supporting congregations
creating disciples
building community
nurturing growth
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| Upcoming Events |
August 27 & 28
Province V Leadership Conference
October 8 and 9
Diocesan Convention Youth Event!
November 19-21
Happening #87
St. Matthias, Waukesha
April
Children and Youth Leader Training
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| Resource Center |
If you are looking for ideas, curricula, books or videos, please visit our online database for our Resource Center which is kept up to date, so as soon as we get a new resource, you will see it online! We have the full collection of NOOMA videos. You can find out more about them at http://nooma.com
You can search through book ISBN, by DVD or VHS or by curriculum.
You can also find online resource links there. If you would like more information or if you would like to check out any materials, please let us know! Kate McKey is the Resource Center Coordinator and you can find her at diomilformation@gmail.com.
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Welcome to the Christian Formation eNews which has resources, events and information in order to assist you in your formation efforts on a parish level.
Please forward this on to any and all who you think might be interested, including your teachers, volunteers, parishioners, lay leaders and friends. |
Camp Webb 2010
| We had an amazing summer at camp this year! We had so much fun that we are already looking forward to camp next year! We will be publishing dates next month so that you can save the dates and come join our fun.
Each week at camp we spent time looking at how the promises we make in our Baptismal Covenant can be lived out in our daily lives. We are explored these themes in a number of ways - through reading, skits, hands on learning and applications (such as arts and crafts, scavenger hunts, etc.) and through music. Every afternoon the campers choose fun activities to do around camp and then head to Waterfront. After dinner, we will do a different fun activity each night (such as community building, counselor hunt, tie dying their camp t-shirts, Crazy Camp Webb Olympics and a variety show) as well as a campfire.
You can see our Camp Webb Welcome video at www.campwebb.org.
See you next year!
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Our Next Generation and Camp Webb
|  This summer, we
have been blessed to have six kids from Our Next Generation (ONG) come to
camp. There has been a partnership between ONG and Camp Webb
throughout the years and we are thrilled to continue this partnership.
ONG
is a marvelous program that provides
quality academic support and life skills programs to urban
children and youth, pre-K through 12th grades.
ONG
sends a small group of kids to Camp Webb each year. The children that
come do not pay anything to come to camp, but ONG and Camp Webb work
together to make sure they have the scholarship assistance that they
need.
If you or your parish would like to contribute to the
ONG/Camp Webb Scholarship Fund, please send a check to The Diocese of
Milwaukee and put Camp Webb/ONG Scholarship Fund in the memo. This
money will ONLY be used to offset the cost of sending ONG kids to camp.
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Diocesan Youth Event at Convention
| "and the young people shall see visions" - Jeremiah 2:28b HOW CAN YOUR VISION IMPACT THE FUTURE?
Come and see, discover and learn.
Mark your calendars for our Diocesan Youth Event at Convention! October 8 and 9 Bronwyn Skov, Youth Missioner for the National Episcopal Church, and youth from all over the Diocese come together to: - respond to the needs of the world
- transform society
- proclaim God's love in what we say and do
- safeguard, sustain and renew God's creation
There will be food, discussion, fun, fellowship, prayer, reflection, games and more.
Look for more information and registration info soon! |
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Children and Youth Leader Training
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Our annual Children and Youth Leader Training Day has been moved from August 21 to April. The feedback we got from parishes is that August is a hard month because of vacations and that it would be helpful to have this training in the Fall as you are planning the upcoming year of formation. So we listened to your feedback and moved the training. The exact dates, time and location will be announced soon.
For now, if you would like to come to a training, I invite you to attend the Province V Conference for Church Leaders August 27-28 in Mundelein, IL. If you need scholarship assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me. Details of the event can be found below.
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Province V Conference for Church Leaders
Whose Church is it Anyway?
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 A formation conference for adults who work with children, youth and other adults
The Whose Church is it Anyway?
conference will be held
Friday August 27 and Saturday August 28
at the University of St. Mary of the Lake conference center in Mundelein, IL.
