launching today: Everyday Spiritual Practices with Keith Anderson

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It doesn’t have to be complicated: simply taking time each morning and evening to connect with God, to reflect on one’s day, to offer thanks and prayer, are everyday spiritual practices that help us recenter, andersonrefocus, and become more aware of the presence of God in our lives. Such seemingly mundane activities as washing dishes or changing a diaper can be performed with presence and intention, and can also draw us closer to God. Everyday spiritual practices bring peace, contentment, and a sense of gratitude. It’s that simple.

In our latest course, Everyday Spiritual Practices, Lutheran pastor Keith Anderson reminds us of the myriad ways we can incorporate small practices into our daily lives in order to bring us closer to Emmanuel, the God that is–always–with us. This is a wonderful course, one that will appeal to anyone seeking a deeper sense of peace and trust. It’s also great for your small group — whether busy parents, empty-nesters, women’s or men’s groups, or youth. Keith can offer wisdom about the how’s and why’s of spiritual practices, and how they can fit into — and enrich — anyone’s life, at any stage of life, every day. Click here for more information or to register.

The Reverend Keith Anderson is a pastor at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church near Philadelphia, author of The Digital Cathedral: Networked Ministry in a Wireless World (Morehouse, 2015), and co-author with Elizabeth Drescher of Click2Save: The Digital Ministry Bible (Morehouse 2012). Keith is co-editor with Elizabeth Drescher of The Narthex, an online magazine about the changing contours of American Christianity and serves on the editorial committee for Odyssey Network’s ON Scripture lectionary commentary series. An expert on digital ministry and sought after speaker and writer, his work on religion, new media, and popular culture has  appeared on The Huffington PostReligion Dispatches, Day 1, and The New Media Project.

Online Learning — and Spiritual Growth

Online learning is a huge blessing to those who otherwise might not be able to attend classes or take part in education programs, whether because of geographical or financial limitations, or family responsibilities and scheduling conflicts.

And yet studies find that, while people enroll in online education courses and programs, they very often do not complete them. In a study of online education in Africa, one student pointed out that  “[i]n a regular class you have a teacher who is in front of you who makes you concentrate. With the online environment, you have to have discipline, make your own timetable to listen to the lectures, and submit the assignments online.”

It’s like joining a gym: you have the best of intentions, but oftentimes without a personal trainer there to motivate you and hold you accountable, you tend to let it slide. The same goes for learning online  — and spiritual growth in general.

Think about it: that’s precisely why we need church: for the community of people on similar journeys, who hold each other accountable, and who motivate, inspire, challenge, and teach each other. As the Rev. Frank Wade says in our course, The Episcopal Tradition, “By ourselves, we begin to worship ourselves.” Sure, he says, “you can worship God by taking a walk in the park — but does the God you meet in the park ever tell you anything you don’t want to hear?”

So online learning (or a gym membership) is only as good as the person invested in it. And the same is true of spiritual formation. If we want to grow in faith, we must commit to it and keep “showing up.” Faith communities are great in that they can help pull us back in when we stray, but at the end of the day, no one can make our journey for us.

What seems to work best for many people is a combination of online and in-person activities. ChurchNext offers several ways to meet this need: individuals in a parish can take a course on their own schedule but then meet regularly, or at the end of a prescribed time period, to discuss and think further about the course content. For example, your church can make a course available for, say, three weeks; parishioners can take the course at their leisure during that time period, and then meet as a group for coffee or dinner to share and discuss. Alternatively, small groups can use the For Groups version of a course to meet regularly, watch a video presentation, and then discuss it together.

How do you learn best? What fosters your spiritual growth? We’d love to hear it in the comments.

All Things Being Made New

Spring is here and, with this season of renewal, we’re doing a little rearranging. We are so grateful that this dream has taken off to the extent that we’re able to lower our prices a bit and still stay in business, thanks to all of you who are a part of our mission to equip and nurture disciples through online learning.

We’re excited to announce our new pricing structure, which gives you more for your subscription dollars:

Our new entry level membership for individuals is only $9/month instead of $15. This gives unlimited access to ChurchNext courses that are for Individuals ONLY.

If you’re already an individual monthly member, your current membership for $15/mo unlimited subscription now gives you access to all of our products – the Individual courses and the ‘ChurchNext for Groups’ courses.

In addition, our ‘For Groups’ courses are now available for $15 each – or – as part of a Congregational subscription, which starts at $29/month.

If you’re an individual subscriber and would like to change to the $9/mo subscription plan, either email us at hello@churchnext.tv and we’ll do it for you – or – you can cancel on your own and sign up on your own via the instructions in the FAQs. If you’d like to continue at your current level, don’t do anything and you’ll see you now have access to all our courses designed for small group use.

