Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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NEPS
The NEPS Book of Faith Blog
- NEPS Book of Faith
- The “Book of Faith” initiative was passed at the ELCA Assembly in Chicago in 2007 in order to encourage the whole church “to become more fluent in the first language of faith, the language of scripture.” The Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod's Worship and Spirituality Team encourage you to become part of the conversation.
The Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod is a synod of the ELCA
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An online devotional resource: d365
From the website (www.d365.org) for d365 comes this information: "The d365 devotional series is produced by Passport, Inc. and The Samuel Project. Passport's seasonal devotional sites, Journey to the Cross and Following the Star, help readers journey through Advent and Lent. These series are written especially for students and seek to provide reflections on themes that impact our faith journey. We hope that in the midst of busy or boring days, these sites will create a quiet space in your life for contemplation and prayer."
The Experience
Music
When the d365 webpage opens, music automatically starts during one's visit. If users prefer not to hear the music they can simply click on the square "stop" button on the music control panel at the top of the page.
Devotions
These devotions were written by ministers, professors, students, teachers, missionaries, denominational leaders, and others who work with and care for students. An author typically writes one week of devotions.
In these devotions, users will read honest struggles and questions, all in the context of real faith. Users are invited to think about their own responses to the scripture for the day. The writer's words serve as background for each individual's own conversation with God.
There are five "steps" in these online devotions. Users can stay on each "page" as long as he or she desires. The five "steps" are:
1. PAUSE -- A statement or two to help the user focus on the devotion.
2. LISTEN -- A scripture passage for the day.
3. THINK -- A brief reflection on the biblical passage tied in with life experiences. Users are invited to ask themselves: Do I agree? Do I disagree? How do the words I read help me to dialogue with the text?
4. PRAY -- A brief prayer is posted to help users to "get started" with their own prayers.
5. GO -- A blessing or lyrics to a hymn or song to move into the day.
I recommend this site for high school and college students. Adults may also appreciate this site as well.
Fans of Ken Medema might appreciate knowing that his piano solos were used for the Advent devotions this past year :-)
- Karen Matthias-Long
www.workingpreacher.org
WorkingPreacher.org is a free site offered up to preachers as a resource to prepare sermons. However, we have discovered some people in the pews who also use it to prepare themselves for listening to the scriptures on Sunday morning. Such self-study is a great way to engage the scripture knowledgably, and is a great way to prepare yourself for good conversation with pastors and fellow congregation members.
Your Book of Faith Synod Advocate is a resource for you. You can help me, if you sign up to join the conversation on the ELCA website please drop me an e-mail teaconn@fast.net
Some sign ups have not registered. Our goal is to have 75% of our congregations committed to the Book of Faith Initiative. How each congregation fulfills that Initiative may be different.
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