Education for Ministry

Two EFM groups are forming that will meet at St. Anne’s, one evening group and the other on a weekday morning. The seminars follow an academic year and will begin in September 2011. We are recruiting those interested in this kind of serious religious study. For more information or to request a prospectus please contact Meg Kimble, EfM Diocesan Coordinator at 410-263-6378 or email meg.kimble@verizon.net .

The seminar group is the nucleus of the Education for Ministry program. A group consists of six to eleven students and a trained mentor meeting 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.

Students are given weekly lesson 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 students 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 for students to deepen their understanding of the reading materials. More important is the development of skills in theological reflection. The goal is that students learn to think theologically. By examining their own beliefs and their relationship to our culture and the tradition of our Christian faith, students can learn what it means to be effective ministers in the world.

In coming to terms with the notion that everything we do has the 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.

The current fee is $350. Fees pay for the EfM materials and the honorarium for the mentor. In addition, students need a Bible and may wish to obtain additional reading materials suggested in the bibliographies. To assist students in need, a fee reduction provision is available on the basis of the total enrollment of the group. Some scholarship funds are available.