Designing the Future of Faith Formation

1. Topics 5 & 6 21st Century Faith Formation Course Designing the Future of Faith Formation

2. Four Scenarios

3. 4 Scenarios • Scenarios are built around critical uncertainties about the external environment. That is, the stories are based on different outcomes of a few key uncertainties that are both most important to the future of faith formation in Christian churches and most uncertain in terms of future outcome.

4. 4 Scenarios Two Critical Uncertainties • Will trends in U.S. culture lead people to become more receptive to organized religion, and in particular Christianity or will trends lead people to become more resistant to organized religion and Christianity? • Will people’s hunger for and openness to God and the spiritual life increase over the next decade or will people’s hunger for and openness to God and the spiritual life decrease.

5. Faith Formation 2020 Matrix Dominant Cultural Attitude toward Organized Religion Receptive Low High People’s Hunger for God and the Spiritual Life Resistant

6. 4 Scenarios for the Future

7. 4 Scenarios

8. Strategies

9. Strategies • Faith Formation through the Life of the Whole Church • Faith Formation with Digital Media and Web Technologies • Family Faith Formation • Intergenerational Faith Formation • Generational Faith Formation: • iGeneration (2000 - ) • Millennials (1980-1999) • Gen X (1964-1979) • Boomers (1946-1964) • Builders (1945 and earlier)

10. Strategies • Milestones Faith Formation • Faith Formation in Christian Practice • Transforming the World • Spiritual Formation • Multi-Ethnic Faith Formation • Faith Formation for Spiritual Seekers

11. Strategies • Apprenticeships in Discipleship • Pathways to Vibrant Faith and Active Engagement • Faith Formation in Third Place Settings • Empowering the Community to Share their Faith • Interfaith Education and Dialogue

12. 4 Scenarios for the Future

14. Strategies Scenario 1 • Lifelong faith formation • Generationally-specific faith formation • iGeneration • Millennials • Gen X • Baby Boomers • Multi-generational Faith Formation • Targeting young families • Empowering the community to share their faith

15. Strategies Scenario 4 • Family faith formation, especially families with children • Milestones faith formation • Pathways to vibrant faith and active engagement • Faith formation in Christian practices

16. Strategies Scenario 2 • Targeting the Millennial Generation • Milestones faith formation • Faith formation in Third Place settings • Targeting spiritual seekers • Apprenticeships in discipleship • Spiritual formation • Faith formation in Christian practices

17. Strategies Scenario 3 • Faith formation in Third Place settings • Community-based ministry sponsored by a congregation(s): • Family center / early childhood center • Service & mission projects • Drama and Art • Music

18. Family Faith Formation • Strengthen family religious socialization, especially in the first decade of life—by nurturing a vibrant faith in parents and equipping them with the skills and tools for developing faith at home. • Develop the home as a center of faith formation by promoting foundational family faith practices: caring conversations, rituals and traditions, prayer, Bible reading, and service.

19. Lifelong Faith Formation Network

20. Lifelong Faith Formation Network Shifting from. . . “One Size Fits All” Curriculum & Programming to Personalized & Customized Faith Formation focusing on addressing people’s spiritual and religious growth by offering a wide variety of religious content and experiences “Differentiated Faith Formation”

21. Lifelong Faith Formation Network Concept 1. A Lifelong Faith Formation Network addresses the diverse life tasks and situations, spiritual and religious needs, and interests of all ages and generations in the four scenarios by offering a variety of content, programs, activities, and resources.

22. Lifelong Faith Formation Network 2. A Lifelong Faith Formation Network guides individuals and families in discerning their spiritual and religious needs and creating personal learning pathways—a seasonal or annual plan for faith growth and learning.

25. Lifelong Faith Formation Network 3. Lifelong Faith Formation Network incorporates informal learning, as well as formal learning in faith formation.

