Tag Archives: christian formation

New Course: How to be a Crazy Christian

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This last week, we launched our first free, online course called The Big Class with Bishop CurryBishop Michael Curry. This class will be open on Wednesday for you to take or to add to your own schools. It would be a great course to do in a lead up to Lent, during Lent, or even in Easter as it talks about what it means to follow Jesus and what it means to be a Crazy Christian.

You can find the class here!

This is a course with a warning label: All who enter here, expect to be transformed. Episcopal bishop Michael Curry is an inspiring and enthusiastic reformer with a clear call to reinvigorate the Church. Many people have experienced Christ’s transforming power through Bishop Curry’s ministry.

Garrison Keillor once said going to church makes someone a Christian about as much as sitting in a garage makes someone a Chevrolet. Bishop Michael Curry, of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina has a heart for reawakening believers to the tremendous gift and challenge of giving our all to follow Jesus. His term for this kind of person is a Crazy Christian.

In this 45 minute class, Bishop Curry will tell us:

  • What Is a Crazy Christian?
  • Why Being a Crazy Christian is Easy – and Hard
  • Habits of a Crazy Christian
  • Giving Yourself Permission

This course is ideal for those who are looking to be encouraged and challenged in their Christian faith.

Bishop Michael Curry serves as the Bishop of North Carolina in the Episcopal Church, and is a popular speaker and writer. His most recent book is Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus.

New Course: Managing Retirement and Savings with Timothy Dombek

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So you’re out of debt, or at least at a manageable point, and you’re ready to save. How Timoty Dombeckdo we do it? How much, how often, and how long? CPF and Episcopal priest Timothy Dombek teaches us how to address these questions in this fourth and final installment of his Managing God’s Money series.

 Arriving at a place where we actually have money to save can be quite an accomplishment for many people. 

But don’t stop there, says financial planner and Episcopal priest Timothy Dombek. If we take advantage of the two most important aspects of saving, time and money, we may be surprised at the financial goals we can achieve.

In this class, Tim teaches us about:

  • The Time Value of Money
  • Saving for Future Events
  • The Ten Commandments of Financial Planning

This course is ideal for those who are seeking a deeper understanding of saving money and may be used in conjunction with the other three courses in the Managing God’s Money series.

One final note: This class is designed so that if you take it all by yourself you will certainly have learned a lot.

However, if you did that you may not be getting all you could out of this course. At ChurchNext, we believe that learning together really helps us move more effectively down the road of personal transformation. When we learn together we push ourselves, discover real insights, and most of all, embrace the discomfort that’s essential to turning education into learning.

We want to help every one of our subscribers change for the better, which is much more effectively done when learners come together, face to face when possible, for what can be powerful learning experiences. So if you’re taking this course, please consider with whom you might share the experience by inviting others to take it, online, with you. You can do this by selecting the ‘Create your own group class’ option.

And, even better, ponder how you might take this course with others who are nearby and with whom you might have some face to face interaction. Then, using the downloadable ‘Discussion Questions’ which are included in this course, once you’ve taken the course, get together and work through the material as a group.

Learn More about Managing Retirement and Savings.

The Rev’d Canon Timothy Dombek is Canon for Stewardship and Planned Giving in the Diocese of Arizona. He is a popular speaker whose blog you can read here.

New Course: Managing Church and Charity with Timothy Dombek

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We all suspect we should be giving money to church and charity, but how much Timoty Dombeckshould we give, how should we decide, and how to we grab hold of the biblical truth that, ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive?’ In this course, clergy person and money man Timothy Dombeck offers some great advice.

The most fulfilling emotions we feel are often related to the act of giving. Yet our financial lives often keep us from being as charitable as we would like.

Clergyman and money man Timothy Dombeck knows this well. In this course he challenges us to thing about:

  • Why Give to Church and Charity?
  • What Does the Bible Say about Managing Church and Charity?
  • Deciding How Much to Give
  • Tips for Getting There

This is a very helpful course for stewardship season in a church, as well as for those seeking information on personal finance and spirituality.

Learn more about Managing Church and Charity.

The Rev’d Canon Timothy Dombek is Canon for Stewardship and Planned Giving in the Diocese of Arizona. He is a popular speaker whose blog you can read here.

New Course: Managing Credit Cards and Debt with Timothy Dombek

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Timoty DombeckIn a modern society that urges us to spend what we don’t have, Timothy Dombek offers us solid advice on how to address issues of credit and debt with wisdom and faith.

Financial problems are the leading cause of divorce and other relationship issues – and most can be avoided if some basic rules are followed.

Timothy Dombeck ought to know, he used to do this for a living – advising clients on how to save and spend. Today, he’s a sought-after conference speaker and author who serves the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona as a stewardship expert.