This is a two-day learning experience offered in collaboration with the Office of Youth, Campus & Young Adult Ministry of the Diocese of Chicago. What began as an event for youth ministers in the Chicago diocese has become a gathering of those who work with children, youth and adults in the other dioceses of Province V as well.
The theme for the plenary sessions varies. Learning experiences are interactive and include workshops, hands-on use of resources, experiencing a portion of a specific curriculum or program, brainstorming sessions for exploring questions and exchanging ideas and experiences.
Given the huge success of a local congregation's adventure - "The Good Book Club" - which invited the whole congregation to read the Bible together over the course of the academic year, and given the nascent work on the catechumenate in the Diocese of Chicago, the planning team decided that this year's Christian Formation event would be a great opportunity to focus on The Bible.
Although learning opportunities will be offered on a variety of topics in order to get participants up close and personal with curricula, processes and programs for every age level, the Bible will be featured for both the plenary sessions and for some of the learning opportunities.
The keynoter and presenter of some learning opportunities, is Tracy Radocevic, president of the Network of Biblical Storytellers. She incarnates the text in stunning and inviting ways; she 'gets it' and will assist us in getting it and getting that Word out. Other learning opps will be directed toward other aspects of biblical education and formation. Among them:
A team from "The Good Book Club" [Holy Spirit, Lake Forest] will describe their experience of this year, what they learned, what surprised them, what delighted them and more. They will help participants to think through their own planning using Zondervan's The Story. Doing Bible Study with adults: a plethora of methods.
The Why and the How and the What of Miqra, a program of Bible reading, studying and wrestling, inaugurated in the Diocese of Chicago this past January and in the works for 2011.
Demonstration of a new curriculum on Bible Study for children published by Augsburg that has some of the best materials I've seen in a while on the subject.
For information contact Barbara Rasero, brasero@episcopalchicago.org, in the Diocese of Chicago's Office of Lifelong Christian formation: 312-751-4206. Register using the online form.
If you need scholarship assistance from the Diocese of Milwaukee, please contact me at kelly@diomil.org.
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| Safeguarding God's Children Training Dates |
We are currently in the process of planning the fall trainings of Safeguarding God's Children and would like to get your input! 
Our next training will be: Saturday, September 11 from 1:30 - 4:30 at St. Luke's in Madison. (The people of St. Luke's has offered to have childcare at this training.) To register for this training, please click here. If you would like to schedule a training in your parish or if you have a number of people who need to be trained, please let me know so that we can schedule an event at your church or in your area. You can call, email or click here to request a training.
We are creating a team of trainers so that we can hold events throughout the Diocese all year long.
Please make note of all who need to be trained in SGC, such as: vestry, Vacation Bible
School Teachers and Volunteers, Youth Group Leaders and Volunteers, and
those going on trips with youth.
Are you wondering who needs to be trained? Click here to find the Diocesan Policy as well as a link to the chart of who needs what training (which is found on page 42 of the Diocesan Policy Manual.) If you have any questions please let me know.
Update on Safeguarding God's People
We are trying to work with Church Pension Group to schedule to have our trainers trained in Safeguarding God's People. Once we have some trainers in the Diocese we will begin holding these trainings as well.
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| Looking for new Curriculum for the Fall? Here are some resources to help. | |
Curriculum Overview Charts
Below are charts that overview of variety of curricular resources for using with children, youth, young adults and adults. While by no means 100% comprehensive, you will find many of the more popular resources used by churches of all denominations.
View who the publisher is, its purpose, content, age level, teacher support available and price range. These charts are excellent tools for your committees who plan programming and choose what materials will be used to enhance education. But always remember - the most important curriculum you use is YOU - the leader, teachers and mentors who share they faith and love of Christ with others.
Resource materials for Youth
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| Lesson Plans that Work | | Check out this national curricula!
Lesson Plans for Small Congregations
- Follows the Revised Common Lectionary
- Three lessons for each Sunday (Young Children, Older Children, and Adults)
- Intergenerational lessons for some major feast days
- Plan ahead for the entire year. Use the new drop down menu to access the lessons you need.
