UCC Faith Practices subscribers laud resource for simplicity, substance

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

UCC Faith Practices subscribers laud resource for simplicity, 
substance

> Written by Jeff Woodard
> August 24, 2010

Just over a month after its rollout,

<http://www.faithpractices.org>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
<http://irreference.com/know-your-greeting-customs>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 gro ups.

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

<http://www.faithpractices.org/>Faith Practices
site for further details and ordering information.