In this class Tim will teach us the fundamentals of credit and debt, and give us helpful advice in how to use them wisely.

This course is perfect for the those seeking basic information on managing credit and debt. It is also a part of a larger learning series called Managing God’s Money, with courses on budgeting and money management, handing church and charity, and managing retirement and savings.

Learn more about the course Managing Credit Cards and Debit.
Learn more about Part One in this Series: Managing the Household Budget.

The Rev’d Canon Timothy Dombek is Canon for Stewardship and Planned Giving in the Diocese of Arizona. He is a popular speaker whose blog you can read here.

New Course: Introduction to Revelation with Wayne Whitney

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Wayne WhitneyWhat may be the most complex, confusing, and controversial book in the Bible may also have the simplest message. In this insightful overview of the Book of Revelation, Wayne Whitney tells us that it’s all about encouragement and standing firm in tough times – which is a message we need for today. Click here to learn more about, and register for this course.

Given its vibrant and imaginative imagery and constant reference to an age and time so far removed from our own, many people set aside the Book of Revelation as too complicated and confusing to read. And those who have read it seem to have wide and varied interpretations that can be dark, judgmental, and downright scary.

However, the Rev. Dr. Wayne Whitney believes Revelation held a simple and profound message to its earliest readers, and continues to do so today, for you and me.  In this class, Wayne tells us:

  • Who Wrote Revelation and Why
  • Themes in Revelation
  • Interpreting Revelation
  • Reading Revelation

This course is perfect for people who have never read Revelation and are curious about it, as well as those who are familiar with its main themes and are looking or a refresher.

The Rev. Dr. Wayne Whitney is an Episcopal priest who holds a Ph.D in New Testament Studies from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. You can follow his blog atSingularDistinction.blogspot.com.

How Online Learning Is Working in a Lutheran Congregation

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Pastor Paul Walters, who shepherds the flock at Lutheran Church of the Master (ELCA) in Troy, MI says online learning has really invigorated Christian formation program.

“We started with just a few people, but over the months it’s really caught on.” Walters, who also teaches one of our courses, Introduction to Christian Marriage, says a few of his older parishioners had trouble figuring out the platform, but eventually worked it out. In this four-minute interview, Pr. Walters describes how his congregation has embraced online learning.

New Course: How to Deal with Difficult People with Peter Steinke

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Peter SteinkeDealing well with difficult people is often an ability that comes with maturity – ours and others. In this course Peter Steinke, an expert in Family Systems Theory, goes over basic dynamics of healthy relationships at home and in church.

Dealing with difficult people, whether in at home or in a congregation, is something we all must do.Understanding the issues at play are integral to properly handling the difficulties that routinely crop up in our home and work lives. In this class Peter introduces us to Bowen Family Systems Theory and the ways it is used to help us better get along with people.

Click here to learn more about this class.

The Rev. Dr. Peter L. Steinke is an internationally respected congregational systems consultant who has also served as a parish pastor, an educator, and a therapist for clergy. He is the author of several best-selling books including How Your Church Family Works and Healthy Congregations and Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times.

Announcing The Big Class with Bishop Michael Curry

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Bishop Curry photoFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jim Naughton
 
“THE BIG CLASS” with BISHOP MICHAEL CURRY, FREE TO ALL
Open, online course, discussion, January 27-February 3 

DETROIT, December 5, 2013—Early next year, 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.

“We thought about putting a warning label on this course: Danger, Your Life Will Be Transformed,’” said the Rev. Chris Yaw, founder of ChurchNext, a producer of online Christian learning.  “In a world that constantly sanitizes Jesus’ radical message, Bishop Curry’s clarion call to deeper discipleship has changed lives. We pray all who take this course will experience God’s transforming power.”

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 Bexley Seabury, Church Publishing Inc., the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina and Forward Movement.Special materials will be available for congregations and adult education classes who desire to take the class together as part of their Epiphany season study.

In his book, Bishop Curry writes, “We need some crazy Christians. Sane, sanitized Christianity is killing us.  That may have worked once upon a time, but it won’t carry the Gospel anymore. We need some crazy Christians like Mary Magdalene and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Christians crazy enough to believe that God is real and that Jesus lives. Crazy enough to follow the radical way of the Gospel. Crazy enough to believe that the love of God is greater than all the powers of evil and death.”

“It’s exciting to see all the new ways technology is being leveraged to help folks go into a deeper awareness of and relationship with the living God,” said Bishop Curry. “Online education is an excellent example of it. It allows folks to learn, to interact, exchange ideas and, ultimately, to share what they learn with others. The process is exactly what we as Christians are called to do; an online classroom just gives us one more way to do it.”

Visit churchnextblog.wordpress.com/the-big-class/ to learn more about The Big Class.

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