Early in 2007, we have hosted:

A wardens’ retreat for senior and junior wardens. Scheduled for March 2-3, 2007, this second annual retreat  helped wardens throughout the Diocese to reflect upon their call to this ministry and to be better equipped for it.  To register, just download the registration form, print and mail to the School with a check. It was a very successful week-end. We hope you will plan to attend next year, if you've missed the two previous retreats.

Under One Roof: Regional events with workshops drawing upon local interests and resources.

 Under One Roof: A mission and ministry event on worship and liturgy, Saturday, May 5th, 2007, 9:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at St. Paul’s Church, Winston-Salem.  This diocesan wide event was a big success, with its focus on worship and liturgy. Our heritage as a Church is wrapped up in our being a worshipping community. We had a day of excellent workshops that affirmed the variety of ministries & ministers which make up effective & meaningful worship, and concluded with the Eucharist.  The closing celebration with combined choirs and liturgical dance was capped by a sermon by Bishop Curry.  

Small churches and rural parishes:  A very effective and successful second listening event took place at Christ Church in Cleveland, on June 23rd, from 10 am to 1 pm.  We are planning the next listening event at St. Mark's in Roxboro on November 3 where we will continue to hear of the hopes and vision that small and rural churches have for adult formation.

The School of Ministry hosted these events this past Fall, 2006:

Small churches and rural parishes: An exploration of adult Christian formation needs and hopes in a small church context. The first meeting of a series took place in the eastern region of the diocese on October 14, 2006 to to celebrate that which is being done, and hear of hopes and vision that these important congregations have for adult formation.

An Education for Ministry Summit: EfM graduates and mentors came together on November 18, 2006 in Greensboro to talk about the many ways we can discover new ministry options within our own boundaries of life in North Carolina. We celebrated the ministry of mentors and of those who have completed EfM, and explored ideas for their future ministry as lay persons.Watch for a Diocese of North Carolina EfM web page in the School of Ministry web site and check out some resources to help our diocesan EfM community to connect with one another.

We also continue our development of resources for adult study in local parishes. New resources in 2006-2007 include:

Strengthening Christian ethical discourse - How do we talk about issues facing us in our common life? How do we discuss such things as poverty or war, injustice or human need, with others in our congregation? The question that this study addresses is how to carry out these conversations keeping before us our understanding of our faith.

Themes from the Gospel of Luke - We’re turning to our three bishops for reflections on three of the great themes in Luke’s Gospel: Mission, Discipleship, and the Kingdom of God. This short study, suitable for adult forums, helps parishioners to prepare for Year C of the eucharistic lectionary, in which Luke is the key gospel.

In communion: Our Anglican identity - Our Anglicanism study is just being released in September so that we could included reflections upon developments that influence our life as a communion. Using primary sources, our contributors—from our own diocese and from South Africa—write of our identity through common prayer, ecumenism, mission, and the historical evolution of the communion itself.

We commend them to you, and especially encourage parishes that may not have an active ongoing adult education program to use them. Watch for their release during this year.

Previous parish study resources:

In addition to new parish study resources described above, the School of Ministry also has the following, which are available now:

“The Bible says…” Biblical interpretation through the ages: This study recognizes our call to examine Scripture, to hear God speaking to us through the Bible, and to live out our lives as “one in Christ” with others to whom God is also speaking. From “Patriarchs and Matriarchs” in Genesis through “Covenant” passages and “Prophetic voices” to the life and teachings of Jesus, this course is being developed by Prof. Celia Brewer Sinclair.

A reckless faith: Studies in the Gospel of Mark: This study is in preparation for Year B of the Lectionary, with the view that our congregations might hear the readings from Mark afresh at the end of the course. It is being developed by Prof. Fred Horton.

Faith, dignity and integrity: Conversations about end of life issues: This resource focuses on issues of faith, bio-ethics, family and law, and advance directives. Thanks to the initiative of clergy at St. Andrew’s in Greensboro, the School of Ministry has designed this resource for use throughout the Diocese. Booklets are available now.

Mission and ministry through the Millennium Development Goals: This is our most recent parish study resource, and encourages reflection about how God’s mission and our calling and the Millennium Development Goals relate, and about how parishes can live into the call to us from the Lambeth Conference, the Episcopal Church USA, and our own diocese. Strong affirmations of our ministry through the MDG's came from the 2006 General Convention. Every congregation should now have a copy for your review. Bound copies for participants and facilitators are now available. Contact us about them. The resource is now posted on this website.

Our hope is that parishes may find them helpful, especially those that may not have an active ongoing adult education program. We also encourage smaller parishes to consider engaging in this study with others. We will be happy to help foster cooperative endeavors. You may now indicate your interests on-line!

For information about the authors of our studies, click here.

For information about permission to copy these resources, click here.

• On-line: You may now express your own interests in our resources on-line.
• Resources on convention resolutions: Diocesan convention resolutions frequently encourage further study by parishes. On our School website we have identified some resources that may be helpful for parish reflection.
• This website: Our web pages at the School of Ministry were launched in April 2005. We hope you find them useful. We've tried to make the website as accurate and as technically correct as we can. Errors may still creep in. Please let us know when you find them, so we can make corrections. Also, if you have suggestions for additions and improvements, let us know that as well. Finally, we plan to update these pages regularly. Visit us again!