CHRISTIAN FORMATION AT ST. JOHN’S CHURCH
“May the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
?The Book of Common Prayer, page 339

Christian formation involves the integration of our minds and our hearts so that we might begin to comprehend and to express our knowledge and love of God. It is a lifelong process. Education is a necessary component of Christian formation. It is essential to our growth in the Christian life that we understand our faith, its Biblical roots, our church, and its sacraments and traditions. Involvement of the heart reminds us that Christian formation leads us into new and different ways of living our lