August 2021
Our Mission: Supporting lifelong faith formation in the home and congregation
Prayer Pause
Loving God, Creator of all times and places,

We thank you for your loving care of all creation and your protection and guidance over all. As we prepare for a new school year, we bring the administrators, principals, professors, teachers, school secretaries, the support staff, and the maintenance staff of our schools and universities before you. Guide them with your wisdom. We bring our parents, guardians, and caregivers of our students before you. They are still faced with unprecedented challenges. They have to make decisions that require your wisdom, understanding and insight. Most of all, we bring before you our students who will either be educated online, at home, or in person in our schools. As they pursue their education in the midst of the pandemic, enlighten their minds. May they grow in grace and wisdom. Keep them safe from all illnesses and protect them from all harm. 

Amen.
President's Message

Dear friends,

Relationships and stories.

When I was in seminary, I was honored to travel to Cuba with a group of classmates and a professor. The relationships that grew from that trip are some of the most important of my life. While the time together was short, the impact was life-changing.

At the 2012 ELCA Youth Gathering, our service day was spent at the New Orleans School of Cooking. Chef Kevin prepared food and told stories about the history of New Orleans and their foods. He tasked the youth to share the stories explaining that New Orleans is so much more than what the world sees on Bourbon Street and at Mardi Gras.

A few weeks ago, I met a friend and her two young children at a you-pick flower farm. I had only met her children once before and it was 8:00 in the morning so they were a little tentative. I asked B if he would help me find a red flower. We wandered the rows looking. I began to point out other flowers and before long, he was cutting all sorts of flowers for me. Then the four of us explored the sunflower patch and a little play area. When it was time to leave and B was buckled in his car seat, he called out. He needed to teach me the secret handshake: high 5, low 5, fist bump, elbow, elbow. He taught, I learned. Later I had a text. B wanted to invite me over to their house sometime


Learning Strategies for the Life of Faith Initiative

Featured Church: Wildwood and St. Mark's UMC
Wildwood and Ocala, Florida
Pastor Michael Beck
This month’s congregational highlight is Wildwood (awa 100) and St. Marks (awa 80) UMC in Wildwood and Ocala, Florida. We met Reverend Michael Beck through the Northwestern Ohio Synod Innovator’s Academy. Through innovative and empowered ministries, Pastor Beck and his team continue to reach people in new and unexpected places called Fresh Expressions.

Describe the initiative(s) that your congregation is participating in that promotes members living out their faith in daily life.

These two traditional Methodist congregations oversee a network of 15 Fresh Expressions. These are small Christian communities formed around people’s common interests and practices. Lay people serve as “pastors” of these microcommunities. This is a “blended ecology” of church in which inherited and emerging modes of church live together. The traditional congregations have grown as a result of the Fresh Expressions. The laity are released as a “priesthood of all believers.” There is an expectation that everyone will be involved in mission. We commonly joke “no pew potatoes allowed!”  

Book Review
Title: Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again

Author: Rachel Held Evans

Reviewed by: Caroline Guy


Reading and interpreting the Bible is often presented as working through the scientific method or reading a User’s Manual, but author Rachel Held Evans proposes a different way of engaging scripture: through the art of storytelling. Drawing on her experience as a journalist, storyteller, and explorer of what it means to live as a Christian, Evans makes the often-academic work of Biblical interpretation accessible for the everyday person.

No matter the level of seminary education, or lack thereof, Evans believes that everyone is inspired by stories. Readers of Inspired are presented with eight categories of Biblical stories, each one offering different perspectives and avenues for engaging scripture. Readers drawn to Origin Stories will be invited to question how the Bible helps us understand who we are and where we come from. Readers drawn to Fish Stories will be invited to reflect on healing and compassion in our society. And there is plenty more to explore in Deliverance Stories, War Stories, Wisdom Stories, Resistance Stories, Gospel Stories, and Church Stories. The Bible, Evans asserts, contains stories for everyone. 
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Vision Statement
Building a community which equips, encourages and empowers those engaged in lifelong faith formation in a changing world, the CENetwork will:

  • Identify and evaluate resources and educational opportunities
  • Facilitate communication and conversations
  • Offer guidance, networking and mutual support
  • Nurture spiritual growth online and face-to-face



How You Can Support the Christian Education Network

You can become a member or make a one-time donation via PayPal on our website; or, you can purchase from AmazonSmile and designate The Christian Education Network as your charity. We receive a percentage of the proceeds! You can also designate the CENetwork through Thrivent Choice.



Contact Us

CENetwork of the ELCA
PO Box 250009
Holly Hill, FL 32117