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Jessica York: So
welcome everyone

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to the faith development
offices July webinar on faith.

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And we are so happy today to be
able to greet our guest, Karen

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Bellavance-Grace, who is going
to talk to us about Full Week

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Faith and the work that she's
been doing on this project.

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And I know some people have
already heard some pieces of it

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and are obviously eager
to hear even more.

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And as we get started
on our webinar today,

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there's a little bit
of housekeeping details

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that we need to go through.

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I am Jessica York, your
Faith Development Director,

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and I am co-hosting today
with Pat Kahn, Children

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and Families Programs Director.

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And as I mentioned earlier,
Karen Bellavance-Grace

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is our guest
presenter for today.

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She is field staff for the New
England region and the 2013

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Fahs Fellow.

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Before we get started, I'm
going to ask every one of you

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to please mute your microphone.

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As we were discussing
earlier, there

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are more than one versions
of views out there,

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so where exactly your
microphone is located may vary.

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For most people, it's probably
on the left hand side,

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either at the bottom
or in between the chat

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and the list of attendees.

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It looks like a
little microphone,

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and if you click on that, you
should be able to mute it.

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That keeps background
noise to a minimum

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during our presentation.

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Also, if you currently
have your camera on,

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we're going to ask you
to turn your camera off.

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That saves us some bandwidth,
so the presentation

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goes a little bit smoother.

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And you should have a little
camera icon on your screen,

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either in the lower
left hand corner

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or over on the lower
right hand corner.

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If you click on that, you
should be able to turn it off.

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If you are experiencing
any audio problems

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by listening through your
computer or your other device,

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you may want to log
in on the telephone.

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And here is a number
that you can call.

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And you'll have to put
in the meeting number.

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And you can listen
on the telephone,

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and you'll also be able to
ask some questions later

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on in the webinar
through the telephone.

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And I do want to let you know
that this webinar, as all

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of our Faith Development
Office webinars,

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are posted later on our website.

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And you've got the address for
the website here on this slide.

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And Pat Kahn has also
typed it into the chat box,

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which is very nice
and convenient. .

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And you'll see us typing
other URLs into the chat box.

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And what you can do
with that is if you

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want to save that for
later, you can cut and paste

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from the chat box, either
directly into your browser

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or into a document and
come back to it later.

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So I hope everyone does
see their chat box.

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You either have a meeting
checkbox over on the left side,

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or you have a group chat
box over on the right side.

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You may have to
open that chat box.

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It may look like a little
square down at the very bottom

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of your screen.

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We're going to be using
that chat box later

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for asking questions.

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So you can either ask
questions by typing something

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into the chat box,
and you can type

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those in as we are going
through the webinar,

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and occasionally Karen
will stop and ask

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if there are some questions.

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Or you can hold your
questions or comments

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until the end of the webinar.

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There's plenty of time
for that at the end.

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And at the end, we'll
either use the chat box

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or we'll ask people to
unmute themselves and ask

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their questions.

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Now I'm going to turn
everything over to Karen.

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Karen Bellavance-grace:
Thank you.

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And thank you, everybody,
for being here on a summer

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afternoon or summer
morning, depending on where

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you are in our country.

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So it's so good to be with you.

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On the screen is a
picture of my home chalice

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that I share with you
as a way of bringing us

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into a sacred space
and time together.

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And I have a brief reading
that I will share with you.

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It's from a young adult
book called Criss Cross

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by Lynne Raye Perkins.

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And this is the voice of one
of the central characters,

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a 14-year-old boy who is
developing a theory about life

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and the world.

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I think, Peter said,
that it's a good thing

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to get out of your usual--
you know-- surroundings.

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Because you find things
out about yourself

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that you didn't know or
you forgot, and then you

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go back to your regular
life, and you're changed.

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You're a little bit
different, because you

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take these new things with you.

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Like a Hindu, except
all in one life,

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you sort of get reincarnated,
depending on what has happened

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and what you figure out.

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And any one place can make
you go forward or backward

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or neither.

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But gradually, you find all your
pieces, your important pieces.

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And they stay with you, so
that you're your whole self,

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no matter where you go.

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So in that spirit of
gathering all of the pieces

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that we each hold of
this great faith puzzle

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that we are working in and
with, welcome to everybody.

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Let me see if I can-- oh,
there's my navigation.

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All right.

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So let me tell you a little bit
of an introduction about Full

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Week Faith and
where it came from.

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I know I've seen
some of your names

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pop up on the attendance
list, and I know some of you

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have heard this before.

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I don't want to make the
assumption that everybody

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has heard it before, so I'm
going to really quickly go

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through what Full Week Faith
is and leave plenty of time

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at the end for us to talk
about next steps in engagement

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and implementation
and what comes next.

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So Full Week Faith began
with a Fahs Fellowship.

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The Fahs Collaborative is a
resource center and support

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center for religious
educators, and it

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is housed in our Meadville
Lombard Theological School,

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out in Chicago.

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And last year, in collaboration
with LREDA, our Religious

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Educators Professional
Group, they

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funded three Fahs
Fellows Fellows

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to engage in a question
about faith formation

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in the 21st century.

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And I was asked to
spend a year thinking

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about innovation in
multi-generational faith

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formation.

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So what that allowed me to
do was to take permission

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to imagine what our Faith
Formation Ministries might look

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like if we were creating
them from scratch

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in the 21st 21st century.

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Which was kind of
freeing and kind

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of exciting, but also
a little bit terrifying

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as well, because
it's hard to know

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exactly where to start if
absolutely everything is up

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in the air.

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So the way I did
start was to think

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about the ways in which
our country and our culture

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and our society has changed in
the last couple of generations,

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and then to think
about the impacts

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that those changes have had
on the way we do church.

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So changes in communication.

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Changes in technology.

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Changes in family structures.

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I'm sure all of you who work
in congregations with families

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have seen these changes as well.

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In 1960, the United
States census

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had us as a nation where
about 42% of our families

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were biological,
heterosexual, married couples

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with their biological children.

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And in 2010, that number
had dropped to like 20.2%.

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So that's a radical shift in
demographics in a not very

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long period of time.

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Also thinking about how the
nature of work has changed.

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And for many years, if there
were a two-parent family,

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one parent would
work outside the home

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and one would be in the home.

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And of course that wasn't
a universal experience.

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It is a far less universal
experience, even today.

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We have also seen
other things that

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led to a secularisation
of Sunday mornings.

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So we have-- we're a more
deliberately interfaith nation,

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so we understand,
collectively, that there

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are sabbath days on Friday
and on Saturday and on Sunday.

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And the impact for us
as people of church

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is that things are
not-- Sunday morning

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is no longer set aside as a time
during which nothing else can

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be scheduled.

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So other things are able to be
scheduled on Sunday mornings,

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including play
rehearsals and team

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sports and other activities
that really create conflicts

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for our families about
where they're going

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to spend their Sunday mornings.

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So all of these, I trust,
are familiar to many

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of you working in churches.

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So then what I did was I
looked at the ways in which

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our churches have not changed,
or the ways in which they still

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look very familiar, even from
folks a couple of generations

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ago.

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So our orders of service
for our Sunday worship.

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There have been
tweaks or changes.

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There are leanings
in new directions.

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But pretty much, if you
parachute dropped someone

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in from 1950 to one of
our church services today,

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they would recognize exactly
where they are and feel

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pretty comfortable and at home.

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Here in New England,
our churches

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look much the same as they
did 200 or 300 years ago.

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We go back a long time.

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Our churches look very--
are very identifiable.

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There's no question where you
are when you aren't there.

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What also looks
pretty similar is

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the way we do religious
education classes or Sunday

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school.

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The traditional
Sunday school model

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grew out of the
public school model,

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which was born of an
intellectual climate

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baked in the time of the age of
enlightenment and in response

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to the economic climate of
the Industrial Revolution.

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Which is those somewhere
over the rainbow days.

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Those are where
those places started.

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Where those systems started.

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But some of the other systems
within our congregations

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go back a long way as well.

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Our volunteer systems
were also largely created

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during a time when there
was one stay at home

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person in the couple.

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Typically, the wife would
have more time during the days

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to come and participate
in the ladies'

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auxiliary or bake
for the Sunday social

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or just spend more time
giving their time to church

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committees.

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And we know how busy
our families are today.

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We know how busy we
are today, with all

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of the extracurricular things
that tug on our schedules.

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Not least of which, all
the extracurricular things

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are tugging on our
kids' schedules.

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Our children are
more over-scheduled

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than they were a couple
of generations ago.

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And that impacts
how families choose

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to spend their time on
Sunday mornings as well.

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So out of the Age
of Enlightenment

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and the Industrial
Revolution, here

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we are, squarely in the
information age, powered

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by the digital revolution.

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And it's a time that the
education and creativity

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expert, Sir Kenneth
Robinson talks

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about as the most
ridiculously stimulative time

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in human history.

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And anybody who has a
teenager who does homework

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in front of their computer
knows exactly what I mean.

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They've got their earphones
in, listening to Spotify,

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and they're Facebook
chatting on one side,

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they're texting
on the other side.

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And right in the
middle of the screen

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is their homework that
they're completing

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that they may have downloaded
from an online educational

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platform.

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But there's literally
simulation and information

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coming at them from all sides.

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And this is new
in human history.

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So even more than
these cultural shifts,

250
00:12:45,340 --> 00:12:47,660
I read some work
by Phyllis Tickle,

251
00:12:47,660 --> 00:12:50,550
who's a Christian
theologian and author.

252
00:12:50,550 --> 00:12:55,645
And she has defined how every
500 years or so in our history,

253
00:12:55,645 --> 00:12:59,170
in the history of
Western culture,

254
00:12:59,170 --> 00:13:02,630
the culture, which includes
our religion of which ours

255
00:13:02,630 --> 00:13:06,620
is a part, undergoes a
time of enormous upheaval.

256
00:13:06,620 --> 00:13:08,360
A time when pretty
much everything

257
00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:10,480
is thrown up in the air.

258
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:13,480
And so the last time that
that happened she writes about

259
00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,760
was when Martin Luther nailed
his theses to a church door

260
00:13:17,760 --> 00:13:18,560
in Germany.

261
00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:21,150
So that was in the year 1517.

262
00:13:21,150 --> 00:13:23,310
And of course, there
were other things

263
00:13:23,310 --> 00:13:26,870
going on around that time that
contributed to that focal point

264
00:13:26,870 --> 00:13:27,500
in history.

265
00:13:27,500 --> 00:13:31,420
But that's a good iconic time
for us to hang our hat on.

266
00:13:31,420 --> 00:13:33,360
Because it changed the
way church happened.

267
00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:40,340
It changed the way church lived
in the world for centuries.

268
00:13:40,340 --> 00:13:41,960
So that was 500 years ago.

269
00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:45,620
And here we are right now,
almost exactly 500 years

270
00:13:45,620 --> 00:13:49,760
from 1517, again, in a
time of enormous upheaval

271
00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:51,200
and uncertainty.

272
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,250
And big, big changes
are happening.

273
00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:56,660
And we don't necessarily
have the imagination

274
00:13:56,660 --> 00:14:00,030
for how church is going to
look 100 years from now or even

275
00:14:00,030 --> 00:14:05,640
in our grandchildren's
generation.

276
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:10,120
So I combined all of
that research and reading

277
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,670
and also thought
about the things

278
00:14:13,670 --> 00:14:16,360
that I hear from religious
educators in the field.

279
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:20,690
As a field staff, I visit
many congregations every year,

280
00:14:20,690 --> 00:14:22,730
and I hear similar anecdotes.

281
00:14:22,730 --> 00:14:26,880
I hear stories about RE programs
with declining attendance.

282
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:29,620
And if you have heard or
experienced those stories,

283
00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:32,530
you can raise your flag
and we can see how many

284
00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:34,670
of these resonate with people.

285
00:14:34,670 --> 00:14:37,730
So RE programs, they also
feel not sustainable.

286
00:14:37,730 --> 00:14:40,400
Wow, look at all of
those flags go up.

287
00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:42,660
So RE programs that
depend so heavily

288
00:14:42,660 --> 00:14:44,827
on volunteers, who are
so heavily committed

289
00:14:44,827 --> 00:14:46,660
in other places, that
they feel like they're

290
00:14:46,660 --> 00:14:48,500
bending under their own weight.

291
00:14:48,500 --> 00:14:52,450
We hear about expectations
of parents and families

292
00:14:52,450 --> 00:14:54,700
that may not be realistic.

293
00:14:54,700 --> 00:14:57,230
And sometimes religious
educators, and ministers

294
00:14:57,230 --> 00:14:59,909
as well, hear back from people.

295
00:14:59,909 --> 00:15:00,950
What are you doing wrong?

296
00:15:00,950 --> 00:15:04,000
How come we only
have 50% attendance?

297
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,370
Clearly something
is not right here.

298
00:15:06,370 --> 00:15:10,620
We also see that there's a
disproportionate focus of time

299
00:15:10,620 --> 00:15:13,580
and energy and resources on
the single Sunday morning

300
00:15:13,580 --> 00:15:14,280
experience.

301
00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:19,100
Thank you for all
that flag waving.

302
00:15:19,100 --> 00:15:22,000
So I talked to one
minister in my district

303
00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,620
who told me she uses the
equivalent of three of her five

304
00:15:25,620 --> 00:15:28,900
work days on the Sunday
morning experience.

305
00:15:28,900 --> 00:15:32,610
So that includes reading
and writing her sermon,

306
00:15:32,610 --> 00:15:36,280
but also preparing
readings for volunteers,

307
00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,270
and corralling those
volunteers to do it,

308
00:15:38,270 --> 00:15:40,510
and coordinating with
the religious educator

309
00:15:40,510 --> 00:15:42,640
and the musician and
the church administrator

310
00:15:42,640 --> 00:15:45,420
on the order of service, and
getting all the volunteers

311
00:15:45,420 --> 00:15:47,940
lined up, and making sure the
flowers are accounted for.

312
00:15:47,940 --> 00:15:50,970
The whole Sunday morning
hour and a half experience

313
00:15:50,970 --> 00:15:53,390
took up three of her
five work days, which

314
00:15:53,390 --> 00:15:56,130
seems a disproportionate
use of her time

315
00:15:56,130 --> 00:15:59,600
when we know that fewer
than our full congregation

316
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:02,310
will be able to be
there on Sunday morning.

317
00:16:02,310 --> 00:16:05,556
So it's not leaving
her adequate time

318
00:16:05,556 --> 00:16:06,930
in the rest of
the week to attend

319
00:16:06,930 --> 00:16:09,020
to the whole rest of the
community of people who

320
00:16:09,020 --> 00:16:11,030
are still part of
our congregation,

321
00:16:11,030 --> 00:16:14,740
even if they're not able to
be there on Sunday mornings.

322
00:16:14,740 --> 00:16:16,640
And another story
I hear regularly

323
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:18,710
from religious educators
is that families are not

324
00:16:18,710 --> 00:16:21,510
passing on their faith tradition
in the way that they used to.

325
00:16:21,510 --> 00:16:25,550
It used to be really a
generational passing down

326
00:16:25,550 --> 00:16:27,790
from grandparent
to parent to child.

327
00:16:27,790 --> 00:16:30,580
And often, three or four
generations of the same family

328
00:16:30,580 --> 00:16:32,070
would worship in
the same church.

329
00:16:32,070 --> 00:16:34,670
And we know our patterns
of work and travel

330
00:16:34,670 --> 00:16:36,290
are so different
now, that we just

331
00:16:36,290 --> 00:16:38,870
are not living in that
kind of society anymore.

332
00:16:38,870 --> 00:16:42,370
And we also know, especially
as Unitarian Universalists,

333
00:16:42,370 --> 00:16:45,500
many of our adults, including
many of our parents,

334
00:16:45,500 --> 00:16:50,540
are coming to our
churches as new converts.

335
00:16:50,540 --> 00:16:52,070
So they do not
have the grounding

336
00:16:52,070 --> 00:17:00,610
of their own childhood in our
faith development programs.

337
00:17:00,610 --> 00:17:05,490
So all of these things
let me-- I wrote about all

338
00:17:05,490 --> 00:17:08,290
of these things in a paper
called Full Week Faith,

339
00:17:08,290 --> 00:17:11,099
and it's available
online free to download.

340
00:17:11,099 --> 00:17:14,319
You can read more
information about it.

341
00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:16,109
And there's also
a study guide that

342
00:17:16,109 --> 00:17:17,589
goes along with it as well.

343
00:17:17,589 --> 00:17:19,930
I wrote it in a way that
religious professionals

344
00:17:19,930 --> 00:17:21,900
could take this
document and share it

345
00:17:21,900 --> 00:17:27,069
with laypeople, because we
all know these common issues.

346
00:17:27,069 --> 00:17:28,680
And we know how
all these changes

347
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:29,900
affect the way we do church.

348
00:17:29,900 --> 00:17:32,680
But unless our lay
leaders and our lay people

349
00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,537
understand them as well, there's
going to be a lot of resistance

350
00:17:35,537 --> 00:17:37,370
to changing the way
that we always do things

351
00:17:37,370 --> 00:17:39,260
and to changing the
expectations that people

352
00:17:39,260 --> 00:17:41,670
have for what church
looks like and for what

353
00:17:41,670 --> 00:17:43,890
religious education
ministry looks like.

354
00:17:43,890 --> 00:17:46,860
So I invite you to spend
more time with that

355
00:17:46,860 --> 00:17:48,920
if you are interested
in bringing it back

356
00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:50,780
to your congregation.

357
00:17:50,780 --> 00:17:53,710
So let me tell you how I'm
thinking about the Full Week

358
00:17:53,710 --> 00:17:55,770
Faith approach to Faith
Formation Ministry.

359
00:17:55,770 --> 00:18:01,160
And I think of it as kind of
a mash up of family ministry,

360
00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:04,260
so knowing how busy
people are and how

361
00:18:04,260 --> 00:18:08,080
bombarded with stimulus we
are, people really, really

362
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:09,630
long for connection.

363
00:18:09,630 --> 00:18:13,080
And that's something that we
can do well as church people.

364
00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,130
So family ministry.

365
00:18:15,130 --> 00:18:17,880
And first century
mission-driven church.

366
00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,010
So in the first
century, the disciples

367
00:18:21,010 --> 00:18:22,560
really knew what their job was.

368
00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:27,190
It was to form, inform, and
transform souls for god.

369
00:18:27,190 --> 00:18:28,560
And that was their sole purpose.

370
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,210
That was their core purpose.

371
00:18:30,210 --> 00:18:34,840
So in this day and age
of overstimulation,

372
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:37,710
we also need to have a
super clear understanding

373
00:18:37,710 --> 00:18:39,500
of what our core purpose is.

374
00:18:39,500 --> 00:18:44,180
So this mash up includes
family ministry,

375
00:18:44,180 --> 00:18:47,250
mission-driven church,
and a faithful leveraging

376
00:18:47,250 --> 00:18:49,240
of technology and
social media that

377
00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,060
will help magnify our ministry.

378
00:18:51,060 --> 00:18:54,520
There is way more social media
out there than we can possibly

379
00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:57,290
make good use of, so you
have to really practise some

380
00:18:57,290 --> 00:19:00,350
discernment about what
platforms are good and useful.

381
00:19:00,350 --> 00:19:02,320
But there are amazing
ways that technology

382
00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,510
can be used to create
sacred connection

383
00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:07,470
between and among people.

384
00:19:07,470 --> 00:19:10,770
And so all of these
things together

385
00:19:10,770 --> 00:19:12,570
is how I'm picturing
a Full Week Faith

386
00:19:12,570 --> 00:19:16,130
approach to Faith
Formation Ministry that

387
00:19:16,130 --> 00:19:18,580
lets us shift a little bit
of our time and resources

388
00:19:18,580 --> 00:19:20,420
away from Sunday
morning, to free up

389
00:19:20,420 --> 00:19:23,980
space in the rest of the
week to be with our people

390
00:19:23,980 --> 00:19:25,290
where they are.

391
00:19:25,290 --> 00:19:26,910
So let me pause
here just briefly

392
00:19:26,910 --> 00:19:29,787
and see if there's any-- I
know I've talked really fast

393
00:19:29,787 --> 00:19:31,370
and I've covered a
real lot of ground.

394
00:19:31,370 --> 00:19:33,930
So is there anything somebody
wants to comment or question

395
00:19:33,930 --> 00:19:40,751
about before I go
to the next slide?

396
00:19:40,751 --> 00:19:43,250
And you can either raise your
flag and Pat will call on you,

397
00:19:43,250 --> 00:19:49,751
or you can write
in the chat box.

398
00:19:49,751 --> 00:19:50,250
OK.

399
00:19:50,250 --> 00:19:52,570
Seems like everybody's
with me so far.

400
00:19:52,570 --> 00:19:53,070
Oh.

401
00:19:53,070 --> 00:19:58,020
Is there something
in the box there?

402
00:19:58,020 --> 00:19:58,770
Jessica York: Yes.

403
00:19:58,770 --> 00:20:00,310
There's a question from Anna.

404
00:20:00,310 --> 00:20:03,225
She says, what were
the three prongs again?

405
00:20:03,225 --> 00:20:06,700
Anna, do you mean
the three prongs of--

406
00:20:06,700 --> 00:20:08,450
Karen Bellavance-grace:
The mashup pieces?

407
00:20:08,450 --> 00:20:09,020
Yeah.

408
00:20:09,020 --> 00:20:14,010
So family ministry, and
mission-driven church,

409
00:20:14,010 --> 00:20:17,710
must like the first century
mission-driven church,

410
00:20:17,710 --> 00:20:23,050
and the faithful leveraging of
technology and social media.

411
00:20:23,050 --> 00:20:28,260
And these are not-- what's
interesting about these--

412
00:20:28,260 --> 00:20:29,490
these are not new ideas.

413
00:20:29,490 --> 00:20:31,510
It's just, I think,
maybe the mashup

414
00:20:31,510 --> 00:20:34,600
is different and putting a
Unitarian Universalist lens on

415
00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:37,770
it is a little bit different,
or what might be new

416
00:20:37,770 --> 00:20:42,960
and inviting for us now.

417
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,250
Jessica York: And Jeanette
also has a question.

418
00:20:45,250 --> 00:20:47,920
Karen, she says, what about
folks who want it all?

419
00:20:47,920 --> 00:20:50,564
Sunday morning
excellence plus more.

420
00:20:50,564 --> 00:20:51,730
Karen Bellavance-grace: Yep.

421
00:20:51,730 --> 00:20:53,200
Yep.

422
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:53,700
Yeah.

