Bishop's Day with Kids
Bishop's Day with Kids will be held at Good Shepherd, Scranton on July 10th from 9:30 A.M. to 2:30 P.M. Cost is $5.00 and lunch will be provided. This is a fun filled day with Bishop Paul for children who have completed grades 1-5 in June 2010. For more information and to register online check here. Download the flyer here.
Download the medical and life standard forms here:
Youth Form for Bishop's Day with Kids
Adult Form for Bishop's Day with Kids
Come and See!
There are now several Diocesan publications/groups in that you can join to get connected to what is going on in and around our Diocese in the areas of spiritual nurture, Christian Education and Faith Formation.
• In-Formation in Bethlehem Newsletter: An exciting monthly eNewsletter full of timely aides for spiritual nurture. In each edition you will find resources for adult study, children's ministry and faith formation in the home. It includes book recommendations and a list of upcoming events. Great material for those in the diocese and beyond.
• A.W.E. Children's Ministries: a group for Christian Educators and parents in our diocese who are engaged in ministry for and with children. Members receive email announcements about resources and upcoming events in and around the Diocese relating to children.
• J2A in Diobeth: a group for adults who mentor in the Journey to Adulthood program in our Diocese. Members receive email announcements about upcoming training opportunities and resources for this program.
• Faith Formation News: Subscribers to this group receive occasional posts from me about faith formation resources for adults, youth and children as well as notes about opportunities in and around the Diocese of Bethlehem.
You can sign-up using the "Get Connected" box on our Diocesan Website here. Just scroll down along the right-hand column. Once you enter your email information, you can choose which groups to join. You can unsubscribe from these groups at any time.
Please contact me directly with your questions, suggestions or any material you would like to contribute. I would love to hear from you!
Faithfully,
Anne E. Kitch
"MUST HAVE" Formation Resources
* Sample copies of Living the Good News and All Things New are available for viewing in the Diocesan Resource Room. Both of these Episcopal curricula have lessons plans and resources for PreK through High School. Living the Good News also has adult and intergenerational lesson plans. Contact Anne Kitch for more information.
* Lesson Plans for Small Congregations is an excellent down-loadable resource provided by the Episcopal Church. It includes lesson plans for children and adults. See below for the link.
* Episcopal Teacher, a quarterly print magazine for Christian Formation is FREE. You can subscribe to it by contacting the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at Virginia Theological Seminary (800-941-0083). CMT also publishes the Episcopal Children's Curriculum.
* The Resource Room, a website for Christian Educators with excellent downloadable resources and links. It is maintained by Sharon Pearson, Educational Specialist for Church Publishing. Sharon also publishes Living IN-Formation, a monthly e-newsletter for Christian Formation leaders.
Sign up for the new In-Formation newsletter
Go to the Get Connected Box on the home page and sign up for the In-Formation newsletter devoted to faith formation. Check out the current issue here.
Broadcast
Broadcast is a monthly update for young adults, students, young adult ministers & campus chaplains in the Episcopal Church. http://episcopalcommons.org/broadcast/ Check out the current issue here.
Children's Sabbath
Celebrate Children's Sabbath with resources found here.
Education for Ministry (EfM)
One of the many programs offered throughout the Diocese of Bethlehem is Education for Ministry (EfM). EfM is a four year theology course that includes study of the Old Testament, New Testament, Church History and Theological Choices. Every baptized person is called to ministry. This program, through study, discussion, guided reflection, prayer, worship and fellowship, helps Christians to carry out that ministry. Participants register for one year at a time, meet weekly in groups of 6-12, and are led by a trained mentor.
There are several EfM groups in the Diocese. For a meeting time and place that works for you, see below. Most groups are now accepting new members for fall classes that begin in September.
Christ Church, Pottstown
Thursday evenings, contact Sally Bosler, smbosler@dejazzd.com, 610-858-2650
Christ Church, Reading
Wednesday evenings, contact Connie Fegley, conniefegley@yahoo.com, 610-678-7473
St. Margaret’s, Emmaus
TBA, contact Lexa Shallcross (610) 967-1450
Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
Wednesday mornings, contact Cathy Bailey, cbnnp@rcn.com, 610-261-1106
Thursday evenings, contact Janet Kolepp, jkolepp@msn.com, 610 954 9582
Online groups are also available. Find an online group here. Learn more about EfM here.
Episcorific
The current issue of Episcorific, a great resource by and for young adults in the Episcopal Church can be seen here http://www.episcorific.org
Godly Play Training
There are two Godly Play trainings in our area in the next two months. More details here.
There are also several in the Washington DC area this fall, see attachment.
Lesson Plans for Small Congregations
Here is a resource from the national Episcopal Church office called "Lesson Plans for Small Congregations" It offers lesson outlines for both children and adults that match the lectionary . The summer Sundays have just been posted.
Military Families and Personnel
Here are some really great resources for supporting families with military members that either are deployed or are returning from deployments.
Reaching Across the Miles is a resource provided by the Episcopal Church to support the spiritual, emotional and physical needs of our troops. It includes devotional and liturgical resources for children, families and individuals.
Episcopal Chaplaincies Video by Bishop George Packard and other information about the mission to "Support, nurture and develop the lives of Episcopalians in federal service so they can do Christ’s work in the world and praise God in the doing."
National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors (NAECED)
Anyone interested in Christian Formation (and that means you! ) will find this enjoyable viewing and worth passing on, This comes to us from The National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors, fondly known as NAECED. Membership In NAECED comes with many, many benefits. Contact me directly if you would like more information.
Safeguarding God's Children
An Educational Program for Preventing Child Abuse
For more information on this program, please see the Church Administration page found here.
Shifting Spiritual Choices
A new study show Americans' shifting spiritual choices...see an interactive graph here.
Summers at General
Summers at General is an opportunity for lay and ordained folk to experience spiritual growth and discovery at The General Theological Seminary in New York City. Week long courses include topics on prayer, biblical studies and church history. Check it out here.
World Vision Resources
[from Jo Trepagnier] The website www.worldvisionresources.com offers free down loadable curriculum, Bible study, exercises, Lenten programs, games for Sunday School, youth programs and Adult studies. There could be great supplements as well as full length stand alone programs. They also sell books and Cd's that look quite good, but their free stuff could really boost an already established program.
If you are interested in the discussing Christian Formation units in your parish, please contact
The
Rev. Canon Anne Kitch at Diocesan House at 610-691-5655 x 237 or akitch@diobeth.org.
Visit
the Children's Ministries Web Site
Visit the Youth Ministries Web Page
Please direct any
questions or comments to the webmaster@diobeth.org
copyright © 2009 Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem
