Greetings! As we head into the fall season you may be blessing the new school year, holding rally days and celebrations, and looking to the program year ahead of engaging all ages in faith formation opportunities. In the PC(USA) we recognize September 10th as the beginning of Christian Formation Celebration Week and during this week or whenever you celebrate, we pray for all those leading us into new expressions of faith formation and life together. This quarterly newsletter keeps you updated on new and seasonal resources and training opportunities. Don’t miss out on our fall grant to receive copies of the newest FlyAway book, Psalms of Wonder for your households! Each book will also include a beautiful parent guide from our partners at Presbyterian Publishing. This book bundle is offered in English and Spanish. Small churches and worshiping communities are especially encouraged to apply for this grant. We continue to look for ways to engage faith formation at home and are especially thrilled to be part of the newest Lilly Endowment initiative for Christian Parenting. Read more about this initiative here.
Over the last five years the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its ministry areas have been engaging in the transformational work of intergenerational communities and practices to live into the gospel. We have seen how important it is that parents and caregivers have the skills and confidence to share their faith with their children. The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated the critical importance of faith formation in our households, and we have seen the trauma and impact of isolation in our communities. As new generations emerge, we have come to understand how faith is experienced in new ways particularly around Christian practices. We believe that the time for learning new skills as leaders and reaching our parents and caregivers in new ways is upon us. The initiative will focus on two main audiences: 1) parents and caregivers and 2) leaders from existing congregations and those who are part of our new church expressions in the 1001 New Worshiping Communities initiative. We are particularly excited about plans with new worshiping communities that have a larger representation of racial ethnic and new immigrant communities. We believe this initiative will also be successful in providing skills and training for parents and caregivers individually and bringing them together with their intergenerational faith communities that work to engage the gospel in the world.
We have designed this initiative to have many entry points and ways to engage. Some of our participants will be passive and many of our resources will be available to the entire denomination and Christian community. The goals of our program are:
● Fifty cohorts that engage four hundred leaders who will become better equipped to lead home-based intergenerational faith formation.
● Twenty-five intergenerational retreats to equip congregations and households to be in partnership to pass on faith to the next generation.
● Twelve topical skill building sessions engaging 1000 plus parents and caregivers with the confidence and skills they need to share their faith.
● Reach the greater denomination and beyond with an accessible resource digital platform
We hope that you will follow this newsletter to remain engaged in this initiative. We have developed this short survey if you would like us to reach out to you specifically.
We remain committed to supporting leaders in faith formation and listening to the needs of your context.
Blessings on your ministries,
Stephanie Fritz
Coordinator for Christian Formation
