The Seminar Group
The seminar group is the nucleus of the Education for Ministry programme. A group consists of six to twelve students and a trained mentor who usually meet weekly for 36 sessions over the course of a year. These meetings are generally two-and-a half hours in length.

Seminar groups have a very relaxed atmosphere and often meet in the home of one of the group members.

Study
Students are responsible for setting their own learning goals. They spend between three and five hours in study and preparation each week. In the seminars students have an opportunity to share their insights and discoveries as well as to discuss questions that the study materials raise for them.

Reflection
Through discussion and guided reflection, the seminars provide an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of the study materials.

EFM has a creative method of theological reflection that enables participants to make connections between their life experiences, the attitudes and values they hold dearly, the cultural context in which they live, and most importantly the insights of 2000 years of Christian tradition.

Students begin to practice this method almost immediately. As their biblical knowledge of the Bible and theology deepens by reading the texts, so their theological reflection becomes more insightful.

Worship
The seminar is supported by a life of prayer and regular worship. Students take responsibility to lead the worship each week.

The Mentor
Each seminar group has a trained mentor who contract to serve as a facilitator and administrator. Their role is not to teach but to enable the process of learning to take place in the life of the group.

Accreditation through the University College Chester
Those studying the EFM programme can obtain academic accreditation through our partnership with The University College of Chester.

EFM is a programme where adults may explore their faith and is particularly appropriate to people in their mid life.

The programme stands by one of the very basic principles of adult education, which states that adults learn what they want and need to learn at a time that is right for them. The primary responsibility for learning, therefore, belongs with the student. The amount of effort a person puts into EFM is directly proportional to what will be gained from it. In EFM there are no test papers and no exams although there is opportunity for personal written work.

Through study, prayer, and reflection, EFM groups move toward a new understanding of the fullness of God’s kingdom. This process can be illustrated by a two-rail fence.

One rail is the Christian tradition. The other is the life experience of the group’s members. The rails are linked by fence posts that represent the seminar sessions where life and study engage. The fence is grounded in the soil of regular worship that is vital to the life of the group.

Click here to find out more about the University College Chester course >

Syllabus

The Education for Ministry programme is a four-year curriculum. Each "year" covers 36 sessions. New students usually begin with the first lesson of the first year. Frequently students in the same group are reading different years.

Participants in the EFM programme study the entire sweep of the Christian tradition from the earliest period to the present. Students learn the disciplines of biblical exegesis and interpretation, systematic theology, church history, ethics, liturgy and modern theology.

While the course materials provide substantial academic content, the focus of the programme is on life as ministry and appreciating our ministry in the world. EFM provides Christians with that basic skill of theological reflection that is the foundation of all Christian ministry.

Click here to view the Prospectus as a PDF >

Reading Materials
Annually, students read thirty-four chapters of academic content and five Common Lessons. These Common Lessons help the group get started, learn to reflect theologically, develop its spirituality and life of worship, and examine the potential for various kinds of ministries. Each year the students encounter a new cycle of Common Lessons so that they complete four different cycles during their time as EFM students.

Topics covered in the reading materials:

• The First Year - The Old Testament
• The Second Year –The New Testament
• Third Year - Church History
• The Fourth Year - Theological Choices

The University of the South, Sewanee has Sample Lessons for the current Academic Cycle which may be viewed by clicking this Sewanee Link http://www.sewanee.edu/EFM/index.htm and then sample lessons.

Click here to see some sample lessons >