26. Lifelong Faith Formation Network

27. Lifelong Faith Formation Network 4. A Lifelong Faith Formation Network utilizes a variety of faith formation models to address the diverse life tasks and situations, religious and spiritual needs, and interests of people: • on your own • at home • in small groups • in large groups • in the congregation • in the community and world

28. Lifelong Faith Formation Network • Face-to-Face • Virtual • On Your Own • At Home • In Small Group • In Large Group • In Church • In Community & World Spiritual & Religious Needs Topics or Themes

30. Lifelong Faith Formation Network • Move from a curriculum approach to a network approach • Provide 24 x 7 x 365 faith formation for all ages and generations—anytime & anywhere • Integrate faith formation in physical settings—church, home, community—with virtual (online) faith formation—websites, learning programs, resource centers

31. Illustrations of Innovations

32. Example: From Diverse Settings to a Congregational Gathering • Bible study taking place across the whole congregation: on you own, family@home, small group, lecture series, family/intergenerational program culminating In • A whole-church, intergenerational gathering (meal, sharing, prayer, Bible learning experiences) for all ages who participated in the Bible study

33. Preparing for a New Lectionary Cycle

34. Extending Sunday Worship into Everyday Life

35. Family Faith Practice

36. Faith Formation for Spiritual Seekers • Offer a guided process for spiritually hungry people to become spiritually committed and join in small communities with other seekers for spiritual growth and support. • Create new expressions of Christian community designed especially for spiritual seekers. • Offer an apprenticeship in discipleship for spiritually hungry people who want to grow in relationship with Jesus Christ and the Christian way of life.

38. Faith Formation for Spiritual Seekers Introduction Dinner: Is there more to life than this?  Week 1: Who is Jesus?  Week 2: Why did Jesus die?  Week 3: How can we have faith?  Week 4: Why and how do I pray?  Week 5: Why and how should I read the Bible?  Week 6: How does God guide us?  Week 7: How can I resist evil?  Week 8: Why & how should we tell others?  Week 9: Does God heal today?  Week 10: What about the Church?  Weekend: Who is the Holy Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do? How can I be filled with the Holy Spirit? How can I make the most of the rest of my life?

39. Pathways to Vibrant Faith & Active Engagement • Develop processes that gradually deepen people’s relationship with Jesus Christ, their engagement in church life, and their practice of the Christian faith with a special focus on the needs of the “spiritual but not religious” (Scenario 2) and “the uncommitted but ”participating” (Scenario 4.)

40. Pathways to Vibrant Faith & Active Engagement Our Lady of Soledad Catholic Parish • Mini-Retreat 101: “Catholics Alive!” • “What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?” • Mini-Retreat 201: “Alive and Growing Spiritually!” • maturing in the Catholic faith • Mini-Retreat 301: “Alive and Gifted!” • discerning how to serve God in ministry • Mini-Retreat 401: “Alive in the World!” • living as witnesses for Christ, as contagious Catholic Christians • Mini-Retreat 501: “Alive to Praise God!” • Catholic worship and the sacraments

41. Empowering the Community to Share their Faith • Empower people of vibrant faith and active engagement in the church community—individuals, small groups, and the whole faith community—to share their faith with those who not involved in a church community or spiritually committed.

42. Empowering the Community to Share their Faith

43. Empowering the Community to Share their Faith • Step One. Church Leader’s Study: Unbinding the Gospel • Step Two: All-Church Saturation Study: Unbinding Your Heart: 40 Days of Prayer & Faith Sharing. • six-week, church-wide, small group E-vent! • pray each day’s scripture and prayer exercise and work with a prayer partner • study a chapter of the book with their small group • worship with sermons, music, and prayers centered on the week’s chapter

44. Empowering the Community to Share their Faith • Step Three: An Experiment in Prayer and Community: Unbinding Your Soul. • a no-obligation experience of substantial spiritual discussion, prayer and community for people who aren’t connected with a church • church members invite their friends into a four-week small group experience with short study chapters, an individual prayer journal, prayer partner activities, and group exercises.

45. Empowering the Community to Share their Faith …evangelism is anything you say or do to help another person move into closer relationship with God, or into Christian community. (George Hunter III) The heart of evangelism is having an alive relationship with God, being part of a church you love, and caring that people outside the church find what you’ve discovered. (Martha Grace Reese) Evangelism is to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and others to bring one person one step closer to Christ. (Evangelical Covenant Church)

46. Design: Physical & Virtual Settings

47. Faith Formation Curator

48. Faith Formation Curator • Shifting from providing religious content and programming to curating religious content and experiences for all ages • A content curator is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes, and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific subject to match the needs of a specific audience.

49. Faith Formation Curator What would you curate? • Congregational Programs & Activities • Community Programs & Activities • People Resources • Print Resources • Audio & Video Resources • Art, Drama, and Music Resources • Online Content: Websites, Courses, Blogs • Apps & Digital Resources

50. The Process of Curation