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John Roberto, Vibrant Faith Leadership Team

Imagining the Future of Faith Formation

PowerPoint Presentations @ www.LifelongFaith.com go to: Workshops

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CHALLENGE #1

Back to the Future. . . . 2009-10

Two Critical Uncertainties

MoreReceptiveORMoreResistanttoOrganizedReligion

AnIncreaseORDecreaseinPeople’sHungerfor

andOpennesstoGodandtheSpiritualLife

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Faith Formation 2020 Scenarios

Spiritual-Religious Identities

NotSpiritual,NotReligiousUnaffiliateds

TheSpiritualbutNot

ReligiousUninvolved

Faith&Engagement–oneamong

manyprioritiesOccasionals

Faith&EngagementattheCenterofLife

Actives

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Challenge #1 How are we developing faith formation for the four spiritual-religious profiles?

CHALLENGE #2

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People @ the Center

FROMProgram-Centered

FocusLinear,Age-Graded

CurriculumTextsandResourcesClassroomorChurch

Environment

“OneSizeFitsAll”

TOPerson-Centered

FocusMaturinginFaith

PersonalizedOfferingsMultipleLearningEnvironments

“OneSizesFitsOne”

A Person-Centered Focus

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Maturing in Faith

Guided by a Vision of Faith Maturing

GrowinginrelationshipwithJesus

LearningtheChristianStory

WorshippingGod

Serving,workingforjustice,caring

forcreation

Praying

Livingdiscipleship

Reading&studyingthe

Bible

Livingwithmoralintegrity

Beingactivelyengagedinthefaithcommunity

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A Vision of Faith Maturing

Children

Adolescents

YoungAdults

MidlifeAdults

MatureAdults

OlderAdults

Challenge #2 How is faith formation at each age guided by the vision of maturing faith?

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CHALLENGE #3

Faith Forming Dynamic

Believe Behave Belong

TO. . . .

FROM. . . .

Belong Behave Believe

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The Faith Forming Dynamic Relationshipsleadtocraft,whichleadstoexperientialbelief.Thatisthepathtobecomingandbeingsomeonedifferent.Thepathoftransformation.ItisalsothepathfoundintheNewTestament;theWayofJesustheleadstoGod.Longago,beforethelasthalfmillennium,Christiansunderstoodthatfaithwasamatterofcommunityfirst,practicessecond,andbeliefasaresultofthefirsttwo.Ourimmediateancestorsreversedtheorder.Now,itisuptoustorestoretheoriginalorder.DianaButlerBass(ChristianitywithoutReligion)

Engaging in Faith Practices Communicatingthefaithisthecomplexpracticeofempoweringpeople,disciples,toengageinthepracticesthatconstitutethefaithtradition....

Whatweneedtodo,then,istobeacommunitythatattractspeoplewhothenwanttoreachthegoalswestrivefor.Thatistheonlywaythat“coachinginthefaith”becomespossible.Themembersofacommunitycoacheachotherinhowtoliveoutthefaith.Faithiscommunicatedinthistwostepprocessofdesire(toliveoutthefaith)andtraining(inlivingoutthefaith).(TerrenceTilley)

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Practices - A Geography of Faith ª  WakingUptoGod(Vision)ª  PayingAttention(Reverence)ª  WearingSkin(Incarnation)ª  WalkingontheEarth(Groundedness)ª  GettingLost(Wilderness)ª  EncounteringOthers(Community)ª  LivingwithPurpose(Vocation)ª  SayingNo(Sabbath)ª  CarryingWater(PhysicalLabor)ª  FeelingPain(Breakthrough)ª  BeingPresenttoGod(Prayer)ª  PronouncingBlessings(Benediction)

The Habits of Faith

Thecueisthetriggerthattellsyourbraintogointoautomaticmodeandwhichhabittouse.

Theroutineisthebehavioritself.Thiscanbeanemotional,mentalorphysicalbehavior.

Therewardis(1)thereasonyou’remotivatedtodothebehaviorand(2)awayyourbraincanencodethebehaviorinyourneurologyifit’sarepeatedbehavior.

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Creating a Habit

1TheCue

2TheRoutine

3TheReward

When_(cue)_,Iwill_(routine)_becauseitprovidesmewith__(reward)__.

Challenge #3 How do we form people in Christian practices & in creating habits of faith ?