You can find them at http://ecusa.anglican.org/109452_ENG_HTM.htm |
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Church Publishing RiteFormation | |
RiteFormation - Online Curriculum Builder
New ideas for creating custom session plans, faster
Draw from an online library of easy-to-search, classroom-tested materials to create custom lessons that enhance faith formation for your learners.
Features:
- Scripture, song, prayer, response, lecture, ritual, arts and crafts, movement, drama, games, discussions and more
- Published content from well-known currriculum publishers
- Mix and match elements to build customized lessons.
- Easy-to-use, search and download formatted lesson plans.
- Just $1.99 per item, $9 per session. Annual Access starts as low as $99 per year.
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New Curriculum for Children - Weaving God's Promises |
 Weaving God's Promises is a new, exciting, innovative Episcopal curriculum for children ages 3-11 (Preschool - Grade 5). Arranged seasonally (Fall, Winter, Spring), Weaving God's Promises broadly follows the Church year by focusing on the biblical story of salvation as told in the Old Testament and New Testament. Lessons also connect to the seasons of the church year, with Episcopal prayers, history, sacraments and traditions woven though out the materials each week. Special sessions are also provided to further explore the Episcopal perspective of reading scripture and worship in community. A three-year, downloadable curriculum, lessons follow the pattern of Episcopal liturgy: Gathering, Story, Prayer, Sharing, Activities and Dismissal. While usable in churches of all sizes, Weaving God's Promises is especially pleasing for small churches that can begin each week together in a multi-age group followed by breaking into age-appropriate groups for specific activities. Activities are designated for Preschool (ages 3 & 4), Primary (Kindergarten & 1st grades), Elementary (2ndand 3rd grades) and Intermediate (4th & 5th grades).
They are currently doing webinars for Weaving God's Promises so that you can easily get more information.
Weaving God's Promises features: - Helpful background information for teachers
- A link to one's personal story to the biblical story as well as Episcopal faith and tradition
- Original, creative activities for gathering, storytelling, community prayer and shared snacks
- Multiple theme-reinforcing crafts, drama, movement and games to select from for each lesson
- Reproducible handouts and activity sheets
- Nearly 1,200 pages of lesson plans, illustrations and activities for Year 1
Weaving God's Promises is: - Classroom tested
- Completely downloadable; print and use only what you need!
- Teacher friendly
- Theologically sound in the Episcopal tradition
- Affordable to all size churches
- A one-time purchase (per year), with unlimited access 24/7 to materials for all your teachers
Weaving God's PromisesThree-Year Outline: Year 1: Weaving Our Faith (2010-2011) - available June 2010 Year 2: Weaving the Family of God (2011-2012) - available spring 2011 Year 3: Woven in Love (2012-2013) - available spring 2012 Check it out! Download the complete 3-years Scope & Sequence here: Download a free lesson plan sample Download the list of themes and stories found in Year 1 |
Season with a Deacon
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 St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Sussex has had the honor of
being the first parish in the Diocese of Milwaukee to have Deacon REGScheeler,
Deacon to Christian Formation, spend a season with us. During the season of Lent, REGS and his wife Pat shared their gifts
of teaching, liturgy, and passion for Christian Formation with us. In a series of sermons, REGS helped open the eyes of even the
oldest church go-er that the Episcopal Church has a rich and deep tradition we
can all still learn from (and about), and even if we've read the Bible before,
there is always something new to discover each time we open it up again. Growing closer to God, and growing as a
parish, Deacon REGS reminded us, is something we cannot do if we aren't engaging
in active Bible Study.
 The children of St. Alban's were beneficiaries of the
marvelous Holy Communion Enrichment program developed by Pat Scheeler. Every Sunday in Lent the children spent
time learning about the Eucharist as well as what it means to be a Christian
and to be part of a Christian community. We thought this was such a good idea, that the grown ups of St. Alban's
who attend the Sunday Morning Bible Study also took a look at the facets of
Holy Communion and how it means so much to receive it.
