Helping churches form lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ
The Uniting is running another national ABOUT FACE program – a faith and culture exchange for people 18 years and over visiting indigenous communities in Australia.
The event takes place in late June and early July. Applications close 14 May. Details here.
ABOUT FACE – Hannah Part 1 from Craig Mitchell on Vimeo.
ABOUT FACE – Rohan from Craig Mitchell on Vimeo.
Last week I was in Melbourne for a meeting about the Uniting Church’s next About FACE event – a cross-cultural faith and culture exchange involving non-indigenous people spending time in indigenous communities. The next About FACE is scheduled for mid-2017. Further information will be available on the About FACE website shortly.
I interviewed four previous About FACE participants about their experiences – Hanna Dungan, Mary Dixon, Rohan Pryor and Marissa Homes. Wonderful stories which I’ll be sharing with you shortly.
“It is the culture of the whole church that is most influential in nurturing a vital Christian faith.” Leading educator John Roberto from Lifelong Faith spoke from US research about what makes congregations effective in ministry with young people. The Effective Youth Ministry study revealed that churches which were strong in youth ministry were in fact healthy faith communities for all ages.
Roberto is in Sydney for two key events exploring what lifelong faith formation might look like in a multi-faith, culturally diverse, digital-enabled world. 60 people from a range of churches in Australia and New Zealand gathered for a three day teaching intensive earlier in the. This weekend we’re hosting a national conference which will include a range of speakers and workshops on formation and mission in a digital age.
John invites us to think about different audiences and settings for faith formation. Much of our faith forming activity is aimed at the faithful core attenders of the church. We need different strategies to connect with occasional attenders, with those in the community who see themselves as “spiritual but not religious”, and with those who currently have no interest in either spirituality or religion.
He names eight faith-forming processes and invites churches to think differently about how these might take place – intergenerationally, in family settings, through digital communication.
The developers of the “Here2Stay” formational pillars for ministry draw heavily on Roberto’s work.
It is wonderful to be among a bunch of people who are passionate about forming faith.
John Roberto’s presentation materials for the events are available here.
John Roberto will be in Sydney 23-28 August for two events about Reimagining Faith Formation for the 21st Century. John is well-known internationally as a speaker, forward-thinker and author in faith formation, intergenerational ministry, and learning in a digital world.
John is the director of Lifelong Faith Associates (Connecticut, USA), author of several books including Reimagining Faith Formation for the 21st Century and is editor of Lifelong Faith Journal. His previous work on a Comprehensive Approach to ministry and mission with children, youth and families has been significant for churches in Australia as well as the USA.
These events are open to people from all Christian churches and schools and will be or particular interest to clergy, children and youth workers/ministers, school chaplains, and leaders in faith formation and educational ministries. The events are co-sponsored by the Uniting Church Assembly and the NSW-ACT Synod.
Venue: Uniting Church Centre for Ministry, 16 Masons Drive, North Parramatta
You’re invited to two events. You can attend either or both.
23-25 August – Learning Intensive: Engaging All Ages and Generations
A three day event with a focus on
An intensive teaching event with John Roberto
26-28 August – National Conference: Formation and Mission in a Digital World
A three day event with John Roberto as keynote speaker, plus electives, a multimedia expo, panel discussion, interest group conversations, resource displays, and a short film festival.
Sunday 28th offers a morning option of visiting a church using multimedia in worship or education.
Program, cost and registration information will be available from the early May at reimaginefaith2016.com
Download a flyer – here
“At the bottom of great doubt lies great awakening.” Dr Val Webb spoke about the importance of encouraging active questioning in the journey of faith at the recent Colloquium on Forming Disciples in Mission. “I’ve always felt sorry for Thomas,” said Dr Webb. “Next to Judas, he drew the worst press by keeping his options open until he saw the nail-holes. His stance was totally reasonable, yet Peter, who denied and deserted Jesus, became head of the church while Thomas became the face of a negative syndrome, a Doubting Thomas.” The noted author and theologian was one of 20 presenters at the national event held at the Korean Church of Melbourne. She went on to speak of doubt, not as the opposite of faith, but as the discrepancy between faith and belief (experience and doctrine).
Twenty presenters at the Colloquium addressed a range of topics including neuroscience and faith formation, multi-sensory learning, faith in Asian contexts, preaching and mission, forming young disciples, and evangelism as spiritual guidance. President-elect Dr Deidre Palmer offered a keynote address on “Forming Disciples of Jesus Christ for the sake of God’s Mission.”
Deidre offered six themes:
Forming Disciples in Mission – Dr Deidre Palmer from Craig Mitchell on Vimeo.
Presenters at the Colloquium included Rev Dr Jenny Byrnes, Rev Dr Ian Robinson, Rev Dr Ji Zhang, Rev Michelle Cook, and Rev Dr Paul Goh, Senior Minister of the Korean Church of Melbourne (KCM), pictured here.
The following day, Rev Dr Goh and some of the ministry team spoke to the Formation, Education and Discipleship (FED) Working Group about his church’s vision and program of lifelong discipleship, with 380 people engaged in regular classes and groups. The church offers educational activities for all ages, including learning the Bible and theology, developing gifts and leadership, and a focus on Korean culture and mission. As part of the Korean diaspora in Australia, KCM sees its members as part of Christ’s mission within Australia reaching across cultures. They have a vibrant ministry with children and young people and are seeking to understand and enrich the discipleship of second and third generation Korean Australians.
Participants and presenters came from across Australia to the event, co-sponored by FED and the Assembly Mission and Evangelism Network (AMEN). A number of the presentations are available on the Assembly website here.
The FED unit invites the Uniting Church to embrace a vision of
For more information about the work of Formation, Education and Discipleship, visit fednews.org.
