“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.”
Colossians 3:16
By Rev. Canon Val Kenyon
THE FIRST core practice of Education for Ministry is theological reflection.
At its essence, this practice invites EfM participants to pause and to ask, “Where is God in this moment? What might God be saying here?”
In this simple discipline, everyday life is slowly transfigured, and what once seemed ordinary begins to take on a new brilliance. In this way, EfM strives to draw us more deeply into the stories of Scripture, not only as something to be studied, but as something to be lived. Because of this, Scripture becomes for us a living conversation with the divine, a conversation into which we are all invited.
When we read the stories of God’s people, we are not only learning about their world. We are also being asked to notice aspects of our own. What is going on in the hearts and minds of those about whom we are reading? What fears kept them awake at night? What hopes inspired and encouraged them forward? What doubts, what failures and what new beginnings shaped their journeys of faith? How are they different from our own struggles and questions today and how are they not?
In EfM, we bring our lives to the text. Sometimes we will find ourselves standing alongside Moses, uncertain of our own voice. At another time we may recognize ourselves in Ruth, stepping out in loyalty and love into an unknown future. Without question we will recognize our own cries in the psalmist’s prayers. And in all of this we are reminded that God, who was faithful then, remains faithful now.
As we gather each week in our EfM sessions we find companions on this road: fellow learners who reflect, wrestle, pray and play alongside one another. In the end, we discover that Scripture is not just about long-ago people in far-away places. It is about us. It is about God’s continuing invitation to us to see ourselves within the story of grace, and to live it out as our own.
If you want to learn more about Education for Ministry please contact Libi Clifford, the Diocese of Huron EfM Coordinator or myself Val Kenyon at EFM@huron.anglican.ca
Rev. Canon Dr. Val Kenyon is EFM Animator in Huron.
EfM@huron.anglican.ca
Photo: Peter Conlan/Unsplash