Education for Ministry
EfM is. . .
Why is EfM important to our church?
Since the fall of 2006, a group of ten people began meeting on Monday evenings in order to “educate themselves for ministry.” By 2009 there were 27 people meeting each week with this common purpose. While EfM’s curriculum encompasses a detailed study of Scripture, a survey of church history, and a fairly thorough look at theological thought, its overriding goal is to equip each student with a deeper awareness of God’s presence in their lives, in their faith community, and in the world. Each member is urged to explore God’s call and to develop his or her own ministry.
This isn’t just a class to learn more facts about the Bible or to enrich one’s theological vocabulary; it’s a process by which each member learns to articulate his or her faith and to genuinely appreciate the faith of others in the group. EfMers learn to listen with their hearts, struggle deeply with difficult issues, and to emerge from four years of study with a clearer knowledge of how to serve God and the church. I have no doubt that graduates of this course of study will bring this profound experience back to the congregation and enrich the faith community to which they belong.
The Rev. Matthew Lawrence
The Program:
The seminar group is the nucleus of the Education for Ministry program. A group consists of six to twelve participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly over the course of a nine-month academic year. These meetings are usually from two and a half to three hours in length.
Through study, prayer, and reflection, EfM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom. This process can be illustrated by a two-rail fence. One rail is the Christian tradition. The other is the collective experience of the group's members. The rails are linked by fence posts which represent the seminar sessions where life and study meet. The fence is grounded in the soil of regular worship which is vital to the life of the group.
Participants are given weekly assignments to study with the help of resource guides. Students are responsible for setting their own learning goals. They spend between two and four hours in study and preparation each week. In the seminars members have an opportunity to share their insights and discoveries as well as to discuss questions which the study materials raise for them.
Through discussion and guided reflection, the seminars furnish an opportunity to deepen understanding of the reading materials.
More important is the development of skills in theological reflection. The goal is to learn to think theologically. By examining their own beliefs and their relationship to our culture and the tradition of our Christian faith, participants can learn what it means to be effective ministers in the world. In coming to terms with the notion that everything we do has potential for manifesting the love of Christ, we discover that our ministry is at hand wherever we turn.
The seminar is supported by a life of prayer and regular worship. EfM groups are encouraged to develop a pattern of worship appropriate to their situations. Liturgical materials are furnished with the course materials.
