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Education for Ministry - EfM
This year is a major mile stone for our EfM
group – we will have our first graduate! Another
first for us was a full group! In addition to our 12
members, the Rev’d Deacon Paul Kahn is co-mentoring
with me.
EfM is a program of theological education-at-a-distance
of the School of Theology of the University of the South.
Students sign up one year at a time for this four-year
program. It covers the basics of a theological education
in the Old and New Testaments, church history, liturgy,
and theology.
The seminar group is the nucleus of the Education for
Ministry program. A group consists of six to twelve
participants and a trained mentor who meet weekly over
the course of a nine-month academic year. These meetings
are usually from two-and-a half to three hours in length.
Through study, prayer, and reflection, EfM groups move
toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's
kingdom. This process can be illustrated by a two-rail
fence. One rail is the Christian tradition. The other
is the collective experience of the group's members.
The rails are linked by fence posts which represent
the seminar sessions where life and study meet. The
fence is grounded in the soil of regular worship which
is vital to the life of the group.
Participants are given weekly assignments to study with
the help of resource guides. Students are responsible
for setting their own learning goals. They spend between
two and four hours in study and preparation each week.
In the seminars members have an opportunity to share
their insights and discoveries as well as to discuss
questions which the study materials raise for them.
Through discussion and guided reflection, the seminars
furnish an opportunity to deepen understanding of the
reading materials.
More important is the development of skills in theological
reflection. The goal is to learn to think theologically.
By examining their own beliefs and their relationship
to our culture and the tradition of our Christian faith,
participants can learn what it means to be effective
ministers in the world. In coming to terms with the
notion that everything we do has potential for manifesting
the love of Christ, we discover that our ministry is
at hand wherever we turn.
The seminar is supported by a life of prayer and regular
worship. EfM groups are encouraged to develop a pattern
of worship appropriate to their situations. Liturgical
materials are furnished with the course materials.
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