Our time with REGS and Pat culminated with Bread Day, an
evening full of meaningful activities for all the children and their
parents. Everyone worked together
to make a meal, set the table, enjoy the meal together, and made bread for
Sunday's Holy Communion. Any other
items that needed to be completed happened at that time, it was a night of fun,
where the parents could see what their children learned so they can reinforce
the lessons at home and in worship. The following Sunday was a day celebrating
the children's accomplishments.
We deeply appreciate our time with REGS and Pat, it was a
time for us to grow, to learn, to share and to be together. We hope other parishes in the diocese
will contact Deacon REGS about having him spend a season with them, as we have
found our Season with a Deacon to be time well shared.
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The Rev. Deborah Woolsey, Rector St. Alban's Episcopal Church
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Embracing an Adult Faith with Marcus Borg - New in the Resource Center | |
New to the Resource Center! A great resource for Adult Formation and Dialogue about Christianity.
Author and Bible scholar Marcus Borg invites us to join him in revisiting Christianity's most fundamental questions: Who is God? What does salvation mean? What place does Jesus hold in contemporary Christian faith? In this five-session, faith-formation resource, participants enjoy the rare privilege of witnessing Marcus in dialogue with a small, diverse group of adults as they honestly - and sometimes painfully - confront the big questions and work together toward authentic answers. Each session includes a 10-minute presentation by Marcus Borg followed by interaction with the group. The program print resources are designed to help your small group "join the dialogue" in your own setting.
The study addresses fundamental questions that adults struggle with as faith matures. It can be used as a resource for personal reflection as well as small group experience.
The five sessions include:
� God
� Jesus
� Salvation
� Community
� Practice
Components
� Participant Workbook - contains all the material needed for use by class participants as well as notes for the class leader to facilitate each session; leadership can be shared among members of the group.
� Packaged DVD
Contains the video for the five sessions
This should arrive soon. If you would like to borrow it, please contact Kate McKey. |
| Christian Formation Staff | |
 The Rev. Shannon Kelly is the Bishop's Assistant for Christian Formation. She is responsible for overseeing, creating and nurturing formation throughout the diocese "zero to grave." I work in conjunction with parishes and convocations to create, sustain and promote education and formation by helping parishes with resources, coaching and trainings, by holding events that are held regionally and diocesan wide, by supporting and assisting those doing the work of formation, and by making resources available for all people. This includes, but is not limited to children, youth and adult ministries, including Camp Webb, youth events, vacation Bible schools, adult retreats, and trainings for those in leadership positions. She can be reached at kelly@diomil.org or 414-272-3028 x114.
 Kate McKey is the Christian Formation Assistant. She works part-time with Shannon in the Christian Formation Office organizing and keeping up with the Resource Center, managing the office and assisting Shannon in planning, implementing and running various programs throughout the year. For those of you who came to camp last year, you will recognize Kate as one of our conselors. We are blessed to have her continuing to serve in the diocese. Kate is also serving part-time as the youth minister at St. Andrew's in Madison and leading the Madison Area Youth Group once a month. She can be reached at diomilformation@gmail.com or at 608-257-1533.
 The Rev. REGS Scheeler has been a deacon of this diocese of many years, serving us in many different ways. Throughout his time, his passion and focus on formation and education for youth and their leaders has not changed. REGS is a non-stipendiary staff person who is available to help congregations move through transition, assist them in discernment or challenge them as they move forward. He can make visits on Sundays and some weekdays. If you think a visit from him would be of use to you, don't hesitate to call and discover the ways in which he might help your parish. He is also in charge of the New Beginnings weekend and is assisting with other formation events throughout the year. He has a gift and call for cooking ministry which we try to incorporate into all he does. |
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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 kelly@diomil.org. 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 http://www.diomil.org/christian-formation. 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, |
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The Rev. Shannon Kelly
Bishop's Assistant for Christian Formation
The Episcopal Diocese of Milwaukee
414-272-3028 x 114
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