EducationForMinistryEFMatStJames - ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH, LANGHORNE

Come and Visit Us!

WHAT WE DO IN EFM, PART ONE

Theological Reflection

We have a wonderful small group here at St. James for adults. It is called EFM (Education for Ministry).

The word Ministry here does not mean "ordination to the priesthood".

Ministry is about how we go about being Christians in our daily lives:

╖ Being strong through a health crisis

╖ Being a parent, a spouse

╖ Being at work

╖ Saying "Thanks" to the person who just made your hoagie at the deli Е

Our main shared activity in EFM is Theological Reflection (TR).

Theological Reflection is a process by which we examine, sometimes challenge, sometimes reinforce, and hopefully expand what we think and believe, and think about what that might mean for us in our daily lives.

Your main sources in your spiritual journey are:

1. Your own experience.

2. Our religious tradition.

3. The culture in which we live.

4. The things you think and believe.

In TR we take:

╖ a shared kind of experience

╖ a scripture passage

╖ an object in culture, or

╖ an issue

We examine it in the light of the 'four quadrants (1-4), mentioned above, and then come up with insights and implications for action. We often end by writing a prayer together.

"TRing" is an interesting, challenging, and powerful experience. We are usually amazed, and sometimes astounded by where we end up and what we come up with.

**********************************************************

WHAT WE DO IN EFM, PART TWO

Reporting on Chapters

Our next shared activity in EFM is "Reporting on Chapters".

When you register for EFM you get a book from The University of the South.а The books for the four years of the program explore:

╖аааааааа The Old Testament

╖аааааааа The New Testament

╖аааааааа Church history

╖аааааааа The History of Theology

Group members are responsible to themselves for reading a chapter a week through the year.а There are not grades, tests, no pressure.а You're there 'cause you wanna be, right?

What you get out of EFM reading is what you put into it.а You're not doing EFM in the context of being in a school.а You're doing EFM in the context of your adult life.а Sometimes on consecutive weeks, but more commonly on alternate weeks with TR's, group members report on the chapter they have just read.аа What's meant by reporting isn't a comprehensive report, but rather answering questions like:

╖аааааааа Was there one new piece of information you got?

╖аааааааа Was there an image the chapter conjured for you?

╖аааааааа What question or questions did the chapter raise for you?

╖аааааааа Did you get a new insight or inspiration?

╖аааааааа Was there something that irritated you?

And then, time depending, if people have more they would like to say, they can.

One amazing thing about St. James EFM, is that for a relatively small church we have sustained this program continuously for nearly 20 years. We meet once a week from 7:00pm - 9:30pm on Thursday evenings.

If you are interested in joining our classаthis Fall, please contact our Rector.а

You'll be glad you did!