Anyone involved in EFM?

[higgs2]

I wish we had one here.

What's it like?

[pmcleanj]

No, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express one night;) !

Seriously, we have it in the diocese and I've had very close friends take it. It took the place in our diocese that used to be filled by the Anglican Lay School of Theology that operated in partnership with the University Religious Studies department, until the tragic death of its founder Dr. Peter Craigie. I attended most of the courses sponsored by the Lay School; which were more flexible in commitment and timing than the EFM studies are; but I think my friends get more out of the EFM because it is actually a programme rather than an ongoing lecture series.

I have never had a period in my life to date when I could set aside the amount of focussed time that EFM demands throughout the course of a year, or I'd take it on in a heartbeat. /alas, there are other commitments I need to fulfil first, and other credentials that I need to pocket.

[Tawny]

Hello :wave: Girlie from England here...what is EFM?

[Wigglesworth]

Hello :wave: Girlie from England here...what is EFM?

Electric flaggelation (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06092a.htm) machine.

I haven't started doing this yet, but I think I would begin with a simple whip.

:)

[pmcleanj]

Education For Ministry.

In the States its a distance-learning programme of the University of the South: http://www.sewanee.edu/EFM/index.htm.

In Canada it's administered as a partnership programme out of Sewanee, by the Diocese of Kootenay.

[pmcleanj]

Electric flaggelation (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06092a.htm) machine.

I haven't started doing this yet, but I think I would begin with a simple whip.

:)

:doh: :swoon:

[artrx]

I finished it last year. We did not have enough participants at my home parish so we joined with a group from another parish close by for my last 2 years. It was wonderful and I made some lasting friendships with people I never would have connected with any other way. For me it was a good review of basic biblical knowledge and theology I had gotten at a Christian college but also with a wonderful twist of newer ideas and different Christian perspectives. The input of others from a wide range of backgrounds and experience only added depth and breathe to our readings and theological reflections. I would highly recommend it to anyone with a
desire to look more deeply into thier beliefs and a willingness to be challenged. There are always more selected readings to look at that are not required but avenues to further explore the issues brought up in the overview of EFM. Sometimes it seems like there is so much info being summerized in a lesson that it seems disjointed or unclear unless you take the time to delve deeper. If you can find or start a group, do it. Yes, its a committment but well worth it, especially if you have good mentors.

[AveMaria]

EFM alum reporting in!

For the most part, it's a good program, but each EFM group tends to have a very unique flavour and personality, so experiences will vary tremendously. (Frankly, I think that's one of EFM's greatest weaknesses, as I know too many people who signed up, expecting their experience to be very much like the experience their friend/mother/coworker had in EFM.)

[Tawny]

Is it like the Alpha Course?

[SirTimothy]

Is it like the Alpha Course?
Don't think so. I think it's more like a Lay Reader's course, except of course you don't get a license to preach at the end of it.

[karen freeinchristman]

Electric flaggelation (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06092a.htm) machine.

I haven't started doing this yet, but I think I would begin with a simple whip.

:)
:o :o :o

[karen freeinchristman]

I think EFM may be like our UK 'FFM' - Foundations for Ministry - course. That forms the first year of the lay reader's course and the pastoral worker's course, but they then split off into their more specific ministries.

I did the FFM course and it was brilliant. 3 years of it sounds really in-depth! Seems like some kind of qualification should come out of it, though.

[higgs2]

Here's the website: http://www.sewanee.edu/EFM/index.htm It's a 4 year course.

[artrx]

Happy Birthday, Higgs!
It just keeps getting better....

[higgs2]

Happy Birthday, Higgs!
It just keeps getting better....

THank you, my friend :) I especially appreciate your charging ahead, leading the pack, breaking new ground, experiencing and challenging and subduing 46 just a little ahead of me. :D I will follow you into the unknown of 46!

[karen freeinchristman]

As a another member who has entered into the world of 46, let me just say: :sigh:

I don't like it. Getting too close to 50!

[higgs2]

As a another member who has entered into the world of 46, let me just say: :sigh:

I don't like it. Getting too close to 50!

Did I miss your birthday? It seems like maybe ours are pretty close together. If so, sorry. :sorry:

Just remember, fifty is the new "forty", and forty is the new "thirty"! So I figure we're really 26 in 21st century terms.

[karen freeinchristman]

Did I miss your birthday? It seems like maybe ours are pretty close together. If so, sorry. :sorry: I hid mine. :sorry:

Just remember, fifty is the new "forty", and forty is the new "thirty"! So I figure we're really 26 in 21st century terms.
^_^