SPARK

SPARK Family from Augsburg Fortress is a quarterly magazine for families and children. It provides a way to talk with children about God centered in well-known Bible stories. Family Sample copies available.

Spark Bibles from Augsburg Fortress are designed to help introduce children to age-appropriate Bibles. The Spark Story Bible and Spark Bible NRSVare for ages 2- 6th grade. Preview copies are available from the Resource Center or Augsburg Fortress.

Vibrant Faith Ministries

New from Vibrant Faith Ministries: Teaching the Bible with Children, Youth, Families: Unit 1- Equipping Households of Faith, a resource based on an understanding of baptism that informs the belief that home is the primary place for nurturing and passing on the faith. This will help congregations build a strong and vital partnership with households for a common mission – to experience God’s story and practice the Christian faith in daily life. DVD416

Among many resources produced by Vibrant Faith Ministries is their Faith Formation Learning Exchange. Check it out!

DVDs

The Way of the Child: Helping Children Experience God focuses on the spiritual formation of children. This new resource in the growing Companions in Christ family helps children learn and experience spiritual practices that will lead them into a deeper awareness of God’s presence in their lives. DVD360

For effective worship-centered ministry centered on faith nurture for young children, Helping Children Experience God is based on the book Young Children and Worship by Jerome Berryman and Sonja Stewart. It’s an effective worship-centered ministry of faith nurture for young children. The dvd provides an introductory overview of the program for pastors, Christian educators, worship teams, parents, and lay leaders. DVD126

From Paraclete Press, Tell Me About God can help parents and others talk with children about God’s presence and a God who loves them unconditionally. DVD14

More Resources

Washed and Welcome: A Baptism Sourcebook and Living the Promises of Baptism: 101 Ideas for Parents are part of new baptismal formation resources from Augsburg Fortress. These resources will help pastors and parents with ideas for celebrating the gifts of baptism in daily living including meals, bedtime, play, seasons, milestones, transitions. Ideas are appropriate for children from infant to upper elementary. K172

With humor and honesty, Denise Roy tells stories that can help readers see God’s presence in the ordinary events of family life and children in My Monastery is a Minivan: Where the Daily is Divine and Routine Becomes Prayer. B3776

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

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Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: Open for Exploration: Faith Formation in Children

Get Some Rest

Think about slowing down—even stopping—to give your soul a rest. Look to the August issue of The Lutheran for help. In “Sabbath,” take a look at “being, having and doing enough.” Get advice on slowing down with “Six steps to sufficiency.” And learn how “Emmaus walks” helped a family become aware of what God has done and is doing in their lives.

To help your discussion, a study guide by Robert Blezard, an ELCA pastor in Pennsylvania, is available in the print edition and online (external link) (free to print and Web subscribers; click on “study guides”).

Summertime

Kick back and enjoy some summer reading with The Lutheran’s August issue:

• meet an ELCA member who incorporates her art into her faith
• read a review of the documentary Vanishing of the Bees and the children’s book Merci Mister Dash!
• see how summer camping programs are not just for kids anymore
• get some advice on helping your child through “camp homesickness“
• stop for some tea and story time
• think about fall and staging a Reformation reunion
• and hear how Iowa youth and residents of a Lutheran retirement community are making beautiful music together.

Stay Connected

In The Lutheran’s August issue, find out what’s happening in the church—locally and globally:

• get a preview of the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly
• discover how a “Disastrous youth ministry” has teens ready to deploy in case of emergency
• read assembly reports to see if synods are moving forward after the 2009 Churchwide Assembly’s decisions on sexuality
• see how a S.C. congregation was transformed from despair to hope through Transformational Ministry and how an Oregon congregation rises to the challenge of transformation
• and travel to India where Lutherans leave a legacy of hope and opportunity.

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

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Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: Sneak Peak: The Lutheran August 2011 Edition

» Download: A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance (download pdf file)

None of us is exempt from difficult times. Experiences of loss and grief, deep disappointments, fear and worry are the stuff of life. The death of someone whose life was once full of promise, the loss of one’s job, an unwelcome or unexpected transition, dreaded health diagnoses, broken relationships, and unfulfilled promises are the great common denominators. Very often, we don’t see another’s suffering, we don’t know another’s disappointment or the circumstances that bring sorrow and grief. Knowing that the incarnate God who came to us in a suffering Christ walks with us in our suffering is our anchor and our hope. The following resources are representative of what the Resource Center provides in our collection on loss and grief.

Julie K. Aageson,
Director of the Resource Center
Coordinator, ELCA Resource Centers

Both The Lutheran Magazine (external link) and The Little Lutheran (external link) include ongoing stories and resources for dealing with difficult economic times. The March, 2009 issue includes a cover story about how ELCA congregations and members are coping with stress and loss. Helpful tips are included. A free January, 2009 e-newsletter from The Little Lutheran “Faith and the Economy: Managing stress around young children” (external link) offers ways families’ faith can help them.

Lent provides an important time this year for congregations to enjoy a meal together, worship, and reflect about some of the challenges many people are facing. As individuals and families worry about the possibility of job losses and other economic uncertainties, Lenten suppers and other occasions for gathering together can be a time and a “safe place” for connecting with one another.

Some congregations are inviting opportunities for their members and others in the community to hear from social workers, business leaders, and other community people to talk about career connections, social services, business opportunities, and any other topics that address current concerns. These can be simple adult education forums on a Sunday morning, a weekend retreat, or a workshop where information and connections are shared. A workshop at the synod assembly also will focus on stress and dealing with difficult times.

To Comfort and To Honor is a comprehensive guide for helping families deal with the death and suffering. It provides a framework for preparing for a loved one’s death, expectations and decision making at the time of a death, and rituals and detailed information for planning a funeral. (B1907)

Language of the Heart shares rituals, stories, and information about death. (B2185)

Joyce Rupp’s many books on loss and suffering are written with poetic grace and theological integrity. Among the best are Praying Our Goodbyes, about the end of a friendship, a financial struggle, illness, a job change-losses that have given life meaning and value; May I Have This Dance, focusing on relationships that help guide us through joy and sorrow; Little Pieces of Light-Darkness and Personal Growth encourages readers to approach painful, inner darkness as a help rather than a hindrance to growth; and The Cup of Our Life uses a cup as a metaphor for difficult times. (B2115) (B1183) (B1568) (B1804)

Herb Brokering’s I’m Thinking of You-Spiritual Letters of Hope and Healing looks at ways to offer hope to those recovering from illness. (B1653)

Printed Resources

Written by area authors Jan Nelson and Pastor David Aaker, The Bereavement Ministry Program- A Comprehensive Guide for Churches offers a wealth of resources for responding to the needs of people in grief. It provides ideas for adults, children, and teenagers and addresses topics like the death of a spouse, a parent, young child, adult child, long-term illness, suicide, murder, infertility, AIDS, and other traumatic losses. It includes resources for insomnia, worry reduction, relaxation, managing stress, meditation, and a ritual for saying goodbye. An update of this resource will be available soon. (PR515)

Wheat Ridge Ministries publishes a number of helpful booklets including Odyssey of a Pain-Filled Life by Carol Ebeling and An Odyssey Through Cancer by W. J. Fields. (PR713) (PR711)

Children Are Not Paper Dolls is written from the perspective of children and illustrates how children deal with loss and grief. (PR379)

“Mother Teresa and Father Damien refused to look the other way… they chose to walk head-on into the most extreme situations of suffering and death that continue to be part of life.” A resource for a seven-day retreat, Retreat with Mother Teresa and Damien of Molokai-Caring for Those Who Suffer shows participants how to find God “in [God's] most distressing disguise.” (PR624)

To help children cope with loss, Guiding Children Through Life’s Losses offers sixteen prayers and lessons for assisting and acknowledging loss, for expressing feelings and attempting to recognize the experience as an opportunity for healing and growth. (PR603)

Books

Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl’s Turn My Heart gathers together prayers and psalms, songs and scripture, poems and pictures, all truly remarkable vehicles of comfort and grace. It includes prayer services that can be used for small groups or congregational use and community prayer. It’s the first resource I go to when there is a tragedy, illness, loss of hope, and so many other reasons for grief and loss. Music CD and book. (B2850) (CD6)

Augsburg Fortress publishes a series called Difficult Times (external link) dealing with depression, chronic illness, divorce, mental issues, the loss of a job and more. (B2759=)

Stilling the Storm: Worship and Congregational Leadership in Difficult Times (The Alban Institute) by Kathleen S. Smith combines liturgical and theological insight for pastors and congregations as they walk through difficulty and hard times. (B3310)

Gerhard Frost’s The Color of the Night takes the experience of Job to write about the “dark night of the soul” and the soul-searching that comes from thinking God has abandoned us. (B189)