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CHALLENGE #4

An Ecology of Faith Forming

Intergenerational

Family

LifeStage

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A Holistic Faith Formation Plan

Child

Intergenerational

Family

LifeStage

Teen YoungAdult

MidlifeAdult

MatureAdult

OlderAdult

A Holistic Faith Formation Plan FaithMaturingCharacteristics LifeStageFaithFormation

RelationshipwithJesus IntergenerationalFamilyAgeGroup

Livingasadisciple IntergenerationalFamilyAgeGroup

ReadingtheBible IntergenerationalFamilyAgeGroup

Praying IntergenerationalFamilyAgeGroup

LearningtheStory IntergenerationalFamilyAgeGroup

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Challenge #4 How do we design faith formation @ each stage of life that includes intergenerational, family, and age group faith forming experiences ?

CHALLENGE #5

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Digital Transformation

The Print Era (1500s - )

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The Multimedia Era (1960s - )

The Internet & Digital Era (2000s - )

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The Internet & Digital Era

Digital Transformation

1.  Mobile–anytime,anyplace,24x72.  Abundanceofhighqualitydigitalcontent3.  Multiplewaystolearnandgrow4.  Contentinsmallerunits(micro-learning)5.  Digitalplatformsforonlinefaithforming

center&asportaltoresourcesandexperiences

6.  Onlineclassroomsforlearning,interaction,projects,andmore

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Challenge #5 How do we utilize digital media, methods, and platforms in faith formation with all ages?

CHALLENGE #6

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Building a Solid Foundation

On the one hand. . . .

Ø  62%ofreligiousunaffiliatedAmericansraisedinafaithgroupabandonedreligiouspracticeby18.

Ø  InaCatholicstudythemedianagewhenpeoplestopself-identifyingasCatholicis13.

On the other hand. . . .

Ø  Almost60percentmadetheirfirstcommitmenttolivetheirlivesforGodbeforetheageof14.MostoftheseprobablycommittedtoGodduringthechildhoodyears.(NSYR)

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Building a Solid Foundation

Ø  Religiouscommitmentsandorientationsofmostpeopleappeartobesetearlyinlifeandverylikelyfollowaconsistenttrajectoryfromtheearlyformationthroughtheadolescentandintotheemergingadultyears.

Ø  Whatmattersformostiswhathappensreligiouslybeforetheteenageyears,whichpowerfullyconditionsmostofeverythingthathappensthereafter.

(ChristianSmith&NSYRresearchreports)

Seamless Faith Formation

@Home:WholeFamily+ParentOnly@Church:Age-appropriate+WholeFamily+Parent

Enrichment+IntergenerationalExperiences@Online:FaithFormingContent+Connections+

Interaction

0-5 Young

Children 6-10

GradeSchoolChildren

11-14 Young

Adolescents 15-19 Older

Adolescents

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Challenge #6 How do we provide seamless faith formation from 0-19 that provides a foundation & trajectory for adult faith?

CHALLENGE #7

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Transforming Our Role

CurrentRoles

•  Developingreligiouscontent

•  Designingprogramming

•  Managingprogramming

•  Teaching/facilitatingprogramming

EmergingRoles

•  Designingfaithformingenvironments—architecture

•  DesigningDigitalPlatformsforfaithformingcontent

•  Curatingreligiouscontentandexperiences

BalancingBothRoles|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

New Leadership Roles ª  Wearebecominglearningarchitectswhodesign

and/oridentifyenvironmentsforfaithformation,anddesigncontentandexperiencesto“deliver”intheseenvironments.

ª  Wearebecomingdesignersofdigitalplatformswherepeoplecanconnectwitheachother,accesscontent,engageinfaithformingactivities,24x7.

ª  Wearebecomingcuratorsofreligiouscontentandexperiences:findingandidentifyinghighqualitycontentinallformats,matchingitwiththeneedsofpeople,deliveringindigitalplatforms.

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Challenge #7 How do we transform our role to become leaders in 21st century faith formation?

John Roberto Vibrant Faith Leadership Team

jroberto@lifelongfaith.com

www.LifelongFaith.com SeasonsofAdultFaith.com FamiliesattheCenter.com

www.VibrantFaith

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Lifelong Faith Books

New

John Roberto, Vibrant Faith Leadership Team

Imagining the Future of Faith Formation