Education for Ministry

Every baptized person is called to ministry. The Education for Ministry (EfM) program provides people with the education to carry out that ministry. During the Service of Confirmation, we ask God to "Renew in these your servants the covenant you made with them at Baptism. Send them forth in the power of the Spirit to perform the service you set before them." EfM offers an opportunity to discover how to respond to the call to Christian service.

The seminar group is the nucleus of the Education for Ministry program. A group consists of six to twelve participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly over the course of a nine-month academic year. These meetings are usually from two and a half to three hours in length.

Through study, prayer, and reflection, EfM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom. This process can be illustrated by a two-rail fence. One rail is the Christian tradition. The other is the collective experience of the group's members. The rails are linked by fence posts which represent the seminar sessions where life and study meet. The fence is grounded in the soil of regular worship that is vital to the life of the group.

Participants are given weekly assignments to study with the help of resource guides.

Students are responsible for setting their own learning goals. They spend between two and four hours in study and preparation each week. In the seminars, members have an opportunity to share their insights and discoveries as well as to discuss questions that the study materials raise for them.

Through discussion and guided reflection, the seminars furnish an opportunity to deepen understanding of the reading materials.

More important is the development of skills in theological reflection. The goal is to learn to think theologically. By examining their own beliefs and their relationship to our culture and the tradition of our Christian faith, participants can learn what it means to be effective ministers in the world. In coming to terms with the notion that everything we do has potential for manifesting the love of Christ, we discover that our ministry is at hand wherever we turn.

The seminar is supported by a life of prayer and regular worship. EfM groups are encouraged to develop a pattern of worship appropriate to their situations. Liturgical materials are furnished with the course materials.

We’re forming a group at St. Anne’s. Would you like to be part of it?

Education for Ministry

Here’s more information on this wonderful educational offering:

A group consists of six to twelve participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly over the course of a nine-month academic year. These meetings are usually from two-and-a-half to three hours in length.

Through study, prayer, and reflection, EfM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom.

The Education for Ministry program is a four-year curriculum:

Year 1: Old Testament

Year 2: New Testament

Year 3: Church History

Year 4: Theology

Each "year" is a nine-month cycle of study. Students enroll for one cycle at a time. Participants in groups under institutional sponsorship (parochial or diocesan) pay a fee of $350. Fees pay for the EfM materials and the honorarium for the mentor. In addition, students need a Bible and may wish to obtain additional reading materials suggested in the bibliographies. To assist students in need, a fee reduction provision is available on the basis of the total enrollment of the group.

We are beginning a new group at St. Anne’s in September.  Does this appeal to you?