423
00:20:53,700 --> 00:20:56,390
So what I'm not
doing is suggesting

424
00:20:56,390 --> 00:20:59,280
that we do away with
Sunday mornings altogether.

425
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,450
But finding efficiencies
and finding ways

426
00:21:02,450 --> 00:21:05,620
that we can shift some of
our time and resources,

427
00:21:05,620 --> 00:21:08,680
do it more efficient ways.

428
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:14,720
Using theme ministries
is one approach to this.

429
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:17,250
If you're familiar
with theme ministry,

430
00:21:17,250 --> 00:21:20,370
and I don't know, Pat, if you
can find a website, but there--

431
00:21:20,370 --> 00:21:22,170
Pat Kahn: [INAUDIBLE]
on my computer.

432
00:21:22,170 --> 00:21:23,750
Karen Bellavance-grace:
There's a good website that

433
00:21:23,750 --> 00:21:25,200
has theme ministry materials.

434
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:27,490
So the idea is that
there's a shared

435
00:21:27,490 --> 00:21:30,020
theme between religious
education for children

436
00:21:30,020 --> 00:21:32,720
and youth and worship
on Sunday mornings,

437
00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,620
and that that team goes on
over the course of a month.

438
00:21:35,620 --> 00:21:38,000
So families can
engage it at home,

439
00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:40,710
so you can create resources
for family ministry.

440
00:21:40,710 --> 00:21:45,180
It can spark aim-related mission
projects and social justice

441
00:21:45,180 --> 00:21:46,730
work and witness work.

442
00:21:46,730 --> 00:21:53,110
And you can use social media to
share stories about that theme.

443
00:21:53,110 --> 00:21:55,974
And having that common
theme for a month

444
00:21:55,974 --> 00:21:58,140
means that your minister
and your religious educator

445
00:21:58,140 --> 00:22:01,389
don't have to come up with
a fresh idea every Sunday,

446
00:22:01,389 --> 00:22:03,180
to what am I going to
talk about this week?

447
00:22:03,180 --> 00:22:04,200
What's new in the news?

448
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:05,605
How do I-- you know,
you've got your--

449
00:22:05,605 --> 00:22:07,230
your theme is hope
for the whole month.

450
00:22:07,230 --> 00:22:08,962
So that's set.

451
00:22:08,962 --> 00:22:10,920
You still have to, of
course, write the sermon.

452
00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:12,900
I know that takes a long time.

453
00:22:12,900 --> 00:22:20,220
But it's a way of finding
efficiencies and maybe scaling

454
00:22:20,220 --> 00:22:21,910
back on some of the
things we do that we

455
00:22:21,910 --> 00:22:26,490
don't have the luxury
of expansive time

456
00:22:26,490 --> 00:22:32,390
to work on anymore.

457
00:22:32,390 --> 00:22:34,140
So I'm going to go
back to the slides,

458
00:22:34,140 --> 00:22:40,080
and we'll stop
again for questions.

459
00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,370
So you can, again,
read more in the paper.

460
00:22:42,370 --> 00:22:48,040
But I want to talk about the
foundations of faith formation.

461
00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,240
Because I think when people
come to our churches,

462
00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:53,240
they have an idea of what
faith formation ministry is,

463
00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,300
and it pretty much
looks like Sunday School

464
00:22:55,300 --> 00:22:57,130
and religious education classes.

465
00:22:57,130 --> 00:23:00,490
And I argue that that is
one piece of faith formation

466
00:23:00,490 --> 00:23:03,590
ministry, and it's an important
piece, and a critical piece,

467
00:23:03,590 --> 00:23:06,060
but it's one piece of it.

468
00:23:06,060 --> 00:23:11,040
So the content is one area
of faith formation ministry,

469
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:12,550
and that is our curriculum.

470
00:23:12,550 --> 00:23:14,615
It's like our tapestry
of faith curriculum.

471
00:23:14,615 --> 00:23:16,540
It's the stories
of our ancestors.

472
00:23:16,540 --> 00:23:17,290
It's our theology.

473
00:23:17,290 --> 00:23:19,360
It's our symbols
and our traditions.

474
00:23:19,360 --> 00:23:22,870
It's those things that we
want to teach explicitly,

475
00:23:22,870 --> 00:23:26,910
that we will share with the
next generation of people

476
00:23:26,910 --> 00:23:29,550
who will carry our
faith into the future.

477
00:23:29,550 --> 00:23:31,800
Faith formation
is also community.

478
00:23:31,800 --> 00:23:33,680
It's about community,
knowing who

479
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,430
you are as a gathered people,
both as your church community

480
00:23:37,430 --> 00:23:42,230
and also as Unitarian
Universalists in the world.

481
00:23:42,230 --> 00:23:47,000
So community formation is
also part of faith formation.

482
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,210
Also about covenant, which of
course is definitional to us

483
00:23:50,210 --> 00:23:51,730
as Unitarian Universalists.

484
00:23:51,730 --> 00:23:54,800
So faith formation is
also when we practice

485
00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:56,480
and live into covenant.

486
00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:58,320
So that's the way
we treat each other.

487
00:23:58,320 --> 00:24:00,980
The way we hold ourselves
accountable to one another.

488
00:24:00,980 --> 00:24:03,120
And the way we keep
covenant with one another,

489
00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:08,250
even when we are separated,
when we're not together.

490
00:24:08,250 --> 00:24:12,740
I missed one.

491
00:24:12,740 --> 00:24:15,210
Sorry, folks.

492
00:24:15,210 --> 00:24:17,220
I have to go through all
the animations again.

493
00:24:17,220 --> 00:24:24,640
So content, community,
covenant, and oh, well,

494
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,910
the fourth C--
[LAUGHS] which didn't

495
00:24:27,910 --> 00:24:31,930
appear there-- the fourth
C is call or context.

496
00:24:31,930 --> 00:24:34,770
So it's a way of
embodying [INAUDIBLE],

497
00:24:34,770 --> 00:24:35,830
knowing what our call is.

498
00:24:35,830 --> 00:24:37,980
So knowing individually,
what is my gift

499
00:24:37,980 --> 00:24:39,030
to share with the world.

500
00:24:39,030 --> 00:24:40,920
And also collectively,
what is the gift

501
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:42,930
our congregation can
share in the world.

502
00:24:42,930 --> 00:24:45,600
And where the context
comes into that

503
00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:48,130
is knowing where you
are in your area.

504
00:24:48,130 --> 00:24:51,190
So knowing who are the
neighbors around me

505
00:24:51,190 --> 00:24:54,150
who I may be serving with
the gifts that I have.

506
00:24:54,150 --> 00:24:55,650
Or who are the
neighbors around me

507
00:24:55,650 --> 00:24:58,700
who I could be partnering
with to bring more love

508
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:01,940
and light into the world
right here and right now.

509
00:25:01,940 --> 00:25:04,700
So those are the four
aspects of faith formation;

510
00:25:04,700 --> 00:25:07,140
content, community,
covenant, and call.

511
00:25:07,140 --> 00:25:10,210
And I think if we start
talking with our laity

512
00:25:10,210 --> 00:25:14,410
more about these arts of faith
formation, that people might

513
00:25:14,410 --> 00:25:18,400
be more willing to
not have-- to have

514
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:23,830
only 25 religious education
classes a year instead of 36,

515
00:25:23,830 --> 00:25:26,610
because those other
weeks of the year

516
00:25:26,610 --> 00:25:29,900
were embodying our faith
through justice or witness work,

517
00:25:29,900 --> 00:25:33,610
or we are practicing covenant
or we're doing a community

518
00:25:33,610 --> 00:25:34,540
building activity.

519
00:25:34,540 --> 00:25:38,370
So all of that is understood
as part of faith formation.

520
00:25:38,370 --> 00:25:40,960
And it's something that doesn't
just happen in a classroom.

521
00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:42,860
And it's something that
doesn't just happen

522
00:25:42,860 --> 00:25:49,230
to kids under the age of 18.

523
00:25:49,230 --> 00:25:50,970
So one thing that
has not changed

524
00:25:50,970 --> 00:25:53,580
in the world in the last
couple of generations,

525
00:25:53,580 --> 00:25:58,480
or even really since the Romans
created the word religion,

526
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,480
is the core of religion.

527
00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:03,640
If you think-- if you
know the Latin roots,

528
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:04,900
it's "re" plus "ligeo."

529
00:26:04,900 --> 00:26:06,940
It means to bind together.

530
00:26:06,940 --> 00:26:09,180
So that is still
true about people

531
00:26:09,180 --> 00:26:11,700
who are looking for church
and looking for faith homes.

532
00:26:11,700 --> 00:26:14,625
They're looking for connection,
for being held to one another

533
00:26:14,625 --> 00:26:18,200
and being bound together
in community with people.

534
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,340
And this idea came
from a book I read

535
00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:26,280
on church-- on youth ministry,
called Youth Ministry 3.0.

536
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,220
So I'm calling it Church 3.0.

537
00:26:28,220 --> 00:26:29,900
But the idea of
Youth Ministry 3.0,

538
00:26:29,900 --> 00:26:33,250
it goes through the century
of youth ministry history,

539
00:26:33,250 --> 00:26:39,390
and they argue that today's
contemporary youth ministry

540
00:26:39,390 --> 00:26:42,720
is really one that's yearning
for connection and relational

541
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:43,220
ministry.

542
00:26:43,220 --> 00:26:44,930
So they're not--
people are not looking

543
00:26:44,930 --> 00:26:46,834
so much for package programs.

544
00:26:46,834 --> 00:26:48,500
They're looking for
relational ministry.

545
00:26:48,500 --> 00:26:50,680
So I think the same
thing, the same dynamic

546
00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,490
is true in churches overall.

547
00:26:55,490 --> 00:26:57,220
So what might Full
Week Faith look

548
00:26:57,220 --> 00:26:59,870
like in a church that is
shifting its faith formation

549
00:26:59,870 --> 00:27:03,760
ministry to lean a little
bit more in this direction?

550
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:05,740
Well, it might
mean that there are

551
00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:08,880
more multi-generational
worship services on Sundays

552
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,440
than some of our
congregations currently have.

553
00:27:11,440 --> 00:27:14,050
It may be that there is
a midweek faith formation

554
00:27:14,050 --> 00:27:17,600
program that may happen
around a potluck supper.

555
00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:20,170
There's a church in Portsmouth,
New Hampshire that is

556
00:27:20,170 --> 00:27:22,040
doing a Families First Night.

557
00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:24,760
So the first Wednesday
of the month,

558
00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,010
I think it is, families
show up at quarter of five

559
00:27:28,010 --> 00:27:28,920
with their kids.

560
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:32,260
They share pizza together,
or the kids have pizza.

561
00:27:32,260 --> 00:27:33,220
They go downstairs.

562
00:27:33,220 --> 00:27:34,030
They watch a movie.

563
00:27:34,030 --> 00:27:36,290
They spend time with
the religious educator.

564
00:27:36,290 --> 00:27:39,610
And the ministers have
a small group discussion

565
00:27:39,610 --> 00:27:43,060
with parents around
a theme that has

566
00:27:43,060 --> 00:27:46,140
to do with things that
couples grapple with;

567
00:27:46,140 --> 00:27:48,870
love, jealousy, money.

568
00:27:48,870 --> 00:27:50,610
Every month is a
different theme.

