In several weeks I’ll be running an education and resourcing session in Melbourne focussed on helping ministers, youth workers and congregational leaders work on how they prepare young people and adults for baptism and confirmation.
We’ll be looking at
- baptism in a post-Christendom world
- how mainline churches are rethinking confirmation
- dimensions of belief, belonging and discipleship
- considerations around ages and stages of maturity
- several approaches to preparing people
- the role of mentors and other companions on the journey
- a range of print, multimedia and online resources
- a sample of forthcoming UCA resources
This has been an interest of mine for some time, since I worked at JBCE in the 1990’s. In the mid-90’s I undertook a study of what mainline denominations were doing with confirmation. This led to an article in Uniting Church Studies and the learning design of the Belonging Kit (Uniting Education, 1998) which was edited (and much of it written) by Cheryl Lawrie. It remains an excellent resource today. Since then I’ve regularly looked out for and collected materials in this area, including how we explore Christian beliefs.
The forthcoming UCA Assembly resource is a series of six short videos (7-8 mins each) and a discussion guide. It is a project that I commenced while working at the Assembly and am now finishing for them.
Working titles:
- Believing in God
- Believing in Jesus Christ
- Believing in the Holy Spirit
- Living as God’s Church
- Receiving the Scriptures
- Serving God’s Mission
The video presenters are Deidre Palmer, Eseta Waqabaca-Meneilly, Dave Williamson, Geoff Thompson, Steph Tai, Paul Dongwon Goh, Tim Hein, Andrew Dutney, Denise Champion, Charissa Suli, Stu Cameron, Monica Melanchthon, Alistair Macrae and Amelia Koh-Butler.
The series “We are the Uniting Church: Our Faith” should be available by October.
Date: Tuesday 10 September, 10.00am – 12.30pm
Venue: Murrumbeena Uniting Church, 117 Murrumbeena Rd, Murrumbeena
Cost: $10
RSVP 3 September.
DOWNLOAD FLYER (120kb PDF) with contact and RSVP details.
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