What’s New….
….or, What Could be New? My new ministry of consulting is a new way of providing Christian formation guidance and resources to parishes and those in the field teaching and leading Christian formation classes and event. Will it work? We’ll see!
Many churches have a paid part time or even full time director of Christian education. Many do not – either because the church can’t afford a staff position, can’t find a trained person to take on the task, or because other needs take priority. So do they go without guidance and resources? I fear that many do just that.
Websites and on-line resources abound, but how do practitioners in the field – especially if they are working on a volunteer basis and have other things going on in their lives – go about sorting through the myriad of resources available? Which are good, which are bad? Which are right for your church or group?
The focus of my consulting work is churches that need someone to help them on an individual basis and recommend resources just for them. I don’t have an agenda or come with a predetermined outcome. I can tell you exactly what I think will work for you and your situation.
My consultations are all custom-tailored to the needs of the particular parish – true “pastoral catechesis.” What are the needs? What do you need help with? What’s the most effective way of revitalizing, re-structuring, or re-booting your Christian formation program?
This is a rather new way of doing things. Instead of seeking out curricula from a wide variety of publishers and designed for many different denominations and types of churches, the resource comes to you. Instead of paying a staff member over a long period of time, you pay a consultant for a short period of time and only for getting your program on the right track. It’s up to the volunteers at your parish to actually teach on an on-going basis.
In my time as a director of children’s ministries, I found that most of the work for the program year was at the front end – choosing a curriculum, training volunteer teachers and children’s chapel leaders, promoting the programs, and letting parishioners know through articles and emails what the plan was and why it was important to engage in Christian formation for themselves and their children. After this initial crunch, the primary job of ministry was that of volunteer teachers. My job was primarily one of new program development and ministering to these ministers.
Ultimately, the parish must “own” its Christian formation program and do the teaching and the day-to-day ministry. My work, now, is to help parishes set up a plan that is theologically sound, well grounded in scripture, developmentally appropriate, and something the parish can reasonably pull off. One person cannot carry on the ministry of Christian formation herself. It truly takes a parish.
Cindy Coe 