Author Marva Dawn writes about the message of hope, grace and comfort to early Christians as they faced suffering in her book, Joy in Our Weakness. (B1750)

Can You Drink The Cup? is Henri Nouwen’s beautiful little essay on the spiritual life, living the life given to us even in its brokenness and disappointments. (B1791)

Daniel Simundson’s Where is God in My Suffering is a classic on God’s presence in the midst of loss and grief. (B797)

Grace All Around Us: Embracing God’s Promise in Tragedy and Loss by Stephen Paul Bouman was written in the aftermath of 9/11. (B3347)

From AFP’s Lutheran Voices, Will I Sing Again? Listening for the Melody of Grace in the Silence of Illness and Loss by John McCullough Bade deals with chronic and debilitating illness. (B2832)

For daily prayer, Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief by Martha Whitmore Hickman is for those who have suffered the loss of a loved one. (B3538)

Douglas John Hall has written a major work on the reality of suffering in God and Human Suffering. This classic goes beyond simply addressing the topic of suffering to the affirmation that God creates, sustains, and redeems and that suffering—loneliness, experience of limits, temptation, anxiety—are necessary parts of God’s good creation. (B832)

Life is Goodbye, Life is Hello addresses the importance of grieving through all kinds of loss. (B1178)

Avoiding the cliches of grief is the theme in I Know Just How You Feel. (B1034)

Video / DVD

Walter Wangerin draws from his own experience of cancer in Confronting Death: A Christian Approach to the End of Life (Paraclete Press). This five-part conversation goes way beyond acknowledging the difficulties of illness and eventual death and explores stages of grief and loss, caring for those who are ill, handling pain, and much more. (DVD250)

The short film, Nooma: Matthew speaks to the suffering that comes with the loss of someone we love. (DVD163)

Joyce Rupp explores transitions in life like the ending of a relationship, a death, a career change, a move, or a change in one’s life in Spiritual Growth in Tough Times: Find a Reason to Hope. She compares the great cycles of life and nature to our own inner cycles. (VT1942)

Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss provides authentic experiences of loss and grief that don’t assume “right” or prescribed ways of dealing with difficult times. (DVD234) (B2320) (VT2453)

Joan Chittister addresses themes of suffering and loss in two video resources, Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope and Transfiguration Ministry to a Wounded World. Both deal with times of pain and sorrow, depression and stress. (VT2276, VT2277, VT2429)

Walter Brueggemann asks questions like “have you ever wondered if God cares about our suffering” and “does my suffering matter at all to God?” in Is It Alright with God If We Suffer? from the series, Faith and Reason II. This discussion addresses classical notions about God’s ability to deal with evil. (VT1878)

In the series, Great Figures of the Bible, Elie Wiesel tells the Story of Job weaving together images of suffering and sacrifice that characterize that classic Old Testament story. (VT1251)

Spiritual Homepage’s “Suffering” invites viewers to consider our common experience of suffering. The topic is introduced by a well-known thinker, a profile of someone whose life experience reflects a deep encounter with suffering is shared, a film or event from history illustrates the same theme helping viewers better understand their own experience of suffering. (VT1747)

Lessons on Living with Morrie Schwartz, an ABC Special featuring Ted Koppel’s interview with a sociology professor from Brandeis University whose experience of death and dying is recorded in the book, Tuesdays with Morrie, is a helpful resource about “things seen and unseen,” the joys and sorrows of life that all of us experience. (VT2111)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: A Time to Mourn, A Time to Dance – 2009

» Download: Taste and See! (download pdf file)

Eat this bread, drink this cup. Taste and see the goodness of God. Bread of life, cup of love, we rejoice in your presence. (ELW, #492)

The haunting melody and beautiful words found in “Eat This Bread, Drink This Cup” are for me among the richest and most meaningful for describing the celebration of the Eucharist. You will find the verses of this lovely communion hymn interspersed here with a collection of resources meant to illumine our experience of the Lord’s Supper.

Our core identity and central commitment as Lutherans to word and sacrament ministry is a key component of faith formation. The selection of multimedia and print resources found here represents some classic “takes” on sacramental life and the many meanings of Holy Communion. Please note the use of the word, classic. Several resources have been around for a long time but continue to speak meaningfully the multiple meanings of the Lord’s Supper, the meal around which Christians identify and find themselves sent into the world. Being nourished at the Table of the Lord and being food and drink for one another is at the heart of all these resources.

