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Suzanna Green
Director of Christian Formation
I wonder what comes to mind when you hear the words Christian Formation? Do you immediately think of Sunday school? Bible study? A small group? A specific age or stage of life? One of the hardest parts of my job is communicating a clear definition of what Christian Formation means. To me, Christian Formation is the heart of everything we do at church. This becomes abundantly clear every year when the Christian Formation committee meets for our annual retreat. We brainstorm and plan major events and programs each year at this retreat and the word we come back to every single year is relationship.
Christian Formation does not start with the right space, the perfect curriculum, or the most trained leader. It starts with being in relationship. Our churches are relational spaces where people from all ages and stages of life come together for the purpose of deepening their relationship to God, to each other, and to the world that God calls us to love. Everything that we do in the church can be formative for our Christian lives, not just Sunday school. When we start to think about everything we do in church as formation it calls us to be more intentional about our church programs, but it also takes some of the pressure off having to have the perfect Sunday school or Bible study programming. Church events such as meals, festivals, and seasonal gatherings can all be a part of our churches Christian Formation. The focus for each event may be different, but each calls us into relationship with one another which is the base from which all Christian Formation is built.
The fruits of this relational model came home to me in a new way this summer. In the wake of the Hill Country flooding, St. Peter’s Family Minister and I began conversations around what their family ministry might look like. An immediate need surfaced, the need for additional VBS volunteers so that their VBS could move forward as planned just 10 days after the flood. I put out a call to Diocesan staff and children and family ministers nearby and asked them to also spread the word to their safeguarded volunteers. Within a few days we had filled all of the spots needed, people were eager to have a way to help. VBS became a way for the formation community to help children and their families feel God’s love and presence with them during a hard season. It would not have been possible without the network of Christian Formation leaders that the Christian Formation committee has been building and pouring into more and more each year.
Churches across our diocese do amazing formation work in so many different ways and the Christian Formation committee’s plan for Fall 2025 is to create opportunities for greater idea sharing and relationship building with formation leaders from all across our diocese. Whether you are a volunteer, paid staff, or clergy we want to hear from you and to be in relationship with you as you do the work of teaching, leading, and being with those in your congregations. With that in mind, here are some opportunities coming up to be in relationship with myself and other folks from the Christian Formation committee and other formation leaders around the diocese.
Fall Events
Volunteer Workshop
All volunteers who work with children, youth, and adults are invited to a training day hosted by the Christian Formation Committee on Saturday, September 6 from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. If you are a volunteer who teaches Sunday school, leads a Bible study, mentors or helps with youth group, or works with any sort of student or adult group at your church then this training is for you!
The schedule for the day will include several practical and tangible ways for you to connect with other volunteers from churches in your region and share ideas and hear about some curriculums, ideas, and tools that might be new to you. The event will include a keynote presentation, resource sharing time, lunch, conversation groups based on ages and stages, and more.
You can choose the location most convenient to you from the following list:
- Reconciliation, San Antonio
- St. Barnabas, Fredericksburg
- St. John's, McAllen
- St. Philip's, Beeville
There will be at least two local Christian Formation facilitators at each event. The Christian Formation Committee hopes this event will leave you inspired, energized, and prepared for a great year of formation in your local context!
Monthly Christian Formation Chats on Zoom
This Fall we'll have monthly formation lunch chats on the second Thursday of the month for Christian Formation for all-ages! The format of these zoom conversations will stay mostly the same, just the frequency and age range is changing. We'll chat about what is going well in your contexts, what questions you want some group wisdom on, and what is coming up around the diocese. Mark your calendars and email formation@dwtx.org for the registration link.
September 11, 12pm
October 9, 12pm
November 13, 12pm
December 11, 12pm
Middle School Event
The Bishop's Youth Commission is hosting an event for Middle School Youth on Saturday, September 27 10am-2pm in the following 3 locations:
- St. Alban's, Harlingen
- St. David's, San Antonio
- St. Peter's, Kerrville
The event will include fellowship, fun, Bible study, and outreach. All middle school youth are invited to attend the event at the location closest to them.
Ministry Summit: Restore and Replenish
The Bishop's Youth Commission and Christian Formation Committee are hosting the Annual Ministry Summit again this Fall! This year the Summit will be an overnight retreat October 3-4 at Camp Capers. The event will begin with dinner and fellowship time on Friday evening. Saturday's activities will include worship, a keynote presentation, breakout sessions, time for fellowship with Bp. Cortiñas, and conversation with ministry leaders from around the diocese.
This year's keynote speaker is Annalise Hume, a spiritual director who has also worked in youth and young adult ministry for over 10 years. Annalise will help ministry leaders think about how to integrate rest into their lives and their work.
All ministry leaders (part-time or full-time, clergy included) who work in the area of formation with children, youth, and/or adults are invited to attend. Clergy who attend will receive continuing education credit for this event.
Advent: Stories of Movement and Migration
Lastly, I want to share a bit about plans for this year’s Advent series and let you know that the Christian Formation is committed to putting together an Advent and a Lent formation series each year from now on. As you make your church’s formation plans, please keep this in mind and feel free to contact me if you are looking for information on the Advent or Lent series to help with your planning.
This year for Advent we’ll hear from a variety of folks around the diocese in a podcast format! The series will begin with an introductory episode on November 23 (Christ the King Sunday) and will continue for 5 weeks. The episodes will be 20-30 minutes long and will come with discussion guides for group use. We hope churches that have already made their Advent formation plans will still send these podcast episodes out in your church email or put a link to them in the bulletin for folks to listen during the week if they would like! There will also be opportunities to gather as a whole diocese during this series to discuss the episodes and hear from some of the folks who put them together. Save the date for these discussions: December 4, 6:30pm and January 6, 6:30pm.
