The CaSTLE Project, Country and Small Town Lived Ecclesiology is a bold initiative of Wartburg Theological Seminary that revitalizes ministry in rural and small-town settings. Supported by a $7.4M grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., the project empowers leaders and congregations to live out their faith beyond the walls of the church, rooted in community and everyday vocation.
This 6-part webinar series was created for the CaSTLE Project by the leadership team of the ELCA’s Life of Faith Initiative. These webinars introduce a new ecclesiology, or a way to think about being the church. Each 45 minute webinar includes a short devotional practice, a testimony that highlights the theme of each particular webinar, a 15 minute teaching block, a viseo-divina experience, and a concluding “next step” suggestion. Each webinar is designed to nurture the baptismal vocation of each member of the church and to equip them to witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed in every aspect of their lives.
The CaSTLE Project Full Lexicon of language terms used on the site.
Get the conversation going with these cards developed by Tanque Verde Lutheran Church in Tucson AZ for use with their Life of Faith work. You can find them here. Maybe you develop your own card(s) and share them with the rest of us.
Marty Adkins invites us to see that we can make use of our gifts and our opportunities to love and serve God by caring for our neighbors—and similarly, in nurturing the land. Christian Vocation and Land Stewardship
In the summer 2023 issue of the Word & World journal, Craig Nessan draws on the theological work of Scandinavian Lutheran theologians such as Gustaf Wingren and Knud E. Løgstrup to examine the relationship between vocation and personal wellness, seeing them as reciprocal expressions of living out our baptism calling.
In the same summer 2023 issue of Word & World, Tammy Devine narrates her own journey to a sense of call from God, resulting in her current vocation. Her study, along with practices such as spiritual auto-biography, have helped her help others by discerning their own vocational journey. The article concludes with a series of framing questions to help define and guide these journeys.
There are nine other articles on vocation in the Word & World journal. Take a look at the index.
St. John’s University hosts The Collegeville Institute; part of their work focuses on vocation. Check out this page for some excellent resources.
The Theology of Work website “exists to help people explore what the Bible and the Christian faith can contribute to ordinary work.” The site provides an exhaustive (and free) Bible commentary that “explores what the Bible says about faith and work, book by book.”
The ELCA’s Christian Education Network is resourcing this initiative. In this article they interview leaders at Peace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota who have been working to implement Life of Faith principles in their congregation.
Wartburg Seminary’s Connections curriculum contains four units of six sessions each and a leader guide for each unit. It is a free resource.
One of the most central activities of the church is worship. Yet very often we do not see the deep connections between the practices of worship and their significance for daily life. This document highlights how everything we do at worship is God’s way in Christ of forming us in specific Christian life practices, shaping us as disciples of Jesus for service to neighbors in every arena of daily life.
This excellent Bible study by Sandy Block, formerly a features editor for a local newspaper, looks at Ephesians through the lens of the ministry we all are called to in the everyday activities of our lives.
Download this free, six-session Intergenerational Curriculum Based on Affirmation of Baptism: A Life of Faith Resource. Written by Craig Nessan. La version en espanol aqui.
Use this litany at your next congregational meeting to highlight both the gathered and the scattered purposes of the church.
A member of the Life of Faith group on Facebook asked, “What movies speak to you about vocation?” The member wanted to develop discussion questions around mainstream movies to help folks engage in vocation conversations. Within minutes the group generated this long list of favorites.
The ELCA provides relevant and related resources on its Faith Practices website and at Ministry Links Online.
Lutheran Men in Mission have a YouTube channel with videos of men bearing witness to the intersection of faith and life.
Use this resource to expand “God’s Work. Our Hands.” from a single day of service to a two-month emphasis that will equip our people for a life of faith every day. (Right-click or Option-click the link to download this file to your computer.)
The Church of England has undertaken a project similar to the Life of Faith Initiative; it’s called Everyday Faith. Resources are available on the home page as well as their Resources page. One of more helpful items is a document that lists Seven Shifts that have proven to make a difference in enabling everyday faith. “These shifts are not about adding new things, but more about doing the things we already do in a slightly different way.” There are two versions of the document; each brings helpful insights. The original is here, and a rewritten (contextual) version is here.
Download a model resolution that you can adapt for use in your synod or congregation.
