diocese of milwaukee christian formation news
supporting congregations
creating disciples
building community
nurturing growth

In This Issue
Camp Webb 2009
Safeguarding God's Children and Safeguarding God's People
New Diocesan Misconduct Prevention Policy
Godly Play Trainings
New Diocesan Website
Adult Formation and Bible Studies
From the National Church
Join Our Mailing List!
Upcoming Events/Save the Date!
youth logo
Diocesan Youth Leader Training and Workshops
Save the Date!

August 22, 2009
Mark your calendars as we gather for a day designed for all people who work with youth.  We will gather, participate in training and workshops, exchange ideas and tell the Diocese what you need for the upcoming year in the way of support, events, retreats, etc.  More information will be coming soon!

Happening!
will be held in the Madison area on November 20-22
Stay tuned for more details!

Counselors Needed
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We are still looking for a few counselors for this summer at Camp Webb!
If you are 19 years or older, if you like to work with kids, if you like to be outdoors, then contact Shannon at [email protected] or go to www.campwebb.org.
Dear Christian Formation Leaders,

You are receiving the first Christian Formation eNews! This eNews will go out regularly with news about Christian Formation resources, events and information in order to assist you in your formation efforts on a parish level. 

If you have formation news, events, or resources that you think would be of interest to the Diocese at large and that you would like to see in this electronic publication, please do not hesitate to email me at [email protected].
 
If you want to be removed from this list, you may do so.  If you have missed an issue or if you would like to look at old issues, links to the archives can be found on the Christian Formation Pages at www.diomil.org.

Please forward this on to any and all who you think might be interested!
Camp Webb Summer 2009
ASC Fred drawing I hope you have heard that we are holding Camp Webb this summer! 

Camp Webb is an amazing opportunity for your kids to have five solid days of Christian Formation, camp activities, music, arts, crafts, drama, fun, and much more!

Everyone who comes to Camp Webb is given the opportunity to learn more about themselves and others, to discover more about the Episcopal Church, to develop a greater spiritual awareness, and to encounter Christ through living and learning in God's creation.  Campers will learn new skills, make new friends, create lasting memories and explore who they are and who God is in their lives. 

Christian Formation is a part of the daily experience at Camp Webb.  We believe that it is important to learn about Christ through scripture, music, drama, arts, storytelling, and outdoor worship.  We will have a chaplain at each session of camp as well as visiting clergy and other guests to help guide us in our spiritual growth and Christian formation. 

This year camp will be held at the beautiful and centrally located Indian Mound Boy Scout Camp in Oconomowoc.  It is has a lake, large playing fields, well equipped cabins with bathrooms and small kitchens as well as sitting areas, miniature golf course, basketball court, archery range, large campfire pit, volleyball court, ropes course and more.  Click here if you would like to see more pictures of camp.

We invite and welcome all young people to share in the camp experience, so invite your friends, cousins and family!  Camp Webb is open to all campers regardless of race, sex, creed, national origin, age or handicap. 
 
We believe that no child should miss camp because of money.  Scholarships are available for those who need them.  Also check with local resources such as your own parish (go ask your priest/pastor), church groups (women's/men's group, youth group, etc.). 

For more information you can go to www.campwebb.org.
Safeguarding God's Children and Safeguarding God's People
Kits
We are in the process of locating all the Safeguarding God's Children Training Kits.  If you have a Diocesan kit, can you please send me an email ([email protected]) and let me know you have it? Or if your church owns a kit, and
would be willing to lend it out to another church, please let her know as well.

Trainings
We are planning on holding some Safeguarding God's Children Trainings this summer and Fall. Late Fall/early Spring, we will be holding the Safeguarding God's People: Preventing Sexual Exploitation in Communities of Faith and Preventing Sexual Harassment of Church Workers Training. If you or someone in your parish needs to attend the training, please let The Rev. Shannon Kelly know.

New Diocesan Misconduct Prevention Policy
kids Over the last year, a group of committed  people have worked on updating and revising our Misconduct Prevention Policy.  Here is the Bishop's letter and a link to the new policy.
 
Dear people of God,
 
I am pleased to put into your hands our new diocesan policy regarding sexual misconduct.  This policy reflects our fervent desire, shaped by our baptismal covenant, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  At a minimum, we need to ensure that they are safe when they come into our churches.
 
