August 24, 2010
Written by Jeff Woodard

Just over a month after its rollout, Faith Practices is drawing enthusiastic reviews from subscribers praising the simplicity of its use and the depth of the reflection it provides. To date, 73 churches have subscribed to the resources.

The Rev. Donna Cooney, pastor at Pilgrim Congregational Church in Pomona Park, Fla., and UCC women's ministry consultant for the Southern Region, praises Faith Practices for its ease of preparation.

"My time was not spent locating supplies for elaborate crafts, but on preparation involved learning about the characteristics of children as well as thinking about my own beliefs," says Cooney. "This helped a lot when it came time to teach."

Online resources are easy to locate and free, says Cooney. "Equally meaningful are the reflection questions included with the lessons."

Using distinctive practices of faith, with more than 600 activities in each to spark meaningful conversations, Faith Practices is a comprehensive set of online resources designed to revolutionize the way congregations equip their members to talk about faith.

Cooney says the online tool is already working at her church for older and younger children alike. "Both groups especially enjoyed the lessons on Greeting Others. We downloaded the internet resource and took turns acting out the greetings from other parts of the world, as well as talking about the way we greet others.

"This exercise stimulated a deep conversation among the older youth about how their faith will affect the way they greet others from now on." And it's not stopping with the youth, says Cooney. "I feel pretty safe in saying that the adult helpers were often as engaged in the Faith Practices experiences are the children."

Subscribers not yet fully immersed into Faith Practices can't wait to take the plunge. "We haven't started yet, but I can tell you that the resource is incredible," says Elsa Marshall, a National Educational Consultant and Minister of Faith Formation at Maple Street Congregational UCC in Danvers, Mass.

"My local church covenanted with Faith Practices as it was being developed because it promises to offer churches vitality and health, helping them to combine their core values/beliefs with Christian practices – which can form and transform their way of living as faithful disciples while making mean of their lives."

In addition, Marshall is looking forward to introducing Faith Practices to the Massachusetts Conference this fall at its Super Saturdays sessions, as well as to those attending the Andover Essex Association where she will offer attendees ways to share their own "best Christian practices" with focus groups.

One pastor in the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference is using one resource as the motivator to purchase a tree and plant it in the church yard to use in front of the ladder there (as referred to in the "Giving & Receiving Hospitality" practice), according to Mary R. Sicher, minister for Christian education and resource center director for the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference. "They are now working on connecting that to the conference-wide day of service and are also going to try to use it to connect with and form stronger ties to a neighboring UCC congregation just blocks away," says Sicher, also a Faith Practices writer and educator.

For the Rev. Lori Keller Schroeder, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of St. Anne (Ill.) and writer of Faith Practices, the resource is designed to help people live into their faiths. "It recognizes that many people don't believe and then act, but act their way into belief," she says.

Adds the Rev. Arthur Kelly, pastor of the Church of God in Anderson, Ind., and editor of the Living Stewardship segment of Faith Practices, "This is a remarkable and powerful discipleship resource for the church. It sets a new standard for discipleship resources in the church and demonstrates a remarkable realization of denominational values."

Please visit the Faith Practices site for further details and ordering information, http://www.faithpractices.org/.

United Church of Christ News Service