Workshops and Writings

In case you missed it…

The past two months, the Sharing Faith Initiative has offered workshops in each of its grant programs, and we have had some incredible leaders. If you didn’t get a chance to attend, here’s what you missed:

“Wonder Stories” a Success

In January, Children’s Sermons by Children hosted the Rev. Jen Kindsvatter who taught participants, including three youth, to create Wonder Stories out of wooden blocks along with a script for re-telling the biblical stories. The blocks’ sides had various images that represent narrative moments in the text, and the careful retelling of the story along with rotating the blocks enable listeners to experience the story in a new way. The youth who attended the event have already shared the first Wonder Story with their congregation this past Sunday morning!

Here’s a video of one Wonder Story that Rev. Kindsvatter taught during the workshop:

Powerful Workshop on Convictional Preaching

On Friday, February 20,  the Faithful Preaching Project welcomed Dr. Jared E. Alcántara (Baylor University) for a workshop on convictional preaching in a divisive time.

Using audio clips from convicting preachers like Nelson Mandela, Prathia Hall, and Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Alcántara helped listeners truly feel what it means to preach with conviction. Here’s what other participants had to say:  “the content connected theology, personal transformation, and practical discipline in a way that made preaching both a sacred calling and a lifelong craft,” and that “I feel much better equipped to handle Scripture responsibly and to connect it clearly to Christ without forcing applications that are not truly rooted in the passage.”

If you didn’t get a chance to attend, we will be sending out a link to the video in our next newsletter!

But wait…there’s more…

Our Associate Director Amanda Herridge recently shared her insights on the “Building Faith” Blog of Virginia Theological Seminary regarding a simple practice that led to big connections at her home church in Temple, TX.

Keep on the lookout for news of our new clergy and lay cohorts starting up this summer and our fall workshop offerings!