Local Faith Formation Resources

As I sat in Ian's presentation to our group of Recently Ordained Clergy (ROC) yesterday, I heard him mention a scholar who was going to be giving a lecture at OMSC and a light bulb went off. It occurred to me that all of you (particularly if you are new to CT) might not be aware of some of the amazing resources for theological education, for broadening our horizons and deepening our faith that are quite literally right in our own backyards. So today's post is a bit of info about a few of them. And I am sure that there are more that I am forgetting at this present moment or that I don't know about. If you know of others, please let me know! It would be great to expand this list!

So first, the OMSC . . . the Overseas Ministry Study Center (http://www.omsc.org/) is a place of study and rest for Christian Missionaries and Scholars from all over the world. It is a remarkable place that really makes global Christianity come alive! Many of its lectures are open to the public, and you can subscribe to E-News to learn more about the Center and its events.

And right across the street from OMSC in New Haven is Yale Divinity School, which of course hosts numerous lectures and programs throughout the year: http://divinity.yale.edu/ The great thing about YDS public lectures is that they are almost always recorded, so even if you can't get there in person, you can still hear the lecture. YDS digital resources can be found here: http://divinity.yale.edu/core/digital-resources And if you can get to New Haven on occasion, you should be sure to visit the Ministry Resource Center in the Divinity Library. Imagine having the opportunity to browse, sample and try out any and every christian education resource you can imagine (for children or adults) and that is the MRC.

Another great resource for lectures and programs, particularly of an interfaith nature is Hartford Seminary (http://www.hartsem.edu/). They also have an E-News you can sign up for and record many of their programs, so you don't necessarily have to attend in person. For a tiny little school in the middle of Hartford, they draw a remarkable collection of scholars and faith leaders from across CT and around the world!

If you are in Fairfield County, it is particularly worth noting that Christ Church in Greenwich has a robust adult education program, not all of which takes place on Sunday mornings. More information on that can be found here: http://christchurchgreenwich.org/learn/adult/

Another opportunity in Greenwich is the Greenwich Leadership Forum, which is a program run by David Miller (of Princeton' Center on Faith and Work). It brings business people together to talk about faith and ethics. If spending an evening in Greenwich is not convenient for you, thankfully, they also record many of the sessions (check out the video tab on their website).

So those are a few of our remarkable local resources. Please let me know of more!

A New Way Forward

Dear Blog Readers,

I had a brainstorm the other day, and so I am going to be trying something new. I realized I was frequently posting a lot of links from the same sites. Rather than continuing that I am going to offer a list below of my favorite Church/Ministry related news sites and blogs. Then going forward, I will still post resources that I think would be particularly useful to you all in your ministry. I also hope that the blog will become more of a forum for conversation and a place to offer some reflections on life, ministry and the Church. 

As always I welcome your feedback. Thank you!

Blessings,

Molly

As promised, here is my list of favorite news sources and blogs:

NEWS 
If you want to keep up with what is happening in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion, I highly recommend subscribing to email alerts or following any (or all!) of the following organizations on Social Media:

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/
The news service of The Episcopal Church. A great source of churchwide happenings, particularly around large events like General Convention. They also are good about publicizing grant opportunities.

http://www.anglicannews.org/
A great way to find out what is happening with our brothers and sisters around the Anglican Communion and to know when the Archbishop of Canterbury speaks publicly on a topic. 

http://www.religionnews.com/ 
A resource to help us stay current on religion more broadly - ecumenical and interfaith.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/religion/
Another broad, ecumenical and interfaith resource that can be closer to a blog (more reflections and opinion pieces). 

http://episcopalcafe.com/ 
Part news and part blog this is a great collection of news items, sermons and reflections from around The Episcopal Church. For instance, when the current crisis started unfolding at GTS, Episcopal Cafe had the most up to date information. 



BLOGS

At present these are my favorite blogs to go to hear reactions to churchwide events, such as a new TREC letter or the questions on the GOEs.

These two blogs are from priest I have been privileged to work with (in the past and currently) in CT. I respect them as colleagues and priests, and I appreciate their wisdom and insights. Even if we don't agree on everything!

http://theyoungcurmudgeonpriest.blogspot.com/
http://thesubdeansstall.org/




I am on the Board of The Young Clergy Women Project, and while as our name suggests, we are particularly focused on the ministry of young women, our Magazine (blog), Fidelia's Sisters has many pieces and resources that would be applicable to all of us in ministry.

http://youngclergywomen.org/blog/
 
If, like me, you are a fan of Lent Maddness, then the names Scott Gunn and Tim Schneck will be familiar to you. They each maintain blogs and often have timely and insightful reflections on the Church and ministry, in addition to Lent Maddness fun!

http://www.sevenwholedays.org/
http://clergyconfidential.blogspot.com/

If you want a sometimes snarky, but equally insightful reflection on life in the Episcopal Church, I recommend reading the blog of Tom Ferguson, Dean of Bexley Hall who blogs at: http://crustyoldean.blogspot.com/

Another blog I enjoy reading because it contains a mix of Scripture reflections and reflections on broader themes/events in The Episcopal Church is that of Evan Garner, a priest and deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Alabama. I have been following Evan's blog for over a year and enjoy what he has to say. His blog is: http://evandgarner.blogspot.com/

Finally, if you want something a bit broader on religion more generally, I recommend CNN's belief blog. CT's Danielle Tumminio Hansen (who is on the COM) has been featured on it.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/

Those are my favorites for now. I will add more as I find them, and I look forward to hearing some of yours!