Finally, let us say thank you for being open to something new, thank you for learning with us, and thank you for believing in us. We can’t tell you how your support gladdens our hearts.

The Big Class is now live!

A Simple Path to a Deeper Spiritual Life with Becca Stevens

free worldwide from today through Easter Sunday

Join us for a wonderfully inspiring and thought-provoking course on deepening our spiritual lives. Becca newbeccaStevens shares insight and wisdom from her years of ministry and service as an Episcopal priest and as founder of Thistle Farms, the social enterprise for women who have survived lives of prostitution, trafficking, addiction and life on the streets.  Because, as Becca shares, a deeper spirituality comes from the daily practice of loving and serving the world.

The Big Class also offers a sneak peek at Becca’s new book, Letters from the Farm, which releases in June. Take this course at your own pace with people from around the world over the next couple of weeks. We pray that it spurs you to reflection, conversation, and action as you deepen your own spiritual journey. Click here for more information or to get started.

Thank you to our sponsors, Church Publishing, Forward Movement, the Episcopal Church, and Trinity Wall Street.

The Big Class: A Simple Path to a Deeper Spiritual Life with Becca Stevens

You don’t have to worry about being inspired. Just do the work of daily spiritual growth and the inspiration will come.

We are so excited for our next Big Class, which runs 3/22 – 4/5 with Becca Stevens, founder of Magdalene newbeccaand Thistle Farms. In “A Simple Path to a Deeper Spiritual Life,” Becca will help us explore what the spiritual life really means: how to believe, to hope, to experience resurrection, to be inspired. In four lessons, she shares what she has learned in her years of ministry and service, and how this wisdom can enrich our own journeys. She reminds us about the importance of just showing up, of believing, of surrendering, of giving ourselves space. And that love heals and changes and brings about resurrection and justice.

This short, free course will be open to all from March 22 – April 5; registration opens this Sunday, March 15. We invite you to join us and to share this course with friends and neighbors. Our prayer is that, as we enter the season of Easter, this course may renew and inspire our journeys to resurrection.

Fascinating New Course: Exploring Hell with Seth Carey

“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. ” 
― C.S. LewisThe Great Divorce

seth careyExploring Hell with Seth Carey is the latest ChurchNext course, and it tackles a subject everyone has wondered about but very few have pondered in depth.  The Rev. Seth Carey has. He’s a minister at First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, IL where he specializes in teaching on occult religions, theodicy, and Judeo-Christian mythology. In this class Seth teaches us about the origins of our conception of hell, how this notion has changed and developed over time, and what the Bible has to say about it.  He explores demons and the devil and their cultural and religious significance, and he closes by offering a few thought-provoking modern theories about hell as a chosen state of being. This course will have you thinking for days, whether you are new to the subject or you are a seasoned student of theology.  Click here for more information or to register.

New Course: Making Sense of the Cross Part III: Theories of the Cross, with David Lose

davidloseWhatever we say about the cross, we are also saying about God. So what does the cross mean? What can it tell us about God? How can it help us approach, understand, and know God better? In Part III of this three-part series, David Lose introduces us to the three most popular theories, or ways of understanding the Cross, that Christians have turned to through the years.

This online course is based on the Augsburg Fortress DVD-based curriculum of the same name, so if you’ve experienced that teaching, this will be very familiar.

In this six-part class Dr. Lose walks us through:

  •  The Ancient Theory Explained
  • The Ancient Theory Evaluated
  • The Substitution Theory Explained
  • The Substitution Theory Evaluated
  • The Love Theory Explained
  • The Love Theory Evaluated

This is a pre-recorded online course that will take an average learner about an hour to work through. You can pause the class at any time and return to pick it up later.

This is the third of three courses in the the online learning version of Making Sense of the Cross series. Part One is called Experience and the Cross. Part Two is called The Bible and the Cross. None of these videos is downloadable, however there are text files included with the classes that you may download.

If you would rather purchase the 6-part Augsburg Fortress DVD-based series, click here.

For more information and to register, click here: Making Sense of the Cross III:  Theories of the Cross

 

New Course: Your Faith Can Make You Well with Scott Stoner

There’s a lot of talk about “wellness” these days, says author, speaker, and Episcopal priest Dr. Scott Stoner. But it’s not some new fad, as much as it is an extension of an ancient idea that finds its origins in God and our creation.
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In this course, Scott begins to unpack what faith and wellness look like, based on his work with the popular ministry called Living Compass. Here’s what we’ll explore:

– Connecting Faith and Wellness
– Four Dimensions of Wellness
– Wellness and Balance
– Gladness and Singleness of Heart

This 45-minute course is suitable for anyone looking to better understand the link between faith and wellness!

Find out more about Your Faith Can Make You Well here.