Transcript BECOMING A FAITH FORMING CONGREGATION IN THE 21ST CENTURY John Roberto [email protected] www.LifelongFaith.com Four Big Challenges 1. Increasing diversity throughout American society 2.

BECOMING A
FAITH FORMING
CONGREGATION
IN THE 21ST
CENTURY
John Roberto
[email protected]
www.LifelongFaith.com
Four Big Challenges
1. Increasing diversity throughout American
society
2. Impact of new digital technologies on life
3. Increasing diversity in the religious beliefs,
practices, and affiliation of Americans
4. Decline in religious transmission from
generation to generation
The “Old” Faith Formation Ecosystem
Church
Sunday
School
Community
Family
Ethnic
Traditions
A New Faith Forming Ecosystem
Intergenerational
Faith Community
Online & Digital
Faith Formation
Missional Faith
Formation
Age
Group/Generational
Faith Formation
Family Faith
Formation
Intergenerational Community
Throughout Scripture there is a pervasive sense
that all generations were typically present when
faith communities gathered for worship, for
celebration, for feasting, for praise, for
encouragement, for reading of Scripture, in times
of danger, and for support and service. . . . To
experience authentic Christian community and reap
the unique blessings of intergenerationality, the
generations must be together regularly and
often—infants to octogenarians.
(Holly Allen and Christine Ross)
Intergenerational Community
Engaging all ages and generations in the life
and events of church life and the Christian faith
 Participate in intergenerational faith
experiences
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Intergenerational Community
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Caring: Community activities, storytelling,
mentoring
Celebrating: Sunday worship, milestones,
church year seasons
Learning: Intergenerational programs: weekly,
monthly, small group
Praying: Community prayer, intergenerational
prayer groups, spiritual guides/mentors
Serving: Intergenerational service projects
and mission trips, church-wide service days
Age Group Faith Formation
10
Decades
of Life
Children
& Parents
Youth &
Parents
Older
Adults
Intergenerational
Faith Community
Mature
Adults
Young
Adults
Mid-life
Adults
Family Faith Formation
Strengthening faith transmission at home
1. Equipping and resourcing families for
nurturing family faith at home - faith practices
2. Building strong families by developing family
assets
3. Parent faith formation
4. Parenting for faith growth training
5. Parenting skills
Missional Faith Formation
1. Expand and extend the church’s presence
through outreach, connection, relationship
building, and engagement with people where
they live.
2. Provide pathways for people to consider or
reconsider the Christian faith, to encounter
Jesus and the Good News, and to live as
disciples in a supportive faith community.
Connecting the Ecosystem
Intergenerational
Faith Community
Online & Digital
Faith Formation
Missional Faith
Formation
Age
Group/Generational
Faith Formation
Family Faith
Formation
Online & Digitally-Enabled
Faith Formation
1. Internet Revolution
2. Mobile Revolution
3. Social Media Revolution
Information is now. . .
 Portable
 Personal
 Participatory
Digitally-Enabled Faith Formation
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Engage people with a wide variety of faith forming
content for all ages - anytime, any place
Extend church events into people’s daily lives via
online content and experiences
Connect faith formation in gathered settings with
faith formation in online settings
Offer a variety of online faith formation content,
experiences, and courses for self-study and small
group study
Digitally-Enabled Faith Formation
Fully Online
Faith
Formation
Mostly
Online with
Regular
Interaction in
Gathered
Sessions
Online Faith
Formation &
Gathered
Sessions
(Flipped
Classroom)
Gathered
Program with
Online
Components
beyond the
Program
Gathered
Program with
Supportive
Online
Content
Gathered and Online Content
Connecting church programs or events with online
content that extends and deepens the experience
through learning, prayer, ritual, action, etc.
 Sunday worship & church year feasts and
seasons
 Intergenerational & family programs
 Children, youth, and adult classes & programs
 Extended programs: mission trips, retreat
experiences, and vacation Bible school, summer
camp
Church Event
or Program
At Home &
Daily Life
TALK
Conversation
Activities
SHARE
Blog Facebook
Video
Projects
PRAY
Devotions
Bible Reading
Daily Prayer
LEARN
Read
Listen
Watch
Event or
Program
ACT
Practices
Service
Projects
Example: 40-Day Lent Curriculum
Church Life
• Ash Wednesday
• Lenten Sunday
liturgies
• Stations of the
Cross
• Lenten prayer
• Lenten retreat
• Lenten service
• Lenten soup
suppers

Daily & Home Life
•
•
•
•
Fasting
Praying
Service/Almsgiving
Lectionary
reflection
• Family activities

Online Life
• Lenten learning
resources
• Lenten calendar
• Daily Lenten prayer
• Weekly table prayer
• Video resources
• Online retreat
experience
Lenten series
on change
with
companion
materials for
families at
home
Online and Gathered
“Flip the classroom or program” by creating a
digital platform to provide the content that
people would learn in the gathered setting in an
online learning space using print, audio, video,
and more. And then transform the gathered
program using interactive activities, discussion,
project-based learning, and practice and
demonstration.
Online and Gathered
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Flip children’s programming: At home
learning with parents (print, video, online); inclass application with activities, projectcentered learning
Flip confirmation programming
Develop a online justice and service center
Mostly Online
Offering opportunities for individuals, families,
and small groups to utilize the digital platform as
their primary learning setting and provide
opportunities for regular interaction in face-toface, gathered settings or in a web conference
format, such as a Google+ Hangout.
 Parent webinar programs delivered to parents
at home in four-month semesters: three
webinars followed by a parent gathering at
church; three more webinars and concluding
with a parent gathering at church.
Mostly Online
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Online learning resources for self-study or small
group study, and gathering at the conclusion to
share their insights with others who participated.
Online Bible study where groups can meet
regularly in a physical setting or virtually
through Skype or a Google+ Hangout for
sharing their learning.
Selected online courses and activities from
colleges, seminaries, and religious organization
for individualized learning with the option for a
mentor or small group gathering.
Tri-Saints
Lutheran Parish
Monthly
Bible Study
Christ's Lutheran
Church, Davenport
St. James Lutheran
Church, Edgar
As the pastor of two churches,
I am unavailable to
teach Sunday School classes,
so I decided to try posting
online study materials for
reading through Scripture so
that parishioners can access it
on their own and choose to
form their own groups if they
wish.
Fully Online
The rise of high quality and easily accessible
online religious content—courses, activities, print
and e-books, audio and video programs, and
content-rich websites—has made designing
online faith formation feasible.
 Online Bible and theology courses, video
programs, webinars for individual study
Fully Online
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Online prayer and spirituality center where
people can access daily prayer reflections
and devotions, offer prayer intentions, pray
for others, learn about spiritual practices,
download prayer activities for the home
Online parent resource center with the best
knowledge, practices, and tools for parenting
(print, audio, video)
Online retreat experience
St Mark’s
Daily
Devotion
Ord Bethany Devotions
& Sunday Worship Resources
Comments from St. Paul’s, Fall City
We've seen people respond well to our expanded online
ministry. The new website has generated much more traffic
than our previous one - as much as 100x more each month leading people to learn more about our congregation and
increasing the number of first-time worshipers (and folks who
have returned after extended absences).
Members and non-members alike have expressed their
appreciation for the ability to access Sunday's sermons when
they are unable to attend, for the daily text
recommendations that connect them to Scripture between
Sundays, and for seasonal devotional and informational
items, particularly during Lent.
Comments from St. Paul’s, Fall City
We haven't been as successful at facilitating conversation
online as we'd like, and that will probably be the next
growing edge developing this aspect of our ministry, along
with getting more people involved in the day-to-day task of
keeping content fresh and interesting.
We're excited about the possibilities, and looking forward to
seeing where the Spirit leads us to go next.
Andrew Chavanak, St. Paul's Ev. Lutheran Church
Falls City, Nebraska