Missions Education as Missional Formation
For us to be on the missional journey with God, it is imperative that Christians be formed in intentional ways. This process of being shaped toward an awareness of God’s activity in the world and the Christian’s purposeful engagement with God in the world is “missional formation.” For an ongoing, consistent method of teaching “missional” in the congregation, churches must reframe missions education as just one component of missional formation.
Read more about missions education as missional formation. First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Ga., is an example of a local church that has discovered missions education as missional formation.
On an ordinary Wednesday night last November, during a month when their missions education emphasis was on the disenfranchised, dispossessed people of the world, the youth at First Baptist Church of Christ in Macon, Ga., decided to plan a visit to a nearby shelter for people living with HIV/AIDS. Conceptualized at first to be simply an effort to "meet their neighbors" – to extend the friendship of Jesus to people in need of friends – the outreach idea has since expanded and has gained wider interest among other groups within the church.
Read the full story.
CBF offers a line of four resources to engage congregations in the study of missions. The resources are age-appropriate, Biblically-based, and CBF-specific and can be used in traditional missions education classes as well as in Sunday school, around the dinner table or in worship. The stories of CBF field personnel, churches, and individuals working in the world will inspire learners of all ages to live in more faithful, missional ways.
Form preschoolers' ideas about God, others, and themselves through guided play. Form™ is a quarterly publication with weekly sessions.
Spark a child's interest in missions through active learning experiences. Spark™ is a quarterly publication with weekly sessions.
Ignite™ is a twelve month plan to engage teenagers in missions through Bible study, worship, and missions understanding and response.
Affect adults who seek to engage in a missional lifestyle through global missions awareness and action. Affect™ is a full-color quarterly magazine with monthly units.
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