569
00:27:50,610 --> 00:27:53,600
They spend a half an hour in
a small group setting together

570
00:27:53,600 --> 00:27:56,950
and then the parents go out
and have dinner together

571
00:27:56,950 --> 00:27:59,800
and come back in two hours
and pick up their kids.

572
00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,350
So that's an example of what
a shift in that direction

573
00:28:03,350 --> 00:28:06,360
might look like.

574
00:28:06,360 --> 00:28:11,200
It might mean an
intergenerational mentoring

575
00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:16,990
relationship, like if some
retirees in your community

576
00:28:16,990 --> 00:28:19,580
got on Skype once a month
with some new parents,

577
00:28:19,580 --> 00:28:22,620
and they share tips
about raising moral kids

578
00:28:22,620 --> 00:28:24,910
or raising kids in
Unitarian Universalism,

579
00:28:24,910 --> 00:28:28,640
for parents who are
new to our faith.

580
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,350
It might mean that
one night a month,

581
00:28:31,350 --> 00:28:34,260
a minister or religious educator
meets a group of young adults

582
00:28:34,260 --> 00:28:36,560
at the local pub to
talk about what it's

583
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:40,220
like to live their lives as
faithful people in the world

584
00:28:40,220 --> 00:28:42,340
of work or in their
graduate school settings.

585
00:28:42,340 --> 00:28:46,480
So it's just finding ways that
we can connect with our people

586
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,780
where they are and
on their timelines.

587
00:28:48,780 --> 00:28:52,980
It also means using social
media to deliver content.

588
00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:57,860
So if a child can't be in
Sunday school on Sunday morning,

589
00:28:57,860 --> 00:29:00,499
they know, the parents know that
that tapestry of faith lesson

590
00:29:00,499 --> 00:29:02,040
is going to be linked
on the Facebook

591
00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,950
page of the church on Monday,
so they can download it

592
00:29:04,950 --> 00:29:08,220
and their kid will not miss
any part of what happened

593
00:29:08,220 --> 00:29:13,080
in that classroom community.

594
00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:14,727
So these cards,
I should mention,

595
00:29:14,727 --> 00:29:17,060
that are pictured here, these
are on the Full Week Faith

596
00:29:17,060 --> 00:29:18,000
website as well.

597
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,420
I created a series
of 12 activities that

598
00:29:20,420 --> 00:29:23,500
lean our churches into a Full
Week Faith approach to faith

599
00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:24,710
formation ministry.

600
00:29:24,710 --> 00:29:27,440
And they're downloadable
on my website,

601
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,482
that you'll get
the URL for, so you

602
00:29:29,482 --> 00:29:30,940
can share them in
your congregation

603
00:29:30,940 --> 00:29:32,470
as well, if you'd like.

604
00:29:32,470 --> 00:29:36,190
What they do is they describe an
activity that begins in church,

605
00:29:36,190 --> 00:29:38,000
and then it describes
a way that families

606
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,280
can take that activity home
and engage with it in the home

607
00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:42,200
setting.

608
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,880
And then there's
finally an opportunity

609
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:48,440
for congregations to
take that lesson deeper

610
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:50,990
and to incorporate it
into the church's justice

611
00:29:50,990 --> 00:29:55,150
work or another
ministry of the church.

612
00:29:55,150 --> 00:29:57,180
So it's a kernel of
faith information

613
00:29:57,180 --> 00:30:00,160
that starts in the church,
grows a little bit at home,

614
00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,010
and then is reinforced again
the larger church community.

615
00:30:03,010 --> 00:30:06,755
So anything that helps us
bridge the home-church divide

616
00:30:06,755 --> 00:30:08,505
I think is really going
to help our people

617
00:30:08,505 --> 00:30:11,720
feel connected to our
faith and embody our faith

618
00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:14,550
in this 21st century
world that has so

619
00:30:14,550 --> 00:30:19,130
many other competing interests.

620
00:30:19,130 --> 00:30:25,110
So we know that when we shift
stories in our congregation,

621
00:30:25,110 --> 00:30:27,680
those stories run deep.

622
00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:29,400
They are deeply, deeply rooted.

623
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:31,860
So whenever we want to
make shifts or changes

624
00:30:31,860 --> 00:30:33,840
in our congregations,
we want to make sure

625
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:38,890
that the changes we're proposing
are rooted and grounded

626
00:30:38,890 --> 00:30:44,060
in our good history and
with the ancestors who

627
00:30:44,060 --> 00:30:46,320
have done similar work as well.

628
00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:48,690
So Full Week Faith,
I really tried

629
00:30:48,690 --> 00:30:52,210
hard to ground in our good
theology and our good history,

630
00:30:52,210 --> 00:30:55,730
and starting, of course,
with these five smooth stones

631
00:30:55,730 --> 00:30:56,980
of James Luther Adams.

632
00:30:56,980 --> 00:31:00,000
Not the least of
which says that we

633
00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,980
have all of the resources
available to us to do

634
00:31:03,980 --> 00:31:05,830
the work of love in the world.

635
00:31:05,830 --> 00:31:10,040
So that's really a part of
what Full Week Faith proposes.

636
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,370
And it's also grounded in the
work of Angus MacLean, who

637
00:31:13,370 --> 00:31:18,160
is one of our religious
education ancestors, whose--

638
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:20,700
one of his great writings
is about the method is

639
00:31:20,700 --> 00:31:21,820
the message.

640
00:31:21,820 --> 00:31:25,720
So how we do faith formation
is as important as what

641
00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:27,249
it is that we're teaching.

642
00:31:27,249 --> 00:31:28,790
And I've also grounded
it, of course,

643
00:31:28,790 --> 00:31:33,400
in the work of Sophia
Fahs, who was a pioneer

644
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:34,980
in experiential learning.

645
00:31:34,980 --> 00:31:39,400
So I really believe we're coming
out of the Age of Enlightenment

646
00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:40,900
and into the Age of Embodiment.

647
00:31:40,900 --> 00:31:46,990
So experiential learning runs
deeply through all of this.

648
00:31:46,990 --> 00:31:51,340
So let me pause here.

649
00:31:51,340 --> 00:31:53,100
Any immediate
questions before we

650
00:31:53,100 --> 00:31:55,660
go on to talk more
about the resources

651
00:31:55,660 --> 00:32:12,275
that we'll need to implement
this kind of a shift?

652
00:32:12,275 --> 00:32:12,775
OK.

653
00:32:12,775 --> 00:32:15,200
I don't see any typing
happening in the text box,

654
00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:16,480
so I will keep going.

655
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,550
Pat, thank you for putting
all of those URLs in there.

656
00:32:19,550 --> 00:32:22,800
You are speedy with that.

657
00:32:22,800 --> 00:32:25,650
Pat Kahn: It's a trick I learned
from my colleague, Alicia

658
00:32:25,650 --> 00:32:27,370
LeBlanc.

659
00:32:27,370 --> 00:32:31,340
Karen Bellavance
Grace: Fantastic.

660
00:32:31,340 --> 00:32:33,070
Jessica York: Did
you have a question?

661
00:32:33,070 --> 00:32:34,337
[INAUDIBLE]

662
00:32:34,337 --> 00:32:35,670
Karen Bellavance-grace: So yeah.

663
00:32:35,670 --> 00:32:39,000
The method is the
message is Angus MacLean,

664
00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,120
and he was a religious
educator and theologian

665
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:43,230
in the 20th century.

666
00:32:43,230 --> 00:32:47,510
So I do recommend his
writings to you as well.

667
00:32:47,510 --> 00:32:48,010
All right.

668
00:32:48,010 --> 00:32:51,620
Let's go forward.

669
00:32:51,620 --> 00:32:57,010
So what we will need to make
these change is resources.

670
00:32:57,010 --> 00:33:00,390
Did I miss-- yeah, one of the
slides seems to be missing.

671
00:33:00,390 --> 00:33:01,950
Oh, well.

672
00:33:01,950 --> 00:33:03,640
So we'll need resources.

673
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,820
So there are
resources out there,

674
00:33:05,820 --> 00:33:07,360
and that is the good news.

675
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:10,260
There are these Full
Week Faith cards

676
00:33:10,260 --> 00:33:11,840
that you can download and use.

677
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:14,790
But there are also great
family ministry resources,

678
00:33:14,790 --> 00:33:18,760
like the Family Pages that come
in the middle of your UU World

679
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:19,680
magazines.

680
00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:20,660
Those are great.

681
00:33:20,660 --> 00:33:25,060
The Church of the Larger
Fellowship has a great quest,

682
00:33:25,060 --> 00:33:26,530
I think it's called.

683
00:33:26,530 --> 00:33:30,025
They have a whole website of
curated Unitarian Universalist

684
00:33:30,025 --> 00:33:32,130
faith formation
activities that families

685
00:33:32,130 --> 00:33:36,660
can use to engage our
faith in their homes.

686
00:33:36,660 --> 00:33:43,430
And there are more resources
at the Faith Formation Learning

687
00:33:43,430 --> 00:33:44,154
Exchange.

688
00:33:44,154 --> 00:33:46,320
I think, Pat, you have the
URL for that one as well.

689
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:46,670
Pat Kahn: Mm-hm.

690
00:33:46,670 --> 00:33:47,361
Yeah.

691
00:33:47,361 --> 00:33:49,610
Karen Bellavance Grace:
Fantastic resources out there.

692
00:33:49,610 --> 00:33:51,650
So the good news
is that you don't

693
00:33:51,650 --> 00:33:54,640
have to create a whole
bunch of new stuff.

694
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,922
There are resources out
there that you can draw from.

695
00:33:56,922 --> 00:33:59,130
Because one of the first
questions I get from people,

696
00:33:59,130 --> 00:34:00,750
inevitably, is oh, my god.

697
00:34:00,750 --> 00:34:03,710
I cannot keep up with all
the work I have to do now.

698
00:34:03,710 --> 00:34:06,560
And now you want me to do
this whole brand new thing.

699
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:09,489
So I think that this
whole brand new thing

700
00:34:09,489 --> 00:34:11,139
is eminently hackable.

701
00:34:11,139 --> 00:34:13,710
That there are so many
resources out there

702
00:34:13,710 --> 00:34:16,100
that people are willing to
share and happy to share.

703
00:34:16,100 --> 00:34:20,900
Not to mention our Tapestry
of Faith curricula that

704
00:34:20,900 --> 00:34:24,989
goes from cradle to grave
with stories and resources

705
00:34:24,989 --> 00:34:28,070
that you can down-- you
can search for themes.

706
00:34:28,070 --> 00:34:30,360
They're indexing all
the stories by themes.

707
00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,929
So you can just pick
the story that you

708
00:34:32,929 --> 00:34:35,040
need to go with the theme
that you're working on.

709
00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:36,570
And it's got
take-home activities

710
00:34:36,570 --> 00:34:37,719
connected to it already.

711
00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,547
And I'll also put in a
plug for the new book

712
00:34:41,547 --> 00:34:43,130
that Skinner House
has just published.

713
00:34:43,130 --> 00:34:46,580
And Pat, maybe you'll be quick
enough to remember the title

714
00:34:46,580 --> 00:34:48,239
and pop that into the box, too.

715
00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:50,450
Because that's another
great resource.

716
00:34:50,450 --> 00:34:50,949
So we will--

717
00:34:50,949 --> 00:34:53,882
Pat Kahn: Are you talking about
Creating Justice Together?

718
00:34:53,882 --> 00:34:55,590
Karen Bellavance-grace:
Exactly that one.

