Shine invites congregations to become Shine Everywhere Partners. Apply by September 30.
We invite congregations to partner with us to help shape and test resources that are designed to be used in the home. We are looking for congregations with leaders who . . .
- Are looking for a new way to do children’s ministry.
- Are willing to experiment with new models of collaboration with parents.
- Would like to receive guidance and coaching from a faith formation expert.
Benefits to congregations from partnering with Shine include . . .
Ideas and resources for how to do faith formation. Faith formation programming is changing in churches everywhere. A partnership with Shine provides the congregation the most up-to-date ideas, approaches, and insights about how to do effective faith formation with children.
Trustworthy resources. By partnering with Shine, congregations support the creation of resources for both households and congregations that emphasize peace, service, and Christian discipleship. These resources are Bible-centered, developmentally appropriate, and theologically informed.
The aim of this partnership is to strengthen faith formation in the home.
Recent research confirms that parents are the primary influence in their children’s faith formation. Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk write in Handing Down the Faith, “Parents are crucial. Above and beyond any other effect on children’s religion is the influence of their parents” (page 224) .
Shine believes that . . .
- Parents are the primary influence on their children’s faith formation.
- The church has a critical role to play in partnering with parents and providing encouragement and resources to them as Christian parents.
- Parents cannot raise children alone. “It takes a village,” and church can be the village.
Shine Everywhere Partner congregations aspire to . . .
- Collaborate with parents to equip them to be faith leaders in their homes, providing resources and faith formation products to grow faith in children.
- Listen to parents to understand their daily aspirations and challenges as Christian parents.
- Create settings where parents can support and encourage one another.
Shine Everywhere will equip our Partners in these aspirations by . . .
- The Shine Everywhere Project Facilitator will coach, guide, and support congregational leaders as they listen to parents and families, create settings for parents to talk to each other, and collaborate with parents.
- Shine will create and offer free of charge resources that equip parents to be faith formation leaders in their home and resources that grow faith in people of all ages.
We partner in these hopes that . . .
- The congregation will become a community of discipleship in which parents feel supported and equipped for their calling as Christian parents and in which children feel known, nurtured, and invited to be lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.
- Shine will provide ever more relevant and practical resources that nurture Christian faith in children and youth.
The specific responsibilities of each partner are outlined in the Shine Everywhere Partner Agreement.
Ready to apply?
Please fill out this application for Shine Everywhere Partners by September 30.
The Shine Team will select up to ten congregations from the applicants.
