What is Faith Formation?
By Pastor Keith Anderson
You may have noticed that we recently changed the terminology of our educational ministries from “Christian Education” to “Faith Formation.” So, Christian Education has become Children and Family Faith Formation, Youth Ministry has become Youth Faith Formation, and Adult Education has become Adult Faith Formation.
Why this change?
Well, “Faith Formation” is the more modern term for what churches have long called Christian Education. “Faith formation,” in the very phrase itself, reminds us that the purpose of our learning ministries is to help kids, youth, and adults grow in faith, not just receive information or fulfill certain requirements.
Faith formation is holistic, experiential, conversational, and spans all the domains of our lives: church, but also home, and wherever we live our faith in our daily lives. In the 21st century, faith formation also uses a spectrum of modes and methods from in-person gatherings to fully digital content and connections, and everything in between (we have learned a lot about this during COVID!), in order to connect and support people where they are. I describe the purpose of faith formation for UDLC this way:
Faith Formation at UDLC is “life long, life wide, and life deep.” It activates our baptismal faith and identity throughout our lives, so that we grow in love for God and neighbor, deepen our understanding and appreciation of our traditions, both theological and Biblical, and feel empowered to live out our faith in the world.
My friend, John Roberto, is one of the leading voices in faith formation today. In his article, Creating an Agenda for the Future of Faith Formation, he identifies seven key practices for congregations in this area: developing a new ecology of Christian faith formation, focusing on faith maturing, personalizing faith formation, becoming intentionally intergenerational, empowering, equipping parents and the family, designing 21st-century learning experiences, and embracing new leadership roles.
At the outset of 2021, we are focusing on increasing our capacity to support parents and families, creating new adult formation opportunities for folks we don’t currently reach, and creating or building up our faith formation teams.
Our staff is looking forward to growing into this name change and supporting our members as they live their faith in a rapidly changing world. Below, John Roberto shares some thoughts on faith formation ecosystems and the role of digital technology. There is a myriad of resources on John’s website, Lifelong Faith.