719
00:34:55,590 --> 00:34:56,520
Perfect.

720
00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:57,280
Perfect.

721
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:57,780
Thank you.

722
00:34:57,780 --> 00:35:00,430
And Susan is on the job there.

723
00:35:00,430 --> 00:35:02,700
Excellent.

724
00:35:02,700 --> 00:35:03,640
So yeah.

725
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:07,420
Like James Luther Adams
says, we have what we need.

726
00:35:07,420 --> 00:35:09,010
We have what we need.

727
00:35:09,010 --> 00:35:12,000
What we also need is
collaborative staff practices.

728
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,780
I think this kind of
an approach really

729
00:35:14,780 --> 00:35:17,070
requires collaborative
staff team practices.

730
00:35:17,070 --> 00:35:21,380
So for those of you who have
awesome collaborative practices

731
00:35:21,380 --> 00:35:23,210
with your minister and
your music director

732
00:35:23,210 --> 00:35:26,680
and your staff team and
your location, fantastic.

733
00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:28,930
You're on the right path.

734
00:35:28,930 --> 00:35:31,392
And hopefully,
those will-- there

735
00:35:31,392 --> 00:35:32,850
will be more
opportunity to develop

736
00:35:32,850 --> 00:35:36,824
those collaborative
practices as we go along.

737
00:35:36,824 --> 00:35:39,270
What we also need
are lay allies.

738
00:35:39,270 --> 00:35:41,080
So we need folks
in congregations

739
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,440
who won't throw up
so many barriers

740
00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,120
and resistance to changing the
way things have always looked.

741
00:35:47,120 --> 00:35:50,070
That it makes shifting in
this direction possible.

742
00:35:50,070 --> 00:35:52,220
So in the Full Week
Faith paper, if you

743
00:35:52,220 --> 00:35:53,880
want to read more
about it, there's

744
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:57,610
this chart that describes
how changing innovation is

745
00:35:57,610 --> 00:35:58,830
adopted in systems.

746
00:35:58,830 --> 00:36:02,190
And it's based on the work
of a sociologist named

747
00:36:02,190 --> 00:36:04,210
Everett Rogers.

748
00:36:04,210 --> 00:36:08,410
And he described how innovation
gets adopted into systems.

749
00:36:08,410 --> 00:36:10,730
And I won't go into it
in huge detail here,

750
00:36:10,730 --> 00:36:13,010
but you can look up Everett
Rogers on the Wikipedia

751
00:36:13,010 --> 00:36:13,510
machine.

752
00:36:13,510 --> 00:36:14,540
It'll tell you all about it.

753
00:36:14,540 --> 00:36:16,165
Or you can look at
the Full Week Faith.

754
00:36:16,165 --> 00:36:18,750
This particular
image was adapted

755
00:36:18,750 --> 00:36:21,620
by our siblings in the
Presbyterian movement

756
00:36:21,620 --> 00:36:25,460
to identify how change gets
adopted in congregations.

757
00:36:25,460 --> 00:36:28,880
So what I will just point
out is that the idea

758
00:36:28,880 --> 00:36:32,630
is to have your allies,
your innovative,

759
00:36:32,630 --> 00:36:38,320
early-adopting allies,
lined up before you

760
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:45,990
step in in that chasm spot to
lend your power and authority

761
00:36:45,990 --> 00:36:47,310
to move it forward.

762
00:36:47,310 --> 00:36:49,470
So the heavy lifting
at first is going

763
00:36:49,470 --> 00:36:53,140
to come from folks who you have
shared this kind of information

764
00:36:53,140 --> 00:36:55,570
with and who you see
as people who want

765
00:36:55,570 --> 00:36:57,400
to lean in a new direction.

766
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,070
So you capture that
early group of folks,

767
00:37:00,070 --> 00:37:02,130
and you get them
on board, and then

768
00:37:02,130 --> 00:37:06,100
you can add your
authority to that.

769
00:37:06,100 --> 00:37:09,700
And typically, when you
have 16% of your people

770
00:37:09,700 --> 00:37:14,130
on board with a change,
the rest will follow.

771
00:37:14,130 --> 00:37:16,950
It may follow in six weeks,
or it may follow in six years.

772
00:37:16,950 --> 00:37:19,652
But pretty much, the
change will be adopted.

773
00:37:19,652 --> 00:37:21,110
The other thing I
want to point out

774
00:37:21,110 --> 00:37:23,220
is this group here at the
end with the unfortunate

775
00:37:23,220 --> 00:37:26,090
name of laggards.

776
00:37:26,090 --> 00:37:29,110
I don't like to use that
name in a church setting.

777
00:37:29,110 --> 00:37:32,120
But the meaning behind it is
that there are some people who

778
00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:33,670
will never adopt the change.

779
00:37:33,670 --> 00:37:35,700
And we all know we
have some people

780
00:37:35,700 --> 00:37:38,090
who will never have a
cellphone, or who will never

781
00:37:38,090 --> 00:37:40,540
have a computer in their
home, because gosh darn it,

782
00:37:40,540 --> 00:37:44,080
I've lived 63 years without
one, and I do not need one now.

783
00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,530
So that's OK.

784
00:37:46,530 --> 00:37:49,760
Many of our congregations
already do email newsletters,

785
00:37:49,760 --> 00:37:52,157
but we still print out
five or six of them

786
00:37:52,157 --> 00:37:54,490
for the people who need them
to be mailed to them still,

787
00:37:54,490 --> 00:37:56,440
because they will not get email.

788
00:37:56,440 --> 00:37:58,770
And that's OK, We're
people of faith.

789
00:37:58,770 --> 00:38:01,170
We know how to not
leave anyone behind.

790
00:38:01,170 --> 00:38:03,060
But just because
not everybody is

791
00:38:03,060 --> 00:38:05,150
going to be on board
with the change

792
00:38:05,150 --> 00:38:09,300
is not a reason for us
to not change in response

793
00:38:09,300 --> 00:38:15,340
to the larger realities that
the world is calling us to.

794
00:38:15,340 --> 00:38:16,900
So another thing
that we will need

795
00:38:16,900 --> 00:38:21,140
is a way to determine
if what we are doing

796
00:38:21,140 --> 00:38:23,830
is what we want to be doing,
and if it's having the effect

797
00:38:23,830 --> 00:38:25,030
that we hope it will have.

798
00:38:25,030 --> 00:38:27,740
So evaluation and
assessment are really

799
00:38:27,740 --> 00:38:29,940
important pieces of
any kind of shift

800
00:38:29,940 --> 00:38:32,950
you want to make, especially
in an important ministry

801
00:38:32,950 --> 00:38:34,890
of your church.

802
00:38:34,890 --> 00:38:39,000
So we need to have patience
with an experiment.

803
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:40,500
We need to make
sure the experiments

804
00:38:40,500 --> 00:38:42,660
we're trying are right
sized, and that we

805
00:38:42,660 --> 00:38:46,850
commit to learn from them
and not call any experiment

806
00:38:46,850 --> 00:38:47,510
a failure.

807
00:38:47,510 --> 00:38:52,460
And in fact, there is a
term of art, experilearn,

808
00:38:52,460 --> 00:38:54,770
by which we mean we're
going to faithfully engage

809
00:38:54,770 --> 00:38:56,000
in trying something new.

810
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,610
And there's no way we can fail,
because whatever the outcome,

811
00:38:58,610 --> 00:39:02,270
we're going to learn from it
and let those learnings shape

812
00:39:02,270 --> 00:39:04,610
the next experiments
that we're going to try.

813
00:39:04,610 --> 00:39:06,670
So sharing that
understanding and having

814
00:39:06,670 --> 00:39:08,370
a group of allies
in your congregation

815
00:39:08,370 --> 00:39:10,610
who will back you up on
that is something else

816
00:39:10,610 --> 00:39:11,500
that we will need.

817
00:39:11,500 --> 00:39:13,840
And of course,
good solid metrics

818
00:39:13,840 --> 00:39:18,260
to assess the impact we
hope these shifts will have,

819
00:39:18,260 --> 00:39:20,530
and how will we
tell whether they're

820
00:39:20,530 --> 00:39:21,990
doing the things
we want them to do

821
00:39:21,990 --> 00:39:27,380
and having the impact
we want them to have.

822
00:39:27,380 --> 00:39:30,460
I think that moving us
toward an age of embodiment,

823
00:39:30,460 --> 00:39:32,560
and I apologize that
this is the old logo.

824
00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:37,780
I don't have my new tattoo yet.

825
00:39:37,780 --> 00:39:42,420
But moving us into an age and a
place where more of our people

826
00:39:42,420 --> 00:39:45,580
can feel embodied
in their faith is

827
00:39:45,580 --> 00:39:47,620
going to help carry us
into the next generation

828
00:39:47,620 --> 00:39:49,360
and through this
time of wilderness

829
00:39:49,360 --> 00:39:51,610
that we don't really know
what church is going to look

830
00:39:51,610 --> 00:39:53,070
like on the other side of it.

831
00:39:53,070 --> 00:39:55,390
And particularly
for folks, you may

832
00:39:55,390 --> 00:39:59,690
be familiar with the chart that
looks like concentric circles.

833
00:39:59,690 --> 00:40:03,350
So the folks in your
congregation, the staff

834
00:40:03,350 --> 00:40:06,650
and the lay leaders,
particularly the board leaders,

835
00:40:06,650 --> 00:40:08,520
are in this tiny
circle in the middle.

836
00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:10,390
They devote the most
time and know the most

837
00:40:10,390 --> 00:40:11,950
about your congregation.

838
00:40:11,950 --> 00:40:13,710
And then there are
concentric circles

839
00:40:13,710 --> 00:40:18,300
outward, where there's
committee members and people who

840
00:40:18,300 --> 00:40:20,260
show up for committee fair.

841
00:40:20,260 --> 00:40:24,060
And then on the outer ring
are folks who just attend.

842
00:40:24,060 --> 00:40:27,860
Just attend worship and maybe
an occasional thing or two

843
00:40:27,860 --> 00:40:31,910
that the church puts on
over the course of the year.

844
00:40:31,910 --> 00:40:36,430
The more we can clarify our
message and our core purpose

845
00:40:36,430 --> 00:40:40,840
and help people embody our
faith beyond the church walls,

846
00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:42,650
the stronger their
connection is going

847
00:40:42,650 --> 00:40:46,320
to be to the people in the
core, and the stronger our faith

848
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:48,430
will be moving into the future.

849
00:40:48,430 --> 00:40:51,030
That's my theory.

850
00:40:51,030 --> 00:40:53,290
So what comes next
for Full Week Faith?

851
00:40:53,290 --> 00:40:56,310
It's been something that's
been written about and talked

852
00:40:56,310 --> 00:40:58,470
about in different places.

853
00:40:58,470 --> 00:41:02,950
And this fall, I am
running a pilot program

854
00:41:02,950 --> 00:41:06,880
with six congregations that want
to lean their faith formation

855
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:08,526
ministries in this direction.

856
00:41:08,526 --> 00:41:10,650
And we're going to be trying
to do as much learning

857
00:41:10,650 --> 00:41:14,290
out loud as we can during
this process this pilot year.

858
00:41:14,290 --> 00:41:17,260
So I'm going to pull the
pilot congregations together

859
00:41:17,260 --> 00:41:19,290
in a learning community,
but we're also

860
00:41:19,290 --> 00:41:21,370
going to put things
out there in the world

861
00:41:21,370 --> 00:41:25,530
that people can learn
from and share as well.