Julie K. Aageson
Director, The Resource Center
Coordinator, ELCA Resource Centers

I will bless the Lord at all times, praise with heart and voice; in my God I glory forever: listen and rejoice!

6 Books for Small Group Bible Study

Breaking Bread: The Spiritual Significance of Food

by Sara Covin Juengst (Westminster John Knox, 1992)
Food and feasting are major biblical themes. Juengst has taken these Eucharistic themes to create a resource that will enrich readers’ understandings of the spiritual significance of meals, Holy Communion, and rituals of sharing, celebrating, learning, and more. Each chapter focuses on biblical customs related to food and feasting and concludes with brief “recipes” for action. From Walter Brueggemann: “…the book lets us retaste, renotice, and reswallow our life from God.”

Gathering at the Table

by Elizabeth Hoffman Reed (Liturgy Training Publications)
This small booklet is sure to stimulate conversation about the sacredness of meals and the ways in which the communion table is about all the other tables in our lives. Brief reflections in praise of dining, meals, manners, and sharing are interspersed with poignant quotations.

Daily Bread, Holy Meal: Opening the Gifts of Holy Communion

by Samuel Torvend (Augsburg Fortress, 2004)
From the Worship Matters series, this rich treasure offers an ideal format and fertile content for adult study. Beginning and ending with his grandmother’s gift of golden molasses bread, Torvend brilliantly unwraps the gifts of the Lord’s Supper. He invites conversation and reflection that will enrich and deepen every readers’ experience of the Eucharist. This book is a banquet for all who long for a deeper understanding of the generosity of God.

Let Us Break Bread Together: A Passover Haggadah for Christians

by Michael Smith and Rami Shapiro (Paraclete Press, 2005)
This lovely guide for planning and hosting a meaningful seder meal brings together the great themes of the Exodus story as a lens for understanding the Last Supper. In providing a helpful guide to an authentic Jewish Passover meal, Christians will experience a deeper knowledge of the themes of slavery, freedom, and community. Let Us Break Bread Together is an extraordinary learning opportunity for adults and youth.

Sunday Dinner: the Lord’s Supper and the Christian Life

by William Willimon (Upper Room)
Another classic that begins with the ritual of our own Sunday dinners, this book about meals will help groups see the Lord’s Supper as the primary place for understanding Christian identity, sustenance, conversion, and growth.

Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

by Sara Miles (Ballantine Books, 2007)
Stunning best describes the story that unfolds here. This beautifully written spiritual memoir vividly illustrates the power of the Eucharist to transform and reveal the presence of God. It’s a remarkable telling of meals that are more than meals, communion that goes beyond our own tables and churches, conversion that truly is about being food and drink for one another. Sara Miles’ story captures the wonder of sacramental life and the meaning of radical hospitality. It is nothing less than a vision of the kingdom and will give adult groups much to ponder about the many meanings of Holy Communion.

Look upon the Lord, be radiant, never turn away. God will save in every affliction, hear us when we pray.

Multimedia Resources

For Youth and Adults

Babette’s Feast

This award-winning 1987 Danish film will stimulate discussion about the richness of the ceremony of eating together. The captivating story of Babette and the meal she prepares for a motley band of pious Christians illustrates the power of the Eucharist to transform and shape a people. This multi-layered tale remains a classic for revealing the beauty of a meal not only as nourishment for body and soul but a means of reconciliation, generosity, forgiveness, and new life. Available on video from the Resource Center. View the trailer and more at IMDB.com (external link).

Beneath the Tree of Life: A Communion Service for All the Churches

(Music CD edited by Marty Haugen and Susan Briehl, GIA Publications)
Until the Reformation-and for some time after in a few Protestant denominations-Sunday celebration of the Eucharist was normative. Beneath the Tree of Life was created in the expectation of that day when all liturgical Christians can find common nourishment at the table of Jesus. Available from the Resource Center or GIA Publications (external link) (Download a .pdf of “Beneath the Tree of Life” (external link)).

Communion Ware from Bethlehem

Each synod in the ELCA loans a set of ceramic communion ware made by Palestinian Christians in Bethlehem to Lutheran congregations. A gift from the Division for Global Mission, this sharing of the vessels of Holy Communion is a way of connecting ELCA congregations to struggling Christians in the Middle East. Available from the Resource Center and from the Division for Global Mission.

God is Here!

(Initiatives for a New Century, ELCA, 1999)
These five video reflections on worship in the ELCA are intended for small group study and could be used during the Lenten season. The session on Holy Communion invites viewers to contemplate and meditate on the experience of God in this sacrament. It’s divided into two parts: “We Offer Ourselves” and “No Divisions” using a plate with bread, cup with wine, and a purificator as points of focus. A helpful study guide by Eileen Crowley-Horak is included. Available from the Resource Center or at the ELCA.org Worship Learning Center (external link).

Interview with Sara Miles about Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion

Published by Ballantine in 2007, the impact of Sara Miles’ spiritual memoir (see Books for Small Group Study) is discussed in this live interview about her radical conversion to Christianity. Discussion groups reading the book will find the interview compelling and enriching. This podcast can be found on Steve Brown, Etc., a nationally syndicated internet program (listen to the interview online (external link)).

Angels fold their wings around us, guard through good and ill. Those who seek the Lord will lack nothing; taste and have your fill.

Mosaic: Holy Communion

(ELCA, 2006)
This 31-minute video introduction explores biblical foundations and reviews Reformation history that defines modern Christian understandings of the Eucharist. It reminds adult learners of the gifts of the earth found in bread and wine and the many ways they convey God’s grace. DVD and web resource available from the Resource Center and online at ELCA.org Mosaic (external link).

Say Amen! To What You Are

(Liturgy Training Publications, 1994)
This 18-minute video documentary of the communion rite as celebrated in a parish setting provides deeply meaningful insights into the ways Christ comes to us in the Eucharist and how we are nourished at the Lord’s table. Available for loan from the Resource Center.

Supper at Emmaus

Supper at Emmaus by HeQi (from ELCA.org)

(Art work by Chinese contemporary Christian artist, He Qi)
This liturgical art is reminiscent of the piece commissioned to introduce the Holy Communion section in Evangelical Lutheran Worship. It depicts the supper at Emmaus in Luke 24:28-35. The risen Christ appears to two disciples and is made known to them “in the breaking of the bread.” The two banners are available for loan to ELCA synods from the ELCA (external link). Send requests to worship@elca.org

With Burning Hearts

(Orbis, 1995)
This 25-minute video by Henri Nouwen shows the Eucharist to be an intensely human event that reveals the depth of human experience: sadness and loss, attentiveness and invitation, intimacy and engagement. It reveals the power of the Lord’s Supper to transform Christians in their journey with God. Available from the Resource Center.

These Things ‘Matter: Word, Baptism, Communion

(ELCA, 1998)
These video reflections focus on the ELCA’s Use of the Means of Grace: A Statement on Word and Sacrament. The 20-minute video exploration of Holy Communion invites conversation and reflection on the ways we practice and celebrate the meal. A detailed study guide helps make this an excellent foundation for adult education, small group study, worship committees. Available from the Resource Center, from Augsburg Fortress (external link), and at the ELCA.org Learning Center (external link).

Saints of God, bow down and worship, bless the holy name. Rise to tell God’s greatness forever, wondrous deeds proclaim!

For Children

Davey and Goliath: The Family of God

This timeless classic from the Davey and Goliath series continues to help children understand Holy Communion as the special meal of the family of God. It expresses questions and feelings children may have about communion and helps develop a sense of belonging and community. Available from the Resource Center and for purchase from Augsburg Fortress (external link).

Eating and Drinking in the Word

Most often used for first communion instruction, this 20-minute video presentation for children, especially in grades 4-6, introduces a Lutheran understanding of the Eucharist. Available from the Resource Center on video and DVD and for purchase from Seraphim Communication and Augsburg Fortress (external link).

Grandma’s Bread

Another classic, this 17-minute video and DVD is a story children will remember about the power of relationships and the meaning of sharing bread. Available in English and Spanish, Grandma’s Bread tells a poignant story about the love of family and what it means to belong to one another. Available from the Resource Center and for purchase from St. Anthony Messenger Press (external link).

Table of the Lord

This four-part video resource helps prepare young children and their parents for participating in and receiving the Eucharist. Each program has a dramatic situation to help children understand how Jesus meets them in the sacrament, a gospel story, an activity, and an explanation about how giving, eating, and celebrating are central to communion. The fourth video is directed to parents and gives a clear idea of what children are being taught about Holy Communion. Available from the Resource Center and for purchase from St. Anthony Messenger Press (external link).

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: Taste and See!

