Generations Of Faith Resource Manual

This invaluable resource offers planning processes and practical tools for fashioning and implementing a lifelong curriculum. Includes a CD-ROM with PowerPoint presentations for each chapter as well as worksheets and handouts.

When the church of the home and the church of the parish work together, lasting faith formation is the result. Families and Faith: A Vision and Practice for Parish Leaders offers readers a wealth of ideas and strategies for helping families grow in faith. It focuses on practical steps for connecting faith and life, family faith and spirituality, families and Christian practice, and families and serving others. Excellent for catechetical leaders, youth ministers, and coordinators for whole community catechesis.

The key in the Generations approach to faith formation is that it builds on the strengths of a parish's current catechetical program, while creating a lifelong faith formation plan and intergenerational learning programs that gather all the generations to learn together and nurture faith at home throughout the life cycle. The CD-ROM includes PowerPoint presentations for each chapter, along with articles by religious education theorists who have been instrumental in developing a new paradigm of lifelong faith formation. The book is ideal for parish pastoral and catechetical leaders, as well as university courses in religious education and pastoral ministry.

In 1991 a pair of Ivy League-educated Californians, William Strauss and Neil Howe, published a landmark book, Generations: The History of America's Future from 1584 to 2069. In Generations and subsequent books, they develop a theory that generational cycles repeat through American history at about 90- to 95-year intervals. In this book, Carl Eeman accepts the invitation of Strauss and Howe in Generations: "We encourage specialists among our readers, whatever their backgrounds, to shed more light on the component pieces of the generational puzzle" (p. 16). Eeman explores the cycle of four generational types from a faith perspective and applies generational ideas to the practice of ministry and to congregational issues. This book makes use of the young field of generational theory and provides a valuable tool for understanding between generations. As congregational leaders minister among the people of God, these concepts will help them be more effective leaders, clearer communicators, and more nimble troubleshooters and problem solvers. Foreword by William Strauss and Neil Howe.

Here the authors convincingly show that intergenerational faith formation, when done well, can be powerful, dramatic, even magical. Not only is there a place for intergenerational learning in parish faith formation, the authors believe there is a necessity for it. They show that intergenerational faith formation can help children, adolescents, and adults effectively identify with and integrate into the faith community because their learning and formation takes place in the context of communityall ages learning together. People will be looking for this one.

From the Introduction This book is about passing on the faith from generation to generation, throughout the milestones of a person's life. Faith is created and nurtured by the Holy Spirit through the Gospels. The vision underlying the RADICAL model was developed in light of the theological principle that faith is formed by the Holy Spirit through personal, trusted relationships, often, but not always, in our own homes. A youth and family ministry for the 21st century connects all the generations in the total ministry of the congregation and, through the cross of Christ, recognizes the work of the Holy Spirit shaping faith in all the circles of relationships. This revised edition expands on the authors' original model in an all-new chapter on the circle of creation. This edition has also been updated throughout in light of new ideas and research that have emerged during the past decade.

"One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts." —Psalm 145:4 Most churches and faith communities segment their ministries by age and generation. The kids go to children’s church, the teens go to youth group. Worship services are geared toward different generational preferences, and small groups gather people at the same life stage, whether singles, young marrieds, parents, or empty nesters. In some congregations, people may never interact with those of other ages. But it was not always so. Throughout biblical tradition and the majority of history, communities of faith included people of all ages together in corporate worship, education, and ministry. The church was not just multigenerational; it was intergenerational, with the whole church together as one family and people of all ages learning from one another in common life. In this comprehensive text, Holly Allen and Christine Lawton offer a complete framework for intentional intergenerational Christian formation. They provide the theoretical foundations for intergenerationality, showing how learning and spiritual formation are better accomplished through intergenerational contexts. It is not just elders teaching youth; learning also takes place when adults discover fresh insights from children. Then the authors give concrete guidance for intergenerational praxis on how worship, learning, community, and service can all be achieved intergenerationally. Case studies of intergenerational congregations provide models for how a culture of intergenerationality can be created in local churches. This volume serves as an essential guide for all preparing for and involved in congregational ministry and formation. Discover the riches of intergenerational ministry, and let all generations commend the works of God to one another.