August 2024 Newsletter
The first Faith Forward kickoff was held April 29-30. Each year we welcome 20 pastors or church leaders who focus on family ministry in rural and small congregations. Our first cohort has participants from eleven synods across seven states.
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Faith Forward comes alongside congregations to provide trainings and hands-on resources to give parents and grandparents the confidence to model and live faith in their own households and daily practices.
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Under the leadership of Lyle Griner of Peer Ministry Leadership and David Lynn, developer of Total Family Ministry, the cohort and their congregations are blessed by their wisdom and many years of serving in children, youth, and family ministry. Throughout the kickoff, participants appreciated the time to learn, to practice, and to dialogue together.
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One pastor at the end of the kickoff shared, “What I’m taking from here is that I'm not alone… I don't need to do it all; that we're supposed to be in this together: myself, my congregation, and the families, we're all in it together. And then also not feeling alone as a colleague. Getting to meet all of you and hear ideas and be like, oh okay, I'm not in alone in my own little silo, trying to figure out how to keep people engaged, keep people talking about Jesus.”
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The focus of Faith Forward is to first EMPOWER rural and small congregations to more effectively work with parents, grandparents, and faith mentors through the normal routines of congregational life to help them hand down their Christian faith and values to the next generation. Second, to EQUIP parents and grandparents with doable, repeatable, livable faith practices. And third, to ENCOURAGE parents and grandparents in creating homegrown faith through easy-to-use activities and resources which weave faith formation into the normal routines of family life.
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We have set our second Faith Forward cohort kickoff for May 19-20, 2025. For more information and to apply, visit www.grandview.edu/faith-forward. If you have any additional questions, you can e-mail Kristi Wicks at kwicks@grandview.edu.
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