You will find, as you read this policy, that it requires those of us who do ministry in this diocese to think about the implications for safety in the actions we take.  It is in thoughtful, prayerful, careful application that this policy will come alive in each of our parishes and diocesan entities.
 
I commend this policy to you, the leaders of our diocese, knowing that you, along with your Bishop, wish to do all that you can to keep God's people safe as they share in the Body of Christ with us.
 
May God's love be with you as you implement this policy in your own parish communities - with God's help.
 
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Stephen A. Miller

  Godly Play Trainings
Godly Play I wonder image Are you currently doing Godly Play at your church?  Would you like to be doing Godly Play?  Do some of your teachers need to be certified?
 
If you answered yes to any of these, please send me an email at [email protected].
 
I know that many parishes have a desire to do Godly Play training.  I have been in conversation with the National Godly Play Foundation about doing workshops in our Diocese.  They have two ways of offering trainings for teachers.  Option #1 is the an all weekend, intensive training.  Option #2 is to do training over an extended period of time, offering three different training sessions on Saturday.  Please let me know which one you would prefer.
 
This is still very much in the planning stages, so please also let me know what time of year is NOT good to have these trainings. 
For more information about Godly Play you can go to:
http://www.godlyplay.org/
AND
http://www.godlyplay.com/

 New Diocesan Website
During the last few months, the Diocesan staff and our webmaster, Kyle Oliver, have been hard at work creating new Diocesan website.  Our hope is that it will be much more user friendly, up-to-date, and relevant to your ministries.
 
We are still in the process of transferring some of the information, so if something is missing that used to be up there, please let us know.  You can send me an email at [email protected]
 
If you have resources, news, events or ideas that would pertain to the Diocese at large and that you would like to share, please let me know.  If you can't find something that you think should be there, please let me know that as well!
 
www.diomil.org
 Adult Formation and Bible Studies
Formation for all ages is so important.  We never stop learning, growing, questioning and engaging who we are.  As humans, we want to make meaning out of our lives, we celebrate and struggle with our lives and what we have been given on a daily basis. 
 
One thing that a religious community (i.e. your church) can do, is offer a variety of opportunities for adults to come together to continue their journey of down the road of faith. 
There are many ways to do this, such as Bible Studies, Prayers Groups, Book Studies, social gatherings and more. 
 
Here is a link to some Book Studies that you might want to look at as you plan your summer and Fall. You can also look at this outline of various methods of Bible Study. 
 
If you have Adult Formation resources you would like to share, please send them to me.

  From the National Church - Information and Survey
episcopal shield The National Church Formation Staff  and Christian Formation Church Publishing is wanting to gather information about how to support the church (you) with resources, etc.
 
Feedback
As they prepare for General Convention, they want your feedback so they are aware of the resources that are being used in churches as well as what congregations offer in the area of Christian education. Church Publishing and the National church are conducting a survey to gather information. It should not take anyone very long to complete.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=HNj8Ca_2by4utCvu2wWOYDIQ_3d_3d
 
The survey will close on June 1st and results will be posted on the Church Center's website later that month. Thanks so much for your assistance in gathering this information with us!
 
National Church Formation Team "Living IN-Formation" Newsletter
If you would like to keep up with what the National Church Formation Team has to offer, you can subscribe to "Living IN-Formation" at http://www.morehouseeducation.org

 
Resources
Check out "The Prayer Book Guide to Christian Education, 3rd edition

http://www.prayerbookguide.com
 
Web Pages of National Church Offices (push the control key and the click on the underlined text to be taken to the webpage).
Adult Formation
Campus Ministry
Children's Formation
Lifelong Christian Formation
Young Adult Formation
Youth Formation
 
Curriculum Help
Wondering what curricula are out there?  Wondering what they cost and how good they are?  Here are a couple of resources to help you.

Helpful guide on How to Choose Curriculum
Very useful spreadsheet put together by Sharon Ely Pearson from Church Publishing that charts many of the curricula out there, what they cover, what they cost, etc.

Thank you for your ministry, for your commitment to Christian Formation, and for sharing your gifts with the church.  Please let me know if there is anything that you would like to see in this eNews in the future and don't forget to pass this along!

Peace,
 
The Rev. Shannon Kelly
Bishop's Assistant for Christian Formation
The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee