Designing Faith Formation 2.0

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5 Steps for Building Faith Formation 2.0 

​Designing Faith Formation 2.0 means building more resilient, flexible, and adaptable forms of faith formation with age groups, families, and the whole community (intergenerational) that are developed in response to the new conditions of the post-Covid-19 world. 

​Here are five important building blocks for designing Faith Formation 2.0. 

1. Focus on goals for faith maturing at each stage of life and design programming to address the goals. 
2. Integrate three faith forming environments: intergenerational community, family, and age or peer group in all programming. 
3. Design faith formation in three seasonal menus of programming. 
4. Design faith formation using online and blended approaches, eventually incorporating programming in physical settings when conditions allow. 
5. Design playlists of faith forming content and experiences for all ages to structure faith formation programming. 

Download "Transforming Faith Formation ​for a New World" with 5 Design Steps

​​#1. Focus on goals for faith maturing at each stage of life.  ​

Faith Formation 2.0 shifts the emphasis from a focus on activities, classes, courses, and programs to a focus on  goals for maturing in faith. This change of focus reflects a significant shift from a provider-centered, program- and content-driven approach to a person-centered approach to faith formation. Faith formation focuses on goals for faith maturing, at each stage of life, and selects the content, experiences, programs, and methods that will promote growth in faith and discipleship. 
 
The following ten goal incorporate knowing and believing, relating and belonging, practicing and living. They are drawn from the Christian faith tradition and from research on what makes a difference in forming faith in people’s lives across they life span. These ten goals are a starting point. They need to be contextualized within a specific Christian tradition, the identity and mission of a church, and the unique social, cultural, and ethnic make-up of the community. 
 
Goals for Maturing in Faith

1. Developing and sustaining a personal relationship and commitment to Jesus Christ.
2. Living as a disciple of Jesus Christ and making the Christian faith a way of life.
3. Reading and studying the Bible, and its message, meaning, and application to life today.
4. Learning the Christian story and foundational teachings of one’s particular Christian faith tradition and integrating its meaning into one’s life.
5. Praying—together and by ourselves—and seeking spiritual growth through spiritual practices and disciplines.
6. Living with moral integrity guided by Christian ethics and values.
7. Living the Christian mission in the world—serving those in need, caring for God’s creation, and acting and advocating for justice and peace—locally and globally.
8. Worshipping God with the community at Sunday worship and ritual celebrations, and through the seasons of the church year.
9. Being actively engaged in the life, ministries, and activities of the faith community.
10. Practicing faith in Jesus Christ by using one’s gifts and talents within the Christian community and in the world

 
Shifting the emphasis from a program- driven faith formation to a goal-centered faith formation opens up multiple ways (activities, methods, programs) to promote faith maturing through developmentally-appropriate faith forming experiences at each stage of life. 

What are your church’s goals for maturing in faith and discipleship?

#2. Integrate three faith forming environments: intergenerational church community, family, and age or peer group.

Faith Formation 2.0 is holistic, integrating three primary environments: the intergenerational church community, the family, and the age group/peer group. This holistic approach promotes maturing in faith by engaging all ages in intergenerationalrelationships, activities, and church life and events (including Sunday worship), equipping and supporting parents and the whole family in sharing and practicing their faith at home, and engaging each life stage in activities and experiences designed to address their religious and spiritual journeys, life stage needs, and the ways they learn and grow. 

Children, adolescents, and adults need to experience the faith forming influence of all three environments each year. Faith formation at each stage of life blends intergenerational, family, and age group settings into a holistic approach to faith formation. This reflects a significant shift from the age-segregated or siloed approach where faith formation with children, adolescents, and adults is primarily age-group-only without significant intergenerational and family faith forming experiences. This shift situates people within a broader “ecology” of faith formation and a more holistic approach to faith formation. 

How can you integrate all three environments in faith formation at each stage of life? 

​#3. Design faith formation in three seasonal menus of programming. ​

Faith Formation 2.0 is designed in seasons of programming: September-December, January-April, May-August. With the rapidly changing environment it is wise to create seasonal plans, rather than an annual plan. Even before the pandemic a seasonal approach adjusts better to the needs, schedules, and interests of people in the faith community. 
 
You can create a blueprint for the whole year, but it is wiser and simpler to manage one season of programming at a time. Over the course of a year (three seasons) content and programming can be added so that the complete plan is fully implemented by the third season. Some of the programming will be consistent in every season, while other programming will be specific to a season. 
 
A seasonal approach allows you to be more nimble and flexible in adjusting to the environment and the changing needs, schedules, and interests of people. A seasonal approach also allows you to pilot new initiatives and programs in one season and then expand them in the next season. 
 
The goal of a seasonal plan is to provide holistic faith formation that integrates a variety of faith forming experiences – intergenerational (including whole church experiences), family-centered at church and home, and age-group or peer activities – in online, blended, and physical settings.  
 
The “menu” approach to faith formation provides a way for people to select from a variety of programs and activities and create their own plan for faith formation. This learner-centered approach gives people control over what and when and where they will participate. 
 
For children and adolescents (and their parents), churches can develop expectations for their participation. These expectations can be developed around the different types of programming or the ten goals of faith maturing. One way to do this is to have children (and their parents) and adolescents select programing from categories such as: 

• Know - Informing: Knowing and understanding more fully the Christian faith
• Grow - Forming: Developing and deepening their relationship with Jesus and the Christian community 
• Live - Transforming: Living the Christian faith in every aspect of their lives 

 
Westwood Lutheran Church in Minneapolis uses a menu approach to confirmation by blending “know”—hands on learning, “live”—service to our neighbor and congregation, and “grow”—fellowship and faith nurturing experiences. They organized the menu similar to a college program by asking the young people to take a minimum of three courses (in a variety of formats—one-day to multiple sessions) in each of the three categories. Over three years young people take 17 credits: four in each of the three categories are required; the remaining five credits are electives. (Go to http://www.westwoodlutheran.org/Westwood-U for what they are doing currently)
 
A second way is to develop a “credits” approach (create expectations and goals) around participation in Sunday worship, intergenerational gatherings, church year seasonal celebrations, service projects, family at-home projects, age-specific programs (classes, summer program, vacation Bible school), and more. This is especially good for churches who have limited leadership. Participants can follow a plan of exposure to all aspects of a congregation’s offerings and then engage with the pastor, faith formation coordinator, or a mentor to explore identity formation and learn to develop their own voice.

​#4. Design faith formation using online and blended approaches, eventually incorporating programming in physical settings when conditions allow. ​

Faith Formation 2.0 is designed first in online spaces with options for blended formation that combines online and physical spaces (in small groups), and then eventually physical gatherings can be incorporated into the programming mix when conditions allow. We can become much more strategic and careful about when, where, how, and for what we gather people because we will be using all three programming models—online, blended, and gathered. 

Faith formation programming can be synchronous (real time programming) and asynchronous (on your own time). Both are essential for designing online and blended programming. We can deliver synchronous online programming with live streaming, video conferencing, and online courses. We need online learning platforms, websites, and more for asynchronous learning. 
 
You will need a few digital tools to make online programming effective. You don’t need expensive or complex technology to implement online faith formation. (See the Guide and the Tools menu for descriptions and examples.)

• A Website: To create faith formation website use a drag-and-drop website builder like Weebly, Wix, or Squarespace that doesn’t demand HTML programming skills. 
• Video Conferencing and Streaming: To convene online groups you can use Zoom or Google Meet. To live stream programs and presentations you can use Zoom, Facebook Live, or YouTube Live. 
• Online Learning Platform (Learning Management System): To create an online “classroom” for sharing content, texts, videos, projects, and interacting with each other use  Edmodo or Google Classroom. 
• Facebook Groups: To incorporate an interactive environment for online programs and blended programs use Facebook Groups.  
• E-Newsletter: To create a weekly e-newsletter to communicate the faith formation activities and schedules for the week or month use MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Flocknote.
• Texting: To send reminders, links to activities on the faith formation website, and short activities (prayer, Bible verse, etc.) using a texting app like GroupMe, Telegram), WhatsApp, or Viber. 
• Social Media: To communicate and share faith forming content, and to invite people to share what they are learning and doing through videos, images, and text use social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram.

For Examples of Online & Blended Approaches to Faith Formation

​#5. Design playlists of faith forming content and experiences for all ages to structure faith formation programming. 

Faith Formation 2.0 is designed as online Playlists of curated content and experiences focusing on a particular theme or topic. A playlist weaves together these learning experiences into a sequenced pathway centered on a common theme. Playlists broaden opportunities to engage in cohesive, interest-driven connected learning experiences that combine a variety of settings for learning: online, peers, families, intergenerational, community, and world. 
 
Playlists provide the learning path and are an essential ingredient in all five of the examples of online and blended programming above. 

Use the Designing Playlists page for a step-by-step guide and examples for creating playlists.

For a Guide to Designing Playlists for Faith Formation