For the last several months, we’ve taken a long look at our collection of resources, reevaluating what is timeless and treasured and what might be dated and not as helpful as it once was. We’ve also had numerous conversations with youth leaders and others involved in youth ministry in order to share some of the most helpful resources being used. Many of these are available from this synod’s resource center, from the ELCA, and from other youth ministry sources. We hope you will find here some helpful materials for vital, cutting-edge ministry with young people. Just to be is a blessing.

Featured Resources:

• The Godbearing Life: The Art of Soul Tending for Youth Ministry by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster. (B3032)
• The Book of Uncommon Prayer by Steven Case (PR753)
• When Kumbaya is Not Enough by Dean Borgman (B3062)
• Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People by Dorothy Bass (B2220)
• Soul Tending: Life -Forming Practices for Older Youth and Young Adults by Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron Foster (B3182)
• Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton (B3185)
• Practicing Passion: Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church by Kenda Creasy Dean (B3031)
• Family-Based Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries (B2336)
• Frogs Without Legs Can’t Hear by David Anderson and Paul Hill (B2856)
• Youth Ministry in Small Churches by Rick Chromey (PR282)
• Effective Youth Ministry by Rollie Martinson (B739)
• Reel to Real (PR667, 668,669)
• Ignite! Sparking Biblical Curiosity (PR941=)
• Blessing New Voices: Prayers of Young People and Worship Resources for Youth Ministry by Maren Tirabassi (B2611)
• Way to Live: Christian Practices for Teens edited by Dorothy Bass and Don Richter (B2891)
• An Insider’s View of Jesus (VT2489)
• Empowering Steward Leaders (DVD89)
• Youth Ministry: Developing a Congregational Approach with Roland Martinson (VT339)
• Spiritual But Not Religious: Reaching Lost Generations by Roland Martinson (C284)
• Word on the Street: 14 Scenes from the Scrapbook of Life (VT2536)
• Peer Ministry (VT2465)
• A bible study series by Ted and Lee and Mike Yaconelli includes:
  • Vocation! (DVD82)
  • Don’t Sit on Your Stuff (DVD81)
  • Bridge to Forgiveness (DVD80)
  • The Kingdom is Big Enough for You (DVD79)
• Bible Study Series for Youth (DVD76=)

Links in this article:

• “Youth Ministry Comes in All Sizes” (external link) from The Lutheran magazine (external link)
• “Youth or Consequences” (external link) from The Lutheran magazine (external link)
• Journey to Adulthood (external link) from LeaderResources (external link)
• Family Based Youth Ministry (external link)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: Youth Ministry: Life-Forming Practices, New Vitality

Faith Formation: Rethinking Christian Education – Called to Be Church

Baptism is a very big deal. In that radical act of being marked and set apart, we are joined to the Body of Christ, the church. This lifelong journey that begins in baptism challenges us to rethink and reexamine Christian education and what it means to be “formed in faith.”

The following resources help distinguish different ways of thinking about faith formation. They take into account differing learning styles. In many cases, they intersect and overlap. By categorizing them in this way, we hope to stimulate some creative thinking. Hopefully, we’ll glean the best from each in order to provide a rich mix of ways to live the faith we proclaim, to “be church.”

Featured Resources:

• Will Our Children Have Faith? by John Westerhoff
• Liturgy and Learning Through the Life Cycle by John Westerhoff
• Catechesis of the Good Shepherd by Gianna Gobb and Sofia Cavalletti
• The Vine and the Branches by Sofia Cavalletti
• Godly Play: An Imaginative Approach to Christian Education by Jerome Berryman
• Helping Children Find God by Helen Oppenheimer
• Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church by Maria Harris
• Come Unto Me: Rethinking the Sacraments for Children by Elizabeth Caldwell
• The Religious Potential of the Child by Sofia Cavalletti
• Building God’s People by John Westerhoff
• Sharing our Biblical Story: A Guide for Using Liturgical Readings as the Core of Church and Family Education by Joseph P. Russell
• The Good Shepherd and the Child by Sofia Cavalletti
• Bringing up Children in the Christian Faith by John Westerhoff
• Helping your Child Discover Faith by Delia Touchton Halverson
• To Dance with God: Family Ritual and Community Celebration by Gertrud Mueller Nelson

Featured Links:

• The Youth and Family Institute (external link)
• Faith Inkubators (external link)

The preceding resources are highlighted and recommended for your consideration. If you have questions or would like to reserve a resource, contact Julie Aageson at 701-232-3381 or julie.aageson@ecunet.org

Visit the EaND Resource Center | Search the Catalog

Eastern North Dakota Synod - ELCA: Faith Formation