862
00:41:25,530 --> 00:41:28,760
And we're going to
continue to experilearn,

863
00:41:28,760 --> 00:41:30,260
and I'll tell you
some ways that you

864
00:41:30,260 --> 00:41:36,510
can follow along at the end of
the question and answer time.

865
00:41:36,510 --> 00:41:40,440
So I don't know
how I am on time.

866
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:45,240
Jessica, you're going to keep
me on track with that, right?

867
00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:46,120
Jessica York: Yes.

868
00:41:46,120 --> 00:41:47,050
You're doing fine.

869
00:41:47,050 --> 00:41:54,620
We've got more than 15 minutes
left here for questions

870
00:41:54,620 --> 00:41:58,090
and comments and answers.

871
00:41:58,090 --> 00:41:59,690
So folks, this is
the time, if you've

872
00:41:59,690 --> 00:42:02,940
got some questions, where
you can [INAUDIBLE] Karen,

873
00:42:02,940 --> 00:42:08,130
either by typing them
into the chat box.

874
00:42:08,130 --> 00:42:10,340
Also, if someone's on
the phone and would

875
00:42:10,340 --> 00:42:14,590
like to unmute themselves to ask
a question, we can do that too.

876
00:42:14,590 --> 00:42:17,240
You can also raise
your flag if you like,

877
00:42:17,240 --> 00:42:21,490
and we can call upon you if
you want to unmute and ask

878
00:42:21,490 --> 00:42:31,560
your question.

879
00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:32,060
Great.

880
00:42:32,060 --> 00:42:34,220
Emily, I see, has
raised her flag.

881
00:42:34,220 --> 00:42:40,595
And Emily, can you unmute
yourself and ask a question?

882
00:42:40,595 --> 00:42:42,890
Emily: Yes, I think so.

883
00:42:42,890 --> 00:42:46,480
I am wondering, in a
traditional church that

884
00:42:46,480 --> 00:42:51,170
has a mindset of
faith development

885
00:42:51,170 --> 00:42:52,850
is on Sunday
mornings, what would

886
00:42:52,850 --> 00:42:58,370
you suggest as some first
steps to try and move

887
00:42:58,370 --> 00:43:00,122
this thinking along.

888
00:43:00,122 --> 00:43:03,980
Karen Bellavance-grace: Mm-hm.

889
00:43:03,980 --> 00:43:06,020
I think some good
first steps would

890
00:43:06,020 --> 00:43:10,760
be to have some Sunday
morning end activities to show

891
00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:15,130
that we're not letting
go of Sunday mornings,

892
00:43:15,130 --> 00:43:21,010
and we're also able to deliver
the same content in a new way.

893
00:43:21,010 --> 00:43:23,670
So maybe the Sunday
morning continues,

894
00:43:23,670 --> 00:43:28,180
and we put the Sunday morning
lesson on our Facebook page,

895
00:43:28,180 --> 00:43:37,160
and we have a morning tea with
seniors or an evening potluck

896
00:43:37,160 --> 00:43:39,210
with families, where
we talk about the story

897
00:43:39,210 --> 00:43:40,360
that we had Sunday morning.

898
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:42,322
We'll talk about that
again on Wednesday,

899
00:43:42,322 --> 00:43:43,780
so that people can
see that there's

900
00:43:43,780 --> 00:43:47,430
a value in having
delivered in more ways

901
00:43:47,430 --> 00:43:51,867
and that perhaps there are
people that can be reached

902
00:43:51,867 --> 00:43:53,700
on a Wednesday or a
Friday that might not be

903
00:43:53,700 --> 00:43:55,050
able to be reached on Sundays.

904
00:43:55,050 --> 00:43:57,040
So a way to start
might be something

905
00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,900
as simple as just putting a
link on your Facebook page

906
00:43:59,900 --> 00:44:04,590
and saying this is-- making
us accessible to people

907
00:44:04,590 --> 00:44:05,500
throughout the week.

908
00:44:05,500 --> 00:44:10,270
And that doesn't add a lot
of extra time to your hours.

909
00:44:10,270 --> 00:44:12,070
And also talking
with families that

910
00:44:12,070 --> 00:44:14,540
aren't able to be there
regularly on Sunday mornings

911
00:44:14,540 --> 00:44:18,180
and enlisting them to provide
testimony for how valuable

912
00:44:18,180 --> 00:44:21,140
it would be for them
to have new ways

913
00:44:21,140 --> 00:44:31,225
of engaging with the church
that aren't Sunday mornings.

914
00:44:31,225 --> 00:44:32,850
Jessica York: We've
also got a question

915
00:44:32,850 --> 00:44:35,640
from Leslie, who
asks what impact

916
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:38,960
does church size have on the
transition to using Full Week

917
00:44:38,960 --> 00:44:39,487
Faith.

918
00:44:39,487 --> 00:44:41,820
Karen Bellavance-grace: That's
a great question, Leslie.

919
00:44:41,820 --> 00:44:45,000
And the answer is, I
don't really know yet.

920
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:48,190
So far, this is something
that has just lived on paper.

921
00:44:48,190 --> 00:44:50,190
Although there are churches
all over the country

922
00:44:50,190 --> 00:44:53,130
that are experimenting
in different ways,

923
00:44:53,130 --> 00:44:56,520
large and small,
in this direction.

924
00:44:56,520 --> 00:44:59,310
I'm aware of a large
church in Denver

925
00:44:59,310 --> 00:45:04,700
that has done some
great stuff with making

926
00:45:04,700 --> 00:45:09,210
the church-home gap-- trying
to bridge the church-home gap

927
00:45:09,210 --> 00:45:10,770
in really intentional ways.

928
00:45:10,770 --> 00:45:12,870
And I know small
congregations that

929
00:45:12,870 --> 00:45:18,260
have been trying these kinds
of multigenerational events,

930
00:45:18,260 --> 00:45:20,630
because they don't have
a critical mass of kids

931
00:45:20,630 --> 00:45:23,600
to do a full Sunday
School program.

932
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:26,520
So I really just have
anecdotes so far.

933
00:45:26,520 --> 00:45:28,020
But the pilot
congregations that I'm

934
00:45:28,020 --> 00:45:32,500
going to be working with vary
pretty widely-- well, widely

935
00:45:32,500 --> 00:45:34,000
for us.

936
00:45:34,000 --> 00:45:36,935
From like, 500 to 400.

937
00:45:36,935 --> 00:45:37,590
I'm sorry.

938
00:45:37,590 --> 00:45:40,930
50 to 400 members.

939
00:45:40,930 --> 00:45:44,780
So hopefully, we'll learn more
about that as the year goes on.

940
00:45:44,780 --> 00:45:47,880
There have been other
faith traditions

941
00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:50,120
that are writing
about similar things,

942
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:53,030
and particularly in
small congregations.

943
00:45:53,030 --> 00:45:58,340
So I'm encouraged by that.

944
00:45:58,340 --> 00:46:01,470
Jessica York: And
Jeanette has her flag up.

945
00:46:01,470 --> 00:46:11,410
And Jeanette, can you unmute
yourself to ask your question?

946
00:46:11,410 --> 00:46:12,765
Jeanette: Can You hear me?

947
00:46:12,765 --> 00:46:13,515
Jessica York: Yes.

948
00:46:13,515 --> 00:46:14,056
Hi, Jeanette.

949
00:46:14,056 --> 00:46:14,750
Jeanette: OK.

950
00:46:14,750 --> 00:46:17,220
Hi.

951
00:46:17,220 --> 00:46:21,830
One of the things I really
appreciate about this Full Week

952
00:46:21,830 --> 00:46:24,540
Faith Formation is it's
not all or nothing.

953
00:46:24,540 --> 00:46:29,410
It seems very easy to see
how certain things can be

954
00:46:29,410 --> 00:46:33,880
done in relatively small ways.

955
00:46:33,880 --> 00:46:39,750
So it feels much more
possible, particularly

956
00:46:39,750 --> 00:46:41,590
for the religious educator.

957
00:46:41,590 --> 00:46:46,460
I'm wondering about
the ministers,

958
00:46:46,460 --> 00:46:50,590
because so much-- well, it
depends on the congregation

959
00:46:50,590 --> 00:46:51,450
or the minister.

960
00:46:51,450 --> 00:46:55,720
But you did mention
collaboration.

961
00:46:55,720 --> 00:47:02,940
And if the DRE is the one
coming in with this idea,

962
00:47:02,940 --> 00:47:07,470
do you have any suggestions
on how to present it

963
00:47:07,470 --> 00:47:12,260
or-- and the other question I
have is in your pilot project,

964
00:47:12,260 --> 00:47:15,874
are ministers involved in that?

965
00:47:15,874 --> 00:47:18,040
Karen Bellavance-grace: So
the second question first

966
00:47:18,040 --> 00:47:18,800
is easier.

967
00:47:18,800 --> 00:47:19,960
Yes, absolutely.

968
00:47:19,960 --> 00:47:22,100
So in the pilot
congregations, it's

969
00:47:22,100 --> 00:47:25,070
absolutely the minister and
the DRE, with one exception,

970
00:47:25,070 --> 00:47:28,570
because the minister has just
announced his retirement.

971
00:47:28,570 --> 00:47:33,580
So in that case, I'm working
just with the DRE folks,

972
00:47:33,580 --> 00:47:34,240
primarily.

973
00:47:34,240 --> 00:47:37,630
But all five of the
others have strong support

974
00:47:37,630 --> 00:47:39,560
both the minister and the DRE.

975
00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:42,240
So the Excellence in
Shared Ministry Report

976
00:47:42,240 --> 00:47:45,730
is a great resource, I think,
to lean us into this direction.

977
00:47:45,730 --> 00:47:47,220
And if you haven't
read that yet,

978
00:47:47,220 --> 00:47:50,070
it was written by
representatives

979
00:47:50,070 --> 00:47:53,940
of LREDA and the Unitarian
Universalist Musicians Network

980
00:47:53,940 --> 00:47:55,680
and Ministers Association.

981
00:47:55,680 --> 00:47:56,930
They all-- oh, thank you, Pat.

982
00:47:56,930 --> 00:48:01,510
They all combined to write
this really, really outstanding

983
00:48:01,510 --> 00:48:02,340
report.

984
00:48:02,340 --> 00:48:04,630
And there are a
committee of folks

985
00:48:04,630 --> 00:48:07,640
who are working on
implementation recommendations.

986
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:11,070
But I invite all of you to
go ahead, take the paper,

987
00:48:11,070 --> 00:48:14,830
read it with your minister,
and implement away on your own.

988
00:48:14,830 --> 00:48:18,750
So that's going to be a
really important tool.

989
00:48:18,750 --> 00:48:22,230
My personal opinion,
just in things

990
00:48:22,230 --> 00:48:27,620
I have read and observations
from a field staff person,

991
00:48:27,620 --> 00:48:30,740
is I think that ministers' roles
are going to be changing, too.

992
00:48:30,740 --> 00:48:32,620
I think it's not just
religious educators.

993
00:48:32,620 --> 00:48:35,590
I think the role of the
minister in congregational life

994
00:48:35,590 --> 00:48:40,000
is also changing in response
to this giant seismic shift

995
00:48:40,000 --> 00:48:42,200
of what's happening
in our world.

996
00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:44,560
But the Minister's
Association didn't invite

997
00:48:44,560 --> 00:48:46,600
me to write a paper about it.

998
00:48:46,600 --> 00:48:49,030
So I can't say
very much about it,

999
00:48:49,030 --> 00:48:50,620
except that I
think there's going

1000
00:48:50,620 --> 00:48:54,030
to be a little bit of a
flattening of the hierarchy.

1001
00:48:54,030 --> 00:48:58,800
So that goes along, I
think, with the importance

1002
00:48:58,800 --> 00:49:01,150
of collaboration
as we move forward.

1003
00:49:01,150 --> 00:49:04,650
So I think that
religious educators are

1004
00:49:04,650 --> 00:49:07,151
going to be acting
increasingly as curators,

1005
00:49:07,151 --> 00:49:08,650
and this has been
written about also

1006
00:49:08,650 --> 00:49:11,550
by John Roberto in Faith
Formation 2020, which is also

1007
00:49:11,550 --> 00:49:12,890
a great resource.

1008
00:49:12,890 --> 00:49:16,240
So our job is going from
being creators of content

1009
00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:21,010
to curators of content and
helping our people connect

1010
00:49:21,010 --> 00:49:22,890
to the faith formation
resources that they

1011
00:49:22,890 --> 00:49:27,470
need that speaks from our
ground and our theology.

1012
00:49:27,470 --> 00:49:31,740
And I think that ministers
are going to similarly be less

1013
00:49:31,740 --> 00:49:34,855
at the top of the
pyramid, and there

1014
00:49:34,855 --> 00:49:37,680
will be a little bit
of flattening of roles.

1015
00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:43,280
And I'm not exactly sure what
shape that's going to take.

1016
00:49:43,280 --> 00:49:46,693
So I'm looking forward to
whoever writes that paper.

1017
00:49:46,693 --> 00:49:52,490
[LAUGHS] That's not me.

1018
00:49:52,490 --> 00:49:58,880
Jessica York: So Karen?

1019
00:49:58,880 --> 00:50:04,726
You have a question
from Aaron Stockwell.

1020
00:50:04,726 --> 00:50:08,472
Karen Bellavance-grace:
Hey, Aaron.

1021
00:50:08,472 --> 00:50:10,150
Jessica York: He says,
about downloading

1022
00:50:10,150 --> 00:50:12,830
lesson plans and work
from Tapestry of Faith

1023
00:50:12,830 --> 00:50:14,480
if they miss a Sunday morning.

1024
00:50:14,480 --> 00:50:17,480
Any tips for people who mention
this is what their weekday

1025
00:50:17,480 --> 00:50:19,470
teachers want them to do?

1026
00:50:19,470 --> 00:50:24,370
And they admit that they also
don't do it in that setting.

1027
00:50:24,370 --> 00:50:25,620
Karen Bellavance-grace: Right.

1028
00:50:25,620 --> 00:50:27,960
So this is where the
curation piece comes in,

1029
00:50:27,960 --> 00:50:30,500
because I've heard this also
from religious educators,

1030
00:50:30,500 --> 00:50:32,980
is that our Tapestry
of Faith curricula

1031
00:50:32,980 --> 00:50:37,010
are so well written and
so thoroughly researched

1032
00:50:37,010 --> 00:50:44,130
and so pristinely edited, and
that takes a lot of pages.

1033
00:50:44,130 --> 00:50:48,040
So I know I've heard from
religious educators too,

1034
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:51,250
who have teachers
that get overwhelmed

1035
00:50:51,250 --> 00:50:55,330
when they see that it's 30
something pages to download.

1036
00:50:55,330 --> 00:51:01,080
So that's where the religious
educator can be a curator

1037
00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:05,210
and just take out
the text of the story

1038
00:51:05,210 --> 00:51:09,470
to share with your parents
of kids who can't be there

1039
00:51:09,470 --> 00:51:11,290
on Sunday morning,
along with two or three

1040
00:51:11,290 --> 00:51:13,960
questions for
reflection together,

1041
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:17,010
instead of downloading
the whole lesson plan.

1042
00:51:17,010 --> 00:51:18,540
So that's one way to do it.

1043
00:51:18,540 --> 00:51:23,740
I think that there are some
clusters of religious educators

1044
00:51:23,740 --> 00:51:28,050
who are starting to share
those curated tapestry plans.

1045
00:51:28,050 --> 00:51:30,790
I don't know if there is
a place where they're all

1046
00:51:30,790 --> 00:51:34,180
being held yet, but
that's something

1047
00:51:34,180 --> 00:51:40,640
that a simple website
or a simple Google doc

1048
00:51:40,640 --> 00:51:45,500
might be a great resource
for somebody to just set

1049
00:51:45,500 --> 00:52:07,765
up and then invite
people to contribute to.

1050
00:52:07,765 --> 00:52:08,556
Jessica York: Good.

1051
00:52:08,556 --> 00:52:09,600
If there are other
questions, you

1052
00:52:09,600 --> 00:52:11,570
can type your question
into the chatbox,

1053
00:52:11,570 --> 00:52:13,630
or you can raise
your flag if you'd

1054
00:52:13,630 --> 00:52:28,605
like to be unmuted
to ask your question.

1055
00:52:28,605 --> 00:52:36,020
Karen Bellavance-grace:
I think I see a flag.

1056
00:52:36,020 --> 00:52:37,250
Jessica York: I don't see it.

1057
00:52:37,250 --> 00:52:40,184
So if you see it,
Karen, [INAUDIBLE].

1058
00:52:40,184 --> 00:52:41,600
Karen Bellavance-grace:
Let's see.

1059
00:52:41,600 --> 00:52:42,950
It looks like Emily.

1060
00:52:42,950 --> 00:52:54,360
Is that still where
it's at from before?

1061
00:52:54,360 --> 00:52:56,460
Jessica York: Emily,
do you have a question?

1062
00:52:56,460 --> 00:52:57,834
Karen Bellavance-grace:
Oh, nope.

1063
00:52:57,834 --> 00:52:58,820
The flag's down.

1064
00:52:58,820 --> 00:53:01,440
It looks like there's something
in the chatbox about phone

1065
00:53:01,440 --> 00:53:03,500
apps.

1066
00:53:03,500 --> 00:53:05,160
Great question.

1067
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:09,490
I actually worked
with a group of folks

1068
00:53:09,490 --> 00:53:14,220
who were interested in creating
a mobile app to magnify

1069
00:53:14,220 --> 00:53:15,370
their ministries.

1070
00:53:15,370 --> 00:53:18,100
So to be where their people are.

1071
00:53:18,100 --> 00:53:22,210
Right, literally,
in their pockets.

1072
00:53:22,210 --> 00:53:26,950
There are a couple of
free software platforms

1073
00:53:26,950 --> 00:53:31,160
available where you can create
a mobile app for your church

1074
00:53:31,160 --> 00:53:35,590
community, if you just know
how to do basic Microsoft

1075
00:53:35,590 --> 00:53:37,480
Word and PowerPoint.

1076
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:39,960
It's as simple as that.

1077
00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:43,830
So I worked with a
group of eight folks

1078
00:53:43,830 --> 00:53:46,740
over the course of
about nine months.

1079
00:53:46,740 --> 00:53:51,080
And of those folks, one
of them actually created

1080
00:53:51,080 --> 00:53:55,650
a final product and is using a
mobile app for her children's

1081
00:53:55,650 --> 00:53:57,130
religious education program.

1082
00:53:57,130 --> 00:54:00,990
It's the Arlington Street
Church in downtown Boston.

1083
00:54:00,990 --> 00:54:04,030
And she's been
really enjoying it,

1084
00:54:04,030 --> 00:54:08,420
and her people are
really engaging with it.

1085
00:54:08,420 --> 00:54:14,150
So she's able to use
the app to-- just

1086
00:54:14,150 --> 00:54:16,610
by pulling open one
app on their phone,

1087
00:54:16,610 --> 00:54:18,810
they're able to get
to the church website.

1088
00:54:18,810 --> 00:54:21,860
They're able to get to
the calendar of the church

1089
00:54:21,860 --> 00:54:24,680
to see when events
are happening.

1090
00:54:24,680 --> 00:54:30,400
They get to the
Religious Educators blog,

1091
00:54:30,400 --> 00:54:33,600
so they can see what
her latest blog post is.

1092
00:54:33,600 --> 00:54:37,202
She has a couple of
musical links there.

1093
00:54:37,202 --> 00:54:39,660
Setting in church together,
songs that the children's choir

1094
00:54:39,660 --> 00:54:40,500
has sung.

1095
00:54:40,500 --> 00:54:44,980
She has an exercise in
teaching breathing to children,

1096
00:54:44,980 --> 00:54:48,530
so it's a spiritual
practice around breathing.

1097
00:54:48,530 --> 00:54:50,670
So all of those things
are at your fingertips

1098
00:54:50,670 --> 00:54:55,130
instead of waiting until you
get home to fire up the laptop

1099
00:54:55,130 --> 00:54:57,700
and go to the church website
and then click again to get

1100
00:54:57,700 --> 00:54:58,360
said calendar.

1101
00:54:58,360 --> 00:55:00,020
So all of those
things are aggregated

1102
00:55:00,020 --> 00:55:02,540
and they're available to
people on their cellphones,

1103
00:55:02,540 --> 00:55:03,900
wherever they are.

1104
00:55:03,900 --> 00:55:06,190
So it's very new
in her experiment,

1105
00:55:06,190 --> 00:55:08,830
but so far, the response
has been very positive.

1106
00:55:08,830 --> 00:55:11,490
I had another
person in that group

1107
00:55:11,490 --> 00:55:14,050
who wanted to use
it to create an app

1108
00:55:14,050 --> 00:55:18,380
for their neighboring
faiths classroom.

1109
00:55:18,380 --> 00:55:25,120
And it just didn't work out that
she had anybody besides herself

1110
00:55:25,120 --> 00:55:26,310
to work on it with her.

1111
00:55:26,310 --> 00:55:28,890
And she felt she needed, really,
somebody from that teaching

1112
00:55:28,890 --> 00:55:32,860
team who be committed
to working on it.

1113
00:55:32,860 --> 00:55:35,840
Another person experimented
with creating an app

1114
00:55:35,840 --> 00:55:39,130
and decided that a mobile
website made more sense

1115
00:55:39,130 --> 00:55:41,520
for the particular project
that she was working on.

1116
00:55:41,520 --> 00:55:44,610
So they were varied
experiences with it.

1117
00:55:44,610 --> 00:55:48,680
But I think that it bears
more exploration, especially

1118
00:55:48,680 --> 00:55:50,090
after this last
General Assembly.

1119
00:55:50,090 --> 00:55:53,130
I don't know how many
of you used the GA app,

1120
00:55:53,130 --> 00:55:56,217
but it was essential
to me and my experience

1121
00:55:56,217 --> 00:55:57,050
in general assembly.

1122
00:55:57,050 --> 00:56:00,780
I think it was super
valuable and really effective

1123
00:56:00,780 --> 00:56:02,390
in what it wanted to do.

1124
00:56:02,390 --> 00:56:05,930
If anybody is interested
in working on apps,

1125
00:56:05,930 --> 00:56:09,500
there's more information in
the [INAUDIBLE] Faith paper,

1126
00:56:09,500 --> 00:56:11,855
and I'm happy to talk more
about the experiences that I

1127
00:56:11,855 --> 00:56:17,500
have had, and that I've heard
from others as well, offline.

1128
00:56:17,500 --> 00:56:20,640
Jessica York: And Pat
also has posted a link

1129
00:56:20,640 --> 00:56:26,055
to the workshop that was at GA.

1130
00:56:26,055 --> 00:56:27,680
Karen Bellavance-grace:
Thank you, Pat.

1131
00:56:27,680 --> 00:56:29,730
Pat Kahn: You're welcome.

1132
00:56:29,730 --> 00:56:32,320
Jessica York: So I think we
have time for one last question.

1133
00:56:32,320 --> 00:56:36,780
And Anna has posted a question
in the chatbox about how

1134
00:56:36,780 --> 00:56:39,180
busy families are these days.

1135
00:56:39,180 --> 00:56:42,310
Is it better to concentrate
on excellent programming that

1136
00:56:42,310 --> 00:56:46,960
draws them in over time or to
provide resources, workshops,

1137
00:56:46,960 --> 00:56:50,520
concentrated themes, on
how to become less busy,

1138
00:56:50,520 --> 00:56:55,220
which everyone
seems to want to do.

1139
00:56:55,220 --> 00:56:57,470
Karen Bellavance-grace: So
it's a good question, Anna.

1140
00:56:57,470 --> 00:56:59,390
And I think we're going
to have to experilearn

1141
00:56:59,390 --> 00:57:01,120
our way through it.

1142
00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:06,240
My gut feeling is
that our folks have

1143
00:57:06,240 --> 00:57:08,640
enough programs
they have to attend

1144
00:57:08,640 --> 00:57:10,620
and enough workshops
they have to attend

1145
00:57:10,620 --> 00:57:12,670
that what they really
are longing for

1146
00:57:12,670 --> 00:57:15,340
is community and connection.

1147
00:57:15,340 --> 00:57:17,440
And those are things
that we can offer people.

1148
00:57:17,440 --> 00:57:20,610
And when we-- one thing
I didn't talk about

1149
00:57:20,610 --> 00:57:25,240
was organizing our faith
development ministries

1150
00:57:25,240 --> 00:57:29,390
and our whole church
ministries around, really,

1151
00:57:29,390 --> 00:57:31,690
a sense of shared identity
and shared purpose.

1152
00:57:31,690 --> 00:57:34,260
So everybody there
should be able to say,

1153
00:57:34,260 --> 00:57:37,550
we are the church that
fill in the blank.

1154
00:57:37,550 --> 00:57:39,580
So in one community
it might be, we

1155
00:57:39,580 --> 00:57:42,920
are the church that houses the
interfaith homeless shelter.

1156
00:57:42,920 --> 00:57:48,000
Or we are the church
that built a community

1157
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:49,090
garden in the backyard.

1158
00:57:49,090 --> 00:57:52,970
So everybody knows who
we are and what we do

1159
00:57:52,970 --> 00:57:54,030
and why it matters.

1160
00:57:54,030 --> 00:57:57,610
And when we align our
religious education ministries

1161
00:57:57,610 --> 00:58:00,610
around that same
sense of core purpose,

1162
00:58:00,610 --> 00:58:03,110
then people don't have to
keep in their heads what

1163
00:58:03,110 --> 00:58:04,330
is that is our mission.

1164
00:58:04,330 --> 00:58:06,350
And it's 12 sentences
long, and I always

1165
00:58:06,350 --> 00:58:08,390
forget the third sentence.

1166
00:58:08,390 --> 00:58:09,970
It's simple.

1167
00:58:09,970 --> 00:58:11,440
This is who we are.

1168
00:58:11,440 --> 00:58:13,420
And when I'm with
you people, I know

1169
00:58:13,420 --> 00:58:15,900
that you are the same people.

1170
00:58:15,900 --> 00:58:19,580
So I think, really,
the ways that we

1171
00:58:19,580 --> 00:58:23,500
can help people feel
connected to their community,

1172
00:58:23,500 --> 00:58:25,710
even when they can't be
with us on Sunday mornings,

1173
00:58:25,710 --> 00:58:28,960
are going to be more
valuable than a workshop

1174
00:58:28,960 --> 00:58:31,380
on any particular topic.

1175
00:58:31,380 --> 00:58:33,990
Except, again, you'll
still-- those folks

1176
00:58:33,990 --> 00:58:37,110
that are in the core of
those concentric circles

1177
00:58:37,110 --> 00:58:38,520
will want to go deeper.

1178
00:58:38,520 --> 00:58:41,400
And so there's
definitely a place

1179
00:58:41,400 --> 00:58:44,624
for those in-depth workshops
and learning experiences

1180
00:58:44,624 --> 00:58:46,540
that people who want to
go deeper can explore.

1181
00:58:46,540 --> 00:58:51,030
But I think we can reach out
to the outer circles with just

1182
00:58:51,030 --> 00:58:54,280
expanding our love outward and
holding them all in community,

1183
00:58:54,280 --> 00:59:01,465
even when they're not with us.

1184
00:59:01,465 --> 00:59:03,715
Jessica York: Thank you,
Karen, for this presentation.

1185
00:59:03,715 --> 00:59:05,770
I believe you have a
little bit more information

1186
00:59:05,770 --> 00:59:07,742
that you want to share with us?

1187
00:59:07,742 --> 00:59:08,950
Karen Bellavance-grace: Sure.

1188
00:59:08,950 --> 00:59:12,920
So if you want to follow
along with the pilot program

1189
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:15,220
that we're going to be
engaging in this fall,

1190
00:59:15,220 --> 00:59:17,530
there are several
ways you can do it.

1191
00:59:17,530 --> 00:59:20,410
Or if you just want to
experiment in a Full Week Faith

1192
00:59:20,410 --> 00:59:23,890
way and with colleagues
from around the country,

1193
00:59:23,890 --> 00:59:25,040
there is a Facebook group.

1194
00:59:25,040 --> 00:59:28,990
It's called the UU Full
Week Faith Facebook-- sorry.

1195
00:59:28,990 --> 00:59:31,280
UU Full Week Faith Lab.

1196
00:59:31,280 --> 00:59:33,510
So you can join
that lab community.

1197
00:59:33,510 --> 00:59:35,260
It's been a little
quiet recently,

1198
00:59:35,260 --> 00:59:37,850
but I'm inviting all of
our pilot congregations

1199
00:59:37,850 --> 00:59:40,700
to join in the fall, so there
will be more activity on there.

1200
00:59:40,700 --> 00:59:43,190
So it's a place
to pose questions,

1201
00:59:43,190 --> 00:59:45,780
share resources, share ideas.

1202
00:59:45,780 --> 00:59:48,660
And you're welcome
to be there with us.

1203
00:59:48,660 --> 00:59:50,760
There's the Full
Week Faith page.

1204
00:59:50,760 --> 00:59:54,530
It's on a Weebly website, which
is a free website building

1205
00:59:54,530 --> 00:59:55,030
tool.

1206
00:59:55,030 --> 00:59:56,560
So the entire document is there.

1207
00:59:56,560 --> 00:59:58,840
You can download it or
you can read it online.

1208
00:59:58,840 --> 01:00:00,872
You can read it by
chapters or share chapters

1209
01:00:00,872 --> 01:00:01,830
with your RE committee.

1210
01:00:01,830 --> 01:00:06,090
There's also a discussion guide
that my colleagues, Pat Infante

1211
01:00:06,090 --> 01:00:09,760
and Mark Bernstein created
to engage your lay leadership

1212
01:00:09,760 --> 01:00:13,630
around, and the activity
cards are there as well.

1213
01:00:13,630 --> 01:00:16,830
And finally, I've created
a Full Week Faith Tumblr.

1214
01:00:16,830 --> 01:00:19,610
So as the pi-- it's
only been created now,

1215
01:00:19,610 --> 01:00:20,950
so it's not populated yet.

1216
01:00:20,950 --> 01:00:22,780
But you can find it on Tumblr.

1217
01:00:22,780 --> 01:00:26,730
And it's for when our
congregations in the pilot

1218
01:00:26,730 --> 01:00:28,650
program start experimenting.

1219
01:00:28,650 --> 01:00:33,760
They can post images and stories
of how their experiments are

1220
01:00:33,760 --> 01:00:37,490
going, so that again, we can
learn in public with the wider

1221
01:00:37,490 --> 01:00:42,600
movement.

1222
01:00:42,600 --> 01:00:44,250
Jessica York: Thank
you so much, Karen.

1223
01:00:44,250 --> 01:00:45,922
This was so informative.

1224
01:00:45,922 --> 01:00:48,130
Karen Bellavance-grace:
Thank you for the invitation.

1225
01:00:48,130 --> 01:00:51,440
Jessica York: So I do
want to-- absolutely.

1226
01:00:51,440 --> 01:00:52,700
It's great to have guests.

1227
01:00:52,700 --> 01:00:55,800
[LAUGHTER]

1228
01:00:55,800 --> 01:00:58,260
Because this is shared
work that we do.

1229
01:00:58,260 --> 01:01:01,610
And I know that all of my
colleagues here on this webinar

1230
01:01:01,610 --> 01:01:05,910
understand that shared
nature of our work.

1231
01:01:05,910 --> 01:01:08,840
As part of our sharing
and inviting guests,

1232
01:01:08,840 --> 01:01:11,350
we have another guest
who will be joining us

1233
01:01:11,350 --> 01:01:13,740
in our August webinar.

1234
01:01:13,740 --> 01:01:16,240
The dates are on the slide here.

1235
01:01:16,240 --> 01:01:20,350
August 26 and
Wednesday, August 27.

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The Tuesday one will
start at one Eastern.

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01:01:23,300 --> 01:01:25,680
The Wednesday night one
will Start At 9:00 Eastern.

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01:01:25,680 --> 01:01:29,990
And the subject matter is the
new DRE, with Pat Infante.

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This is intended primarily for
people who have three years

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01:01:33,230 --> 01:01:36,840
experience or less, even though
I imagine there's probably

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01:01:36,840 --> 01:01:39,775
stuff in there that might be
useful for those of us who

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have been doing it
a little bit longer.

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It doesn't hurt to hear
things twice, sometimes,

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or to be reminded of things.

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01:01:45,560 --> 01:01:50,860
So do remember that you can
sign up now for that webinar.

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01:01:50,860 --> 01:01:55,080
Here on the slide, you
see the email address,

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01:01:55,080 --> 01:02:01,000
faithdevwebinar@uua.org, which
is where you can go to sign up.

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01:02:01,000 --> 01:02:04,420
And also a reminder of the
website, where you can find

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01:02:04,420 --> 01:02:07,150
recorded webinars, the
one that you just listened

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01:02:07,150 --> 01:02:14,120
to and ones from the past.

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01:02:14,120 --> 01:02:17,000
And I want to thank everyone for
attending this webinar today.

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01:02:17,000 --> 01:02:19,455
I know that you've got
a lot of things you

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01:02:19,455 --> 01:02:20,810
could be doing with your time.

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01:02:20,810 --> 01:02:23,586
I sound a little bit like
Delta when I say that, don't I?

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[LAUGHTER]

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But I appreciate the time that
you put into building our faith

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and serving the world
in the way that you do.

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01:02:33,980 --> 01:02:40,360
And so until next month,
keep the faith, everybody.

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01:02:40,360 --> 01:02:41,260
Bye-bye.

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01:02:41,260 --> 01:02:42,810
Karen Bellavance-grace: Bye.

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