A seminar group of six to twelve people meets weekly (usually for two and a half to three hours) for 9 months of the year, facilitated by a trained mentor. Studies include Holy Scripture, Church History, Liturgics, and Theology. Weekly guided theological reflection offers participants an opportunity to examine their own beliefs and their relationship to culture and the tradition of the Christian faith. In coming to terms with the idea that everything they do has the potential to manifest the love of Christ, they discover opportunities for ministry wherever they turn.

    Since the inception of EFM, seminar groups have developed throughout the U.S., parts of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and the Bahamas. Over 55,000 persons have participated and more than l3,000 have completed the full four years. Eighty dioceses of the Episcopal Church have contractual arrangements with EFM, including Oregon.

    In our own diocese there are l5 active seminar groups – in the Portland metropolitan area, the south coast, Corvallis, Eugene, and Salem – over one hundred students. Several new groups are in the process of formation.

    Education for Ministry may be for you! "Come, taste and see." Consider preparing for the ministry to which you are called. This is the vocation for which we pray at the end of the Eucharist. "And now Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ Our Lord."

Lucy is the diocesan coordinator for Education For Ministry, as well as deacon of the parish at Grace Memorial, Portland. For more information, or to find a group in your area, contact her at LuHou@aol.com