Radical Thoughts about Formation for #eform14

I’m writing this as I wait for registration to open at Virginia Theological Seminary for the e-Formation Conference (also known as #eform14). It has been a day of travel; I’ve been en route for seven hours thus far. But I’m grateful for a little down time to do some writing, as I’m headed to this conference with some big questions.

Basically, I’m wondering why we do Christian formation the way we do it. Here’s the “normal” I see:

• Denominational bodies and independent publishers develop curricula for an hour a week or so of structured programs for children and youth.
• Local congregations purchase curricula and plan their common life to include time to deliver the structured program.
• Parents who want to raise their children in the Christian faith are encouraged to bring their children to the weekly structured program and volunteer to teach and assist in the program. Though leaders may express the idea that parents are the primary religious educators of their children, there are rarely any resources to help parents develop this capacity. The church’s resources focus on the structured program.
• When deciding what church to attend, parents often ask about these structured programs. “Is there anything for kids?” they say. Thus, the world outside the church reinforces the idea that programs like these are necessary for organizational viability.
• Attendance at the structured program is often not great. In a post-Christendom world, the program takes place in the same time slot as other structured activities. This means it seasonally loses to soccer, swimming, etc. Also, extended families separated by geography visit each other on weekends. Custody arrangements often mean kids only come every other week. If both parents leave home for work five days a week and on Saturdays for children’s activities, Sunday is a tough choice between having a sense of Sabbath rest (sleeping in! staying home!) or participating in common worship (getting out of the house with the kids, early, seven days a week). No wonder attendance isn’t great!
• Professional Christian educators (people like me) lament the fact that attendance isn’t great. We also lament that even if every family came to church every Sunday of the year, there would still be fewer than 60 hours to teach their children the basics of Christian faith through our planned, structured program.

Why does the church structure the discipleship of people under 18 this way? Is there a reason beyond “That’s the way we’ve always done it” (which, by the way, is not true)? When I look at those bullet points, they make very little sense to me. And yet, that’s “normal” in all the Episcopal churches I know.

This question becomes even more compelling when you realize that structuring discipleship this way isn’t working. We are not raising up a generation of young people on fire with the Holy Spirit and committed to serving God’s mission through the Episcopal Church. Our young people, with rare and beautiful exceptions (some of whom I am happy to know personally), seem to consider participation in the body of Christ an optional extracurricular activity – which, it occurs to me, is exactly the way we have trained them to think.

Along with the first question, an even better question is this: How can we support authentic discipleship in all generations using twenty-first century communication technologies?

I’m headed to e-Formation with two possible answers to this question:

First, I’m interested in the possibility of mutually supportive online networks of parents practicing their faith at home. Studies show that parents are the most influential people in their children’s faith formation. Right now, the Faith at Home initiatives in the church use the curriculum model: a professional writes a lesson plan, a parent downloads and uses it. It seems to me that cultivating sites written by actual parents sharing actual life experience could have more resonance and develop deeper faith. Where are the Episcopal parent blogs like these?

Second, I’m interested in gamification and competency. I’m wishing there were a national, Internet-based Episcopal Quiz Bowl or Online Scavenger Hunt with scholarship prizes and other fun stuff. If we had an event which required actual knowledge from students, over time we could develop a culture which supported the mastery of specific content. I’m not suggesting Common Core Standards, but I do think that anyone who says “I was raised in the Episcopal Church” should know that Henry VIII didn’t found our faith (just to name a pet peeve). Testing students would lead to resistance and resentment; preparing for a game in which prizes could be won seems more interesting somehow. (Although it also would reinforce the “church is an extracurricular activity” phenomenon, so maybe it isn’t a good idea.)

I believe the current structured, curriculum-based Christian formation programs will continue (including at the church I serve!) because at this point, nobody has any better way to teach the faith. But I also think that some supplementary alternatives should be developed alongside these core programs. I don’t yet see my way forward in experimenting with these alternatives. I’m looking forward to spending time with other practitioners and hopefully gaining clarity on my next steps.

The e-Formation conference starts tomorrow morning. You can follow on Twitter at #eform14 or purchase webinar access for $75 here. I’ve never attended this conference before and I have no idea how possible it will be for me to blog along the way. I guess we’ll find out soon!

What are your questions about Christian formation in the Internet age? Do either of my possibilities intrigue you?

What do you want me to do and look for at e-Formation 2014?