Education for Ministry, or How to Be the Best Christian You Can Be!
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Education for Ministry, or How to Be the Best Christian You Can Be!
by Nancy Greene-Grégoire, EfM Coordinator for the Diocese of Montreal since 2017
I have always wanted to know what I am supposed to be doing here on this earth. It was an existential question when I was a teenager and I continue to think about it.
Am I doing the right thing? Is this what God wants me to do? How do I know?
I don’t pretend to have the answers, but I do know that I can talk about these questions in my Education for Ministry (EfM) groups in a safe and supportive environment.
In a recent EFM class, my classmates and I discussed what EfM means to us. We agreed that the EfM program deepens our connection to God because - through sharing our stories and thoughts on the readings - we become connected to each other.
When we are close to others who are close to God, we too feel closer to God. Yes, we can experience this within our church communities, but here is an opportunity to go deeper into relationships with others.
One person described it like this: “EfM has allowed for a better way of seeing more of God and expanding God in my mind. God is in everything and this class has helped reinforce and expand that knowledge and that way of growing in faith.”
One participant quoted Edith Wharton ,“There are two ways of spreading light: To be a candle, or the mirror that reflects it” and said that with EfM the emphasis is on trying to be the best you can be and reflect God’s love.
Another student said that “EfM gives me that feeling of community. I’m building my trust in people. EfM helps me share thoughts and ideas with others and most importantly I am really getting a better sense of what God is calling me to do.”
Yet another student said that “at first when listening to others in the group and sharing, I was kind of reluctant to say what I wanted to say but I’ve built up courage and this has strengthened my faith.”
But “ministry” – isn’t that what our priests do? In fact we are all called to ministry, to serve others. The apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:1 “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart.”
One participant compared EfM to a pilgrimage. He said, “It reminds me of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales with people travelling together telling each other stories on the way from London to Canterbury.
I’ve learned a whole new set of perspectives. I see the program very much in the words of the poem of Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken, where as an EfM student, I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.”
Being a mentor keeps me grounded. I want to be there when people learn about their own faith, and how God is in each of us and that we are all here to do God’s work in different ways. Sometimes all you can do is pray, and that is just as important as someone who is active in the community. I learn all the ways that God works through us to bring heaven on earth.
The course content is spread over four years, with participants needing only to commit to one year at a time. In the first year we study the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, followed by the New Testament in second year. Year three is the History of Christianity and in the last year we read recent writings in Theology, Ethics and Interfaith relations. A group can have students in all four years.
This year, Orpha Adams, Florence Collins and Dion Lewis graduated from the Dio group in downtown Montreal, and Kate Murray is graduating from the Sutton group at Grace Church.
Would you like to join us in September? The groups in Lachute, Montreal and Sutton all have room for new students. We are a sponsoring diocese of EfM Canada, so students receive a discount of $100. Please get in touch with me at ngreene@acm.org or 514-862-5367.
photo credit: Janet Best
