Christian formation is the name given to the process of being formed into the image of Christ. This is the goal of every aspect of our life as Christians and our life in the church: our worship, fellowship, Christian education, committee meetings, and service and witness to our community and world. Although Christian formation is already part of our mission, vision, and programming, we would like to focus on formation in a particular way. Our goal is for every person to spend at least 60 minutes per week in prayer.

Pages with a brief description of Christian formation, and suggestions for structuring prayer time each week are available here. They were written by Rosanna McFadden of Creekside Church. There are pages for adults and youth, others for children, and others for adults who work with them.

The central image of Congregation InFormation comes from Isaiah 64:8 "Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay and you are our Potter; we are all the work of your hand." As part of our prayer practice you will be invited to consider these words from second-century saint of the church, Iraneus:

It is not you who shapes God. It is God who shapes you.
If then you are the work of God,
Await the hand of the artist, who does all things in due season.
Offer him your heart, soft and tractable
And keep the form in which the artist formed you.
Let you clay be moist,
Lest you grow hard and lose the imprint of his fingers.

Christian formation is a life-long process, and many of you already have a long and fruitful practice of prayer and devotional reading. We hope that you will share those experiences with those who are earlier on the spiritual journey. The topics for reflection each week are:

Week 1 Awareness
Week 2 Identity
Week 3 Character
Week 4 Faithfulness
Week 5 Justice

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