March 2022
Our Mission: Supporting lifelong faith formation in the home and congregation
Prayer Pause
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you: wherever he may send you.
May he guide you through the wilderness: protect you through the storm.
May he bring you home rejoicing: at the wonders he has shown you.
May he bring you home rejoicing: once again into our doors.


A Celtic blessing from the Northumbria Community
A Message from Our President, Diane McGeoch

Connections, Collaboration, and Community

I’ve been writing of the process of creation and re-creation we all experience as Christian educators. We manage the old and the new and the yet to be. Sometimes we need to discard the old, live into the new, and prepare for the unknowns in the future. One of our challenges in faith formation is finding balance between all the elements of our ministries, programs and relationships. This balance can be a constant process of creation and re-creation as we discover what works best for our lives, our settings, and our ministries.

The connections we have can strengthen this balance. Connections can lead to collaboration when we are in partnership with others and don’t have to rely on our gifts alone. Other gifts are invited into the partnership. It is wonderful to be a part of collaboration and experience the body of Christ working together. Connections and collaboration add up to community. Cultivating the practice of making connections leads us into collaboration, and these two create community. A new network of relationships may be brought into being.

I recently attended a workshop that asked this question: What are one or two spirit-led opportunities that you see in your ministry setting?
Learning Strategies and Resources for Boundless Forgiveness
Inviting Children to Remember and Celebrate Christ: A Devotional for Palm Sunday

As parents and educators, it’s important that we reorient Easter in our homes and classrooms. It is our privilege and responsibility to invite children to reflect on the truth of God’s Word, to wonder at God’s love, and to remember and celebrate the mystery of our faith. We invite you to use this devotional for Palm Sunday.


The Work of the People: Grace Comes First

James Alison, a Catholic priest and theologian,has a 5-minute video from The Work of the People discussing the concept of forgiveness coming first. An interesting way to start a group discussion on the topic. A subscription is needed to access all the website’s films but it can be cancelled or changed anytime.


Practicing Forgiveness

Practicing Forgiveness is an intergenerational 90-minute session from Vibrant Faith, which can be adapted to be shorter or longer as needed. 


Making Sense of the Cross, Part 1

The three-part video series can be taken as an individual or as a group and looks at the topics of forgiveness and atonement. What does the cross mean for you and me? For a small fee, ChurchNext provides downloadable Mp3s of each lecture, discussion questions and a one-page synopsis of the course called The Takeaway.

Seven Last Words

An immersive and interactive experience for children and youth by Patrick Kangrga at buildfaith.org describes an experiential activity with stations for the seven last words. Each participant is led through the stations wearing headphones and guided by a recorded meditation which includes scripture passages, instructions for interacting with items found at the stations, and questions for further reflection.
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Book Review
Title: No Cure for Being Human (And Other Truths I Need to Hear)

Author: Kate Bowler

Reviewed by: Deacon Holly Shipley, Christian Education Network of the ELCA


While this book stands alone from Bowler’s other book, Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved, this more recent book serves as a bit of a prequel, giving the background to Bowler’s diagnosis of Stage IV colon cancer at the age of thirty-five. Both books shine a light on the difficult subject of death, dying and facing our own mortality.

Dr. Bowler, Associate Professor of the History of Christianity at Duke University, shares her story in an honest, gritty and sometimes humorous way. Her first book deals more with how others react to people with a terminal illness and some of the things not to say to someone who is either dying or has lost a loved one. This book focuses more on her own personal story of how she dealt with this terminal diagnosis. Through stories of her doctor’s appointments, time with her son, conversations with her husband, parents and friends, the reader gets a glimpse of what it was like to be faced with such devasting news.

Continue reading here.
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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!


Contact Us

CENetwork of the ELCA
PO Box 250009
Holly Hill, FL 32125