This Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2014, anyone with Internet access and a computer or tablet can get free instruction on Making Sense of the Cross, a series that invites online learners to “listen in” on an open conversation about the cross.  Click here to learn more and register for free.

From March 5–12, the Rev. Dr. David Lose, professor at Luther Seminary, St. Paul, will teach The Big Class, a program of ChurchNext. The course will expand on the popular Making Sense of the Cross, a six-session, small-group course published by Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis.

Dr. Lose will moderate the course and answer online questions during the week of The Big Class. Participants can take the class anytime during the week at churchnext.tv. The course will take 45 minutes to complete and need not be taken in one sitting. No special software is required.

Throughout Making Sense of the Cross, readers are encouraged to think about and experience the cross and its meaning for their lives. “The Cross has been as life-giving as it has been mysterious,” said Chris Yaw, founder of ChurchNext, a producer of online learning experiences. “However, David possesses that rare gift of theological insight and communication prowess that will makes this course incredibly helpful to anyone looking to gain deeper insight into Jesus’ death and resurrection.”

The Big Class is a worldwide online course for all who want to go further in their walk with Christ and is free to everyone, everywhere, thanks to the support of Augsburg Fortress. Special materials will be available for congregations and education classes that desire to take the class together as part of a Lenten study.

“How we understand the cross shapes how we construe and construct our life in the world,” writes Dr. Lose. “By diving deeper into the message and meaning of this, the greatest event in the world’s history, we grow deeper into the kind of people we want to be. I’m excited to be able to offer this course free to a worldwide audience, as a way to use new technology to unpack ancient truths.”

Making Sense of the Cross is part of the Making Sense series—a dialogue that encourages students to bring their questions or doubts to the table. During these conversations, there are different opportunities for the learner to interact with the Bible and the Christian faith, ultimately leaving room for personal transformation of the heart and mind.

ChurchNext creates online Christian learning experiences to invigorate lives and congregations. Along with our partners we are devoted to helping people grow in their Christian faith, improve their lives, and better the world. Learn more at www.churchnext.tv.

Augsburg Fortress is the ministry of publishing of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Visit augsburgfortress.org for more information on the Making Sense series, or to learn about additional Christian materials that help communicate the Gospel, enhance faith, and enrich the life of the church and the communities it serves. Augsburg Fortress. Creative. Christian. Together, we create resources that renew Christian life and community.

More than 2,400 people from 26 countries are registered for The Big Class with Michael Curry as we enter Day 3 of our week-long quest to become ‘Crazy Christians.’ We have enjoyed a steady stream of comments, tweets, Facebook posts etc., most of them very positive about their experience, “The Bishop’s passion and his ‘real person’ speech is not so Anglican as to be boring,’ commented one participant.

In this free, 45 minute, pre-recorded class, students are taking a deeper journey into discipleship. In a post-class questionnaire, 79% of the students indicated the class had had a moderate or major impact on their faith journey. 92% surveyed said they were satisfied or more than satisfied with their experience.

Key learnings for us include better organized moderating. We made some changes after day one that have helped, including parking the moderator in one discussion area for the evening.  Others felt overwhelmed with the vast number of people and comments. But most people have enjoyed the experience and learned something new about their faith, “I liked the format that combined the video and the chance to answer questions from what we saw/read. I also enjoyed being able to read the responses of others,” was a common comment.

We are thrilled that so many people are drawing closer to God through this vehicle. We are also incredibly appreciative of our sponsors who made this all possible. And we are mulling over what this all means – how is God using this new way of being together as a way to form us into better disciples and send us out into the world with strength and courage to love and serve others?

If you, or anyone you know, would like to take The Big Class, it is open and free through Feb 3. You can sign up here.

At 9am more than 1,800 people from 21 countries were off and running – to learn more about Christ’s serious call to discipleship in a course entitled ‘How to Be a Crazy Christian.’

This free course will be moderated tonight by Bishop Curry from 6-9p EST.

Our goal, first and foremost, is to expose people to an online learning experience that can deeply affect their lives. As we know, online learning is garnering huge investment from universities, corporations, and non-profits as we all look for ways to more effectively, conveniently, and affordably, get information across to folk – and in our case – transform lives.  It’s still an uncertain frontier, and that means pioneering is needed.

We’re thankful for the people who’ve signed up for this course – and served as pioneers.  We’ve included an evaluation as part of the class to help us improve. We’re also thankful for the sponsors who’ve signed on to bring us this far – Bexley/Seabury, Forward Movement, Church Publishing, Inc, and the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. If you’d like to take the course you can sign up here.

As of this morning more than 1,400 people from 20 countries had signed up for The Big Class with Michael Curry. This 45-minute, pre-recorded class can be taken for free anytime between Jan 27 and Feb 3. There are live moderators to answer questions on weekday evenings and the gifts that Bishop Curry brings can pretty much guarantee that people will be touched. I know I have been.

The larger questions floating around academia and the Church have to do with how helpful courses like this really are. While ours is not a MOOC as the term is generally defined (please forgive me for using that term in the headline – it stands for Massive, Open, Online, Course) We know that the vast majority of people who sign up for online classes never finish them – in some cases MOOCs have seen that incompletion rate at 98%. We also know that those who do finish MOOCs tend to be highly motivated, well-resourced people who would probably have gone to campus for the material.

But can a MOOC-ish class (what we’re doing with Bishop Curry) be useful to the Church?  What percentage of registrants will finish? Will their lives be impacted in ways that draw them closer to Christ and push them out into the world to do God’s work?

We certainly hope so and have intentionally made The Big Class different than traditional MOOCs. Our goals are simple: to help people grow in their walk with Christ, to build community among Christians around an important topic, to make people aware of the gifts of the various entities that are sponsoring this class, and to introduce people to the potential of online Christian learning.

We are hopeful that this platform can help accomplish these goals and help us in our shared goal to bring people into a deeper relationship with Christ.

 Why not take The Big Class with Michael Curry a church-wide event?

This worldwide online class will give your church members the opportunity to not only learn more about their faith, but to interact with Bishop Curry and an international classroom of students from all kinds of backgrounds.

There are several different ways The Big Class can be used, from individual to group learning. You may find it useful to have thought out exactly how your congregation may best take advantage of this learning event. That’s why we’ve put together the Launch Plan above.

In addition, you can download this poster and bulletin Inserts.

Let us know how we can help: hello@churchnext.tv

ChurchNext Subscribers Can Sign Up for a Free, Open, Worldwide, at 6p Tonight

In just three weeks anyone with Internet access and a computer or tablet can get free instruction on how to become a crazy Christian.

From January 27 through February 3, the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina, will teach The Big Class, a program of ChurchNext. The course will expand on Crazy Christians:  A Call to Follow Jesus published by Church Publishing Inc. The book is based on  “We Need Some Crazy Christians,” a widely acclaimed sermon the bishop preached at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2012.

Bishop Curry will moderate the course and answer online questions during the week of The Big Class. Participants can take the course anytime during the week at www.churchnext.tv. No special software is required.  While registration officially opens at tonight at 6p, as a subscriber to our ChurchNext newsletter, you can register early!

Click here to register right now for The Big Class with Michael Curry after 6p tonight.