FIRE is Family-Centered Intergenerational Religious Education. As an alternative model of religious education, the program covers, in a four-year cycle, the main truths of the faith enumerated in the National Catechetical Directory. Various options make it possible to repeat the program for a second four-year cycle.
Here the authors convincingly show that intergenerational faith formation, when done well, can be powerful, dramatic, even magical. Not only is there a place for intergenerational learning in parish faith formation, the authors believe there is a necessity for it. They show that intergenerational faith formation can help children, adolescents, and adults effectively identify with and integrate into the faith community because their learning and formation takes place in the context of communityall ages learning together. People will be looking for this one.
Picasso's artistic inspiration takes hold of young Emma's faith imagination in this beautifully illustrated debut picture book about how we all see God differently. “This urge to draw something beyond spectacular would not leave my side. ‘What should I draw?’ I thought. I sat quietly, listening to my mind and heart. That's when I heard their whisper and I decided to draw God.” Emma tries again and again and again to draw God, but her classmates can’t see God in any of her drawings. Emma finally realizes that she doesn’t need their approval. “I knew I had drawn God. God knew I had drawn God, and maybe Picasso knew, too. That finally felt like enough.” But when Emma returns to school on the following Monday, something beyond spectacular happens. Drawing God is a story for children to discover what inspires their very own faith imagination and to realize the contagious faith that lives powerfully within them. Celebrate World Drawing God Day on November 7th. Visit www.drawing-god.com.
In a revised an updated edition, this comprehensive, up-to-date text offers a framework for intentional intergenerational Christian formation. It provides the theoretical foundation of intergenerationality, then gives concrete, practical guidance on how worship, learning, community, and service can all be achieved intergenerationally.
Winner of the Distinguished Book Award from American Sociology Association Sociology of Religion Section Winner of the Richard Kalish Best Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America Few things are more likely to cause heartache to devout parents than seeing their child leave the faith. And it seems, from media portrayals, that this is happening more and more frequently. But is religious change between generations common? How does religion get passed down from one generation to the next? How do some families succeed in passing on their faith while others do not? Families and Faith: How Religion is Passed Down across Generations seeks to answer these questions and many more. For almost four decades, Vern Bengtson and his colleagues have been conducting the largest-ever study of religion and family across generations. Through war and social upheaval, depression and technological revolution, they have followed more than 350 families composed of more than 3,500 individuals whose lives span more than a century--the oldest was born in 1881, the youngest in 1988--to find out how religion is, or is not, passed down from one generation to the next. What they found may come as a surprise: despite enormous changes in American society, a child is actually more likely to remain within the fold than leave it, and even the nonreligious are more likely to follow their parents' example than to rebel. And while outside forces do play a role, the crucial factor in whether a child keeps the faith is the presence of a strong fatherly bond. Mixing unprecedented data with gripping interviews and sharp analysis, Families and Faith offers a fascinating exploration of what allows a family to pass on its most deeply-held tradition--its faith.
The purpose and nature of life -- Religion's value and truth -- Children, parenting, and family -- The whys and hows of religious transmission -- Theorizing cultural models -- Conclusion.
This invaluable resource offers planning processes and practical tools for fashioning and implementing a lifelong curriculum. Includes a CD-ROM with PowerPoint presentations for each chapter as well as worksheets and handouts.
Holly Allen and Christine Lawton offer a complete framework for intentional intergenerational Christian formation in the church. Providing theoretical foundations and case studies of intergenerational congregations, this book offers hope that worship, learning, community, and service can all be achieved intergenerationally.
From the Introduction This book is about passing on the faith from generation to generation, throughout the milestones of a person's life. Faith is created and nurtured by the Holy Spirit through the Gospels. The vision underlying the RADICAL model was developed in light of the theological principle that faith is formed by the Holy Spirit through personal, trusted relationships, often, but not always, in our own homes. A youth and family ministry for the 21st century connects all the generations in the total ministry of the congregation and, through the cross of Christ, recognizes the work of the Holy Spirit shaping faith in all the circles of relationships. This revised edition expands on the authors' original model in an all-new chapter on the circle of creation. This edition has also been updated throughout in light of new ideas and research that have emerged during the past decade.
