Learning (Page 3)
There are numerous opportunities for deepening your faith through study and learning offered by each congregation.
Check out the Scripture page, or learn more about prayer.
Would you like to dig more deeply into the Bible, church history, and theology? Check out the Education for Ministry course.
Look into resources for teachers if you’re leading others – or designing study for yourself.
Brite’s Stalcup School offers lectures
Brite Divinity School sponsors several lectures and other lifelong learning opportunities throughout the year for both clergy and laity. Here are three coming up: Finding Hope in the Midst of Communal Suffering Thursday, September 23, 2016- 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (with lunch) University Christian Church, Fort Worth How does one respond with care and hope when tragedy or disturbing events strike a community at large? Join Dr. Keri Day and Dr. Barbara McClure in delving into real life case studies…
EFM Mentor Training
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Stephenville, TX is hosting a Mentor training event September 9-11, 2016 for prospective and continuing mentors in the Education for Ministry (EfM) program, as well as others interested in the program. Training options There will be two training events offered: Basic/In Service: Foundations of Seminar Life Formation: Ministry in Daily Life Please be reminded that Sewanee’s change in training requirements for experienced mentors may necessitate your taking basic training: “mentors must return to Basic In-Service after…
Convention workshops announced
The 2016 Diocesan Convention is November 11-12 at All Saints’ Episcopal School. On Fire with the Spirit is the theme of this year’s convention. The convention will feature workshops open to all comers. Is your congregation struggling for ways to help deal with poverty in your area? Have you looked for ways to connect across a racial, class, or income gap, whether at church, at home, or at work? Have you wondered how to help the rest of the church…
Five graduate with Master of Divinity degrees
Seminary of the Southwest Andrew Ellison graduates Tuesday, May 24, in the Seminary of the Southwest‘s 65th commencement exercises in Austin with a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained December 16, 2015, and has accepted a position serving as curate at Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall, in the Diocese of Texas. Virginia Theological Seminary Lisa Neilson graduated with a Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary on Thursday, May 19, in its 193rd Commencement. She was ordained as a deacon January…
All Saints hosts Godly Play training
All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, has rescheduled its Core Godly Play Training course for June 9-11. Anyone interested in learning this Montessori-based method of facilitating children’s learning is invited to register. A Godly Play Foundation participation certificate will be awarded upon completion of Core training. WHAT IS GODLY PLAY? The Godly Play Foundation’s website describes the method of teaching in this way: Children have an innate sense of the presence of God. The Godly Play approach helps them to explore their faith…
Retreat on prayer practices offered
St. Alban’s, meeting at Theatre Arlington, is offering Pray All Ways, a retreat on prayer practices. The first session on Saturday, March 26 from 9 am to noon, will explore praying with beads. The Rev. Kevin Johnson explains: For millennia beads have been used as a tool to aid in prayer. For this Lenten mini-retreat, come create your own set of special prayer beads while learning about Christianity’s rich history of using them. Lent is an excellent time to explore practices that…
Godly Play training offered
All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Fort Worth, will host a Core Godly Play Training course March 3-5. Anyone interested in learning this Montessori-based method of facilitating children’s learning is invited to register. A Godly Play Foundation participation certificate will be awarded upon completion of Core training. What is Godly Play? The Godly Play Foundation’s website describes the method of teaching in this way: Children have an innate sense of the presence of God. The Godly Play approach helps them to explore their faith…
The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney re-introduces the Bible
Re-Rereading, Re-Writing, Re-Telling Biblical Stories The Rev. Dr. Wil Gafney, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School and a priest licensed in the Diocese of Fort Worth, will re-introduce participants to the Bible, a book many believe they already know. This seminar will (re)introduce bible readers and hearers to a text that in spite of focusing overwhelmingly on male characters nevertheless offers a plethora of women whose presence invites reconsideration of the stories we may have learned. Beginning with…
Crafton leads retreat on “The Courage to Grow Old”
“Everybody knows that getting old is not for sissies. You have to be tough to last as long as some of us have!” Barbara Crafton, Episcopal priest and author of The Courage to Grow Old, will share her wit and wisdom. Trinity Episcopal Church invites other Episcopalians who have some mileage, as well as those who care about them, to join Crafton for a retreat on Saturday, February 13. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 9 to 9:30 a.m.: Coffee and guest check-in 9:30 a.m.: Welcome and first address, “The…
More resources for Lent
We are delighted to share two additional Lenten resources. Praying in color for a personal devotion Praying in Color offers adults and children a way to mark the day-by-day journey of Lent daily praying & drawing with a calendar template. The author says, “It doesn’t involve making false promises to myself about sitting down for thirty minutes a day and praying/studying/meditating and then feeling guilty when I fail… I think of each mark or stroke of color as a wordless prayer.”…
Resources for Lent
Updated March 1, 2019 Lent begins with Ash Wednesday – this year on March 6, 2019. Several organizations offer materials for personal or group Lenten devotions; here are a few options to guide and enrich your reflection. The Way of Love This Lent, Bishop Scott Mayer has urged us to make use of the Rule of Life our presiding bishop, Michael Curry, has offered to us — the Way of Love. The Episcopal Church Center staff has developed a huge variety…
St. Stephen’s, Hurst offers Little Free Library to community
St. Stephen’s in Hurst has installed a Little Free Library. Small boxes of books like this one are part of a world-wide network to promote literacy. They can be found in public places and in front of homes. The network is monitored and publicized by LittleFreeLibrary.org. The idea is to share good things to read. The collection of donated books belongs to everybody. Any passerby is welcome to take a book. It can be returned to any Little Free Library or…
Transform your congregation’s newcomer ministry
How congregations Invite, welcome, and connect people are vital steps for building healthy, vibrant and growing churches. Several thousand clergy and lay leaders from across the country have attended the dynamic “Invite-Welcome-Connect” training offered by Mary Parmer, a laywoman in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. Congregations that have put its principles into practice have seen sustained and measurable results, as well as new energy and spirit in the congregation. Read more about Parmer and her ministry. Trinity Episcopal Church, Fort…
St. Luke’s, Stephenville to host EfM Mentor Training
This first Education for Ministry (EfM) Mentor Training in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth is scheduled for September 11 – 13 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Stephenville. Sixteen trainees have registered from the dioceses of West Texas, Dallas, Northwest Texas, and Fort Worth. Some are experienced mentors returning to established seminar groups, and others hope to start new EfM seminar groups in their congregations. The trainers are sent from around the country by the Beecken Center of the School of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.…
“God’s Geeks” help bridge the digital divide
Trinity Episcopal Church recently held another “God’s Geeks” session to educate parishioners about online communications and help them master their digital devices. Folks who need a helping hand may contact the church to set up one-on-one appointments during dedicated “Geek” sessions. During these times, church volunteers are on-hand to troubleshoot and guide digital novices. Some volunteers are well-versed in Apple products; others specialize in PC or Android platforms. As users become more comfortable with their smartphones, tablets and laptops, volunteers…
Sacred music and worship workshop
The Church Music Institute and Brite Divinity School will present How Shall We Lead Worship?, a sacred music and worship workshop June 26 & 27, 2015, at First United Methodist Church, 800 West 5th Street, Fort Worth, TX, 76102. This is a workshop for clergy, musicians and lay persons. This once-a-year opportunity offers the best sources of inspiration, wisdom, information, and resources for a music and worship ministry. Presenters will include: Rev. Andrew Foster Connors, Senior Pastor, Brown Memorial Park…