (or find free at-home faith formation activities to which you can link), check out the Vibrant Faith Ministries website (
www.vibrantfaithathome.org). It includes free resources for faith for- mation activities—caring conversa- tions, rituals and devotions, prayer, service, reading the Bible and faith learning.
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