The Christian Formation office has a number of books and DVDs that are available to borrow. Please contact Lynn Farlin in the Christian Formation office if you have questions about a particular book or resource, would like to borrow something, or need other assistance with resources, 757-213-3377 or lfarlin@diosova.org.
 

In the Diocesan Library

• Dialogues On Race (DVD, Facilitator Guide and Participant Book)  - Published by Sparkhouse the resource is structured to be completed in seven 1-hour segments.
• Dialogues On The Refugee Crisis (DVD, Facilitator Guide and Participant Book)  - Published by Sparkhouse the resource is structured to be completed in seven 1-hour segments.
• Who Is My Neighbor: Refugees In America, (DVD) a 56 minute documentary that explores the refugee crisis and how it impacts churches, local communities, and the United States.
• White Savior: Racism in the American Church, (DVD)  a 62 minute documentary that “explores the historic relationship between racism and American Christianity”.
• Embracing Spiritual Awakening by Diana Butler Bass - Best-selling author, speaker, scholar, and "cultural observer" Diana Butler Bass explores what Christianity may look like "beyond religion and beyond the church." In this engaging and provocative study, Diana leads a small group of diverse adults, young adults, and youth in s fascinating discussion of how, both culturally and spiritually, we are in the midst of another of history's "great awakenings." We have a five session study DVD and handbook available to borrow.

To borrow any of these materials, contact Lynn Farlin, lfarlin@diosova.org or 757-213-3377.
 

Resources for Christian education programs

Faith & Family: Pint-Sized Prayers is a 14 minute podcast available on YouTube that shares how to teach your children the importance of prayer.

Seamless Faith: Simple Practices for Daily Family Life is a book with dozens of simple practices to equip families of all kinds with the tools they need to bring faith home. Author Traci Smith has a blog that is a valuable resource as well.

Faith at Home: A Handbook for Cautiously Christian Parents will help parents learn this "second language" and introduce it to their children in simple, meaningful, concrete ways. You can preview it here.

Vibrant Faith @ Home is an interactive resource designed to give unlimited access to everything you need to build a stronger, more faith-focused family.

Episcopal Relief & Development's Abundant Life Garden Project curriculum program is an interactive Scripture-based instructional program offered to parishes, teachers, groups, families and others who seek to share the ministry of Episcopal Relief & Development with elementary age children. This resource is a very flexible, low-cost program that can be implemented by any Episcopal parish, no matter its budget. The curriculum is based on the work and mission statement of Episcopal Relief & Development, along with the Baptismal Covenants of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. The goal of the program is that children will become more aware of the overwhelming needs of others in the world, link these needs to stories in the Bible and work towards addressing the needs of the world, both as individuals and in community. Episcopal Relief & Development's Abundant Life Garden Project resource program has five segments that focus on Water, Seeds, Soil, Animals and Harvest. Each segment is designed as a one-hour session, with several additional options to be used in extended sessions or as a Vacation Bible School program.

Episcopal Relief & Development has a brand new "Blessing of the Animals" module of the Abundant Life Garden Project, available free on their website. This module is a Children's Chapel Liturgy of the Word, designed specifically for St. Francis Day and specifically for children. It includes child-friendly prayers, a homily, discussion questions and suggestions for outreach activities.
 

Formation in the Digital Age

How do we share our faith story in the digital age?  Faith Formation 4.0 explores the intersection of theology, education and communication and how the church has always told its story using the communication media of the day.  A resource of the month from Sharon Pearson of Church Publishing.

ChurchNext - It’s Christianity’s oldest mission but with a new twist: online learning. The expert teaching, convenience, and affordability of online learning have created vast possibilities for Christian discipleship and formation. Our vision is for every church in America to have its own online school – and for every person to have access to practical, trustworthy religious teaching from an informed and moderate perspective. This is why we do what we do: ChurchNext makes online learning experiences that shape disciples.
 

Stewardship Resources

“Rich” - NOOMA DVD series #13
There’s a popular bumper sticker that reads “God Bless America,” but hasn’t America already been blessed? It’s easy for us to fall into a mindset of viewing “our” world as “the” world, because it’s all we generally see. “Rich” is a short DVD that provides an excellent container for conversations around stewardship.

Click here for more stewardship resources.

Other Online Resources

BibleProject - Experience the story of Jesus like never before with a reading plan from BibleProject. Reflect on major themes in Scripture as you read through the entire Bible in one year. Sign up for a weekly email, where you’ll find passages to read, a video to watch, and thought-provoking questions.

The Questions Project - The Questions Project explores "questions about faith, about being human, about relationships… A faithful life turns your brain on, not off! Christianity doesn’t promise easy answers; it affirms our responsibility for facing up to the challenges and questions life brings us…" This project comes from the Rev. Jacqueline Soltys (formerly at Grace Church, Yorktown), and includes a podcast, blog, video and other resources.

The Salt Project - SALT is an Emmy Award winning, not-for-profit production company dedicated to the craft of visual storytelling.

God's Mission of Restoration & Reconciliation: Challenging Violence of Every Kind - After Sandy Hook, the Diocese of Connecticut began compiling resources on dealing with all types of violence.

New Camino: Hispanic/Latin@ Ministry - Many church leaders (both clergy & lay) are interested in growing with and being responsive to their Latino/a neighbors. The New Camino conference, held May 8-9, 2015, provided information and resources. Participants learned how Latin@/Hispanic Ministry has changed from old bifurcated Spanish only/English only model. Led by The Rev. Anthony Guillen, Episcopal Church Officer for Latin@/Hispanic Ministries, this seminar explores the changing face, cultural backgrounds, interests and needs of Latino/a communities, and how we can welcome, serve and involve these communities in our Congregational Life and Ministry.

Building Faith - Vacation Bible School resources. Building Faith is published by Lifelong Learning at Virginia Theological Seminary. Their mission is to equip and inspire churches and individuals for the ministry of Christian education and faith formation. This page includes a number of good VBS planning resources.

Faith Formation Learning Exchange is a source for best research, practices, approaches, and resources in faith formation for all ages.

FORMA is an association and dynamic community of Christian educators, formation professionals, and their institutional partners that celebrates and upholds the diverse ministries of Christian formation across the the Episcopal Church.

Lesson Plans for Small Congregations. This link provides several approaches to working with small congregations.

The Thoughtful Christian is a web based curriculum for youth and adults. The great thing about it is that you can select individual lessons by subject and pay only for the lessons you want. Most lessons are $5.

The Prayer Book Guide to Christian Education is the third edition and is based on the Revised Common Lectionary. This is a useful book for lesson planning for all ages may be ordered from Morehouse Publishing

God and Technology: The Impact of the Internet