Introducing: Christian Foundations
Greetings brothers and sisters!
We are excited to officially announce a new course at Christ Church Madison: Christian Foundations. We discussed this briefly at the all-church retreat, and now we have more details about what it is, why we are rolling this out, and how you can sign up.
We are excited to officially announce a new course at Christ Church Madison: Christian Foundations. We discussed this briefly at the all-church retreat, and now we have more details about what it is, why we are rolling this out, and how you can sign up.
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Christian Foundations is an 8-week course designed to teach the essentials of the Christian faith and introduce our people to the doctrinal and devotional heritage we stand upon in the Church. The course follows in the historic tradition of Christian catechesis, forming disciples through the Holy Scriptures, the Creeds, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Ten Commandments. Each week will involve a teaching, discussion questions, and companion readings from the ACNA catechism, To Be A Christian. The topics for the sessions will be:
- Ancient Paths and Firm Foundations
- God and the Gospel
- Scripture and Tradition
- The Church
- The Sacraments
- Belonging to Christ
- Becoming like Christ
- Fulfilling Your Ministry
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- Deeper Discipleship. Over the past six years, we’ve realized that there is a need for our people to learn the essential building blocks of Christianity and feel their roots sink deep into the soil of the apostolic faith. This need has been heightened by how rapidly we are being de-formed by the world around us. While we’ve been able to introduce some of this content on our membership retreats, it has not been enough.
- Greater Unity. Christ Church draws its people from so many different spiritual contexts and church traditions. This rich diversity is one of the great strengths of our community. At the same time, we feel compelled to offer greater clarity about what we believe and why, so that we can all come together in the unity of one body, one faith, one baptism, under one Lord.
- Simplified Assimilation Process. Practically speaking, Christian Foundations will become the one, simplified pathway for all new folks who are coming to Christ Church. In the past, we have had different processes for folks who wanted to be baptized, or join the church, or reaffirm their baptismal vows, or who just wanted to learn more about following Jesus. From now on, this one course will be the pathway towards them all. We are also formally combining our membership process with the historic practice of Confirmation, which we have never been able to offer before (more on Confirmation to come).
WHO IS CHRISTIAN FOUNDATIONS FOR?
Everyone. As mentioned above, our desire is that everyone at Christ Church will go through this course, so that our church can share the same foundations of faith. Because of this, we are inviting the whole community to walk through it this year, and are praying for a glorious harvest of baptisms and confirmations in Eastertide. After that, we will offer the course once every Fall and Spring for folks who are seeking to learn more about Jesus or join the Church.
Alongside this, we will be offering our first ever Youth Confirmation course for our teens. The course will involve similar content, working towards baptism or confirmation, but will be its own distinct track. (Parents of teens, more on this to come!)
Alongside this, we will be offering our first ever Youth Confirmation course for our teens. The course will involve similar content, working towards baptism or confirmation, but will be its own distinct track. (Parents of teens, more on this to come!)
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This first time around, Christian Foundations will be our Soup & Bread curriculum for the Spring. This will allow us all to study the content together in communities and structures that are already in place. We will begin the week of January 20, 2025, when small groups relaunch after Christmas, and we will wrap up the last week of March. Here’s what this practically means:
- If you are already in a Soup & Bread group: You don’t need to do anything! Just get excited to take this journey with your existing group.
- If you are not in a Soup & Bread group: From now until December 8, 2024, you can sign up. At this point, the commitment would just be for the 8 gatherings in the Spring, not necessarily to join a group for all of next year. Groups will meet on several evenings throughout the week, and we also hope to offer a Zoom group for folks who are traveling or for parents who could not be in a traditional Soup & Bread. Click the button below to get going.
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