Faith Formation Ministry

 

Faith Formation Ministry - From Leann Thompson

Faith is to believe and trust in something. As Christians, our faith is in God's love. Faith is a gift from God. Formation is giving or able to give form; helping to shape, develop or mold.

So, faith formation is the process of exploring, shaping, molding and strengthening our belief, trust and expression of God's love for us.

As a Faith Formation team, it is our goal to partner in that process with each person who enters our doors along each step of their faith journey.....from cradle through graduation...through the end of life.

We are excited about the many programs that currently exist at Family of Christ and for the many that have potential to grow here.

But Faith Formation is more than growing "programs." Our Faith Formation ministry at Family of Christ is about growing people - growing disciples - making disciples who make a difference in our world.

In Matthew 28:29, Jesus says, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Jesus didn't say, "Go, make members," so that's not our mission at Family of Christ. Jesus did say "Go, make disciples." And Jesus said he would make us "fishers of people."

Taking the imagery of fishing a bit further, Jesus' way of fishing wasn't to "catch and keep." Instead, Jesus employed the strategy of "catch and release." He did that with his disciples. He caught them and brought them onto his team, then he spent a good amount of time training and teaching them, and then he released them into the world to do his work.

We seek to do that here at Family of Christ as well....

-to catch people in the safety net of God's love
-to train them (by helping them to explore, shape, mold and strengthen their faith in God),
-and then to "release" them into their daily lives and help them to move along the stages of their spiritual journey....

That's what our Faith Formation ministry is all about.

Here at Family of Christ,
We are "caught" by our loving God
We are "trained" through Church School, Confirmation, Bible Studies, sermons
We are "released" into the world to live out in our daily lives the Gospel that is in our hearts

As a Faith Formation team, it will continue to be our mission and privilege to provide exciting ways for all of us to do that, through quality programs.