Education for Ministry

Every baptized person is called to ministry. During the service of Confirmation we ask God to "renew in these your servants the covenant you made with them at Baptism. Send them forth in the power of the Spirit to perform the service you set before them." The Education for Ministry (EFM) program provides people with an opportunity to discover how to respond to the call to Christian service and carry out their ministries.

The Education for Ministry program began with a vision of enrolling a few hundred students. Within a few years it developed into a program reaching several thousand students with groups around the globe. For more background on EFM, go to their website: http://www.sewanee.edu/EFM/EFMhome.html.

The EFM program does not evaluate or recommend individuals for ordination. Rather, it is designed to provide to lay persons a theological education that supports their faith and also trains them to express that faith in day-to-day events.

The Program
The seminar group is the nucleus of the Education for Ministry program. A group consists of six to twelve participants and a trained mentor meeting weekly over the course of a nine-month academic year. These meetings are usually from two and a half to three hours in length.

Through study, prayer, and reflection, EFM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God's kingdom. Participants are given weekly assignments to study with the help of resource guides. They are responsible for setting their own learning goals. They spend between two and four hours in study and preparation each week. In the seminars members have an opportunity to share their insights and discoveries as well as to discuss questions which the study materials raise for them.

Trinity's EFM group meets on Monday evenings at 6:45 p.m. in the church's Crist Room. For details or to enroll, contact group mentor Sara Bean at sehb69@yahoo.com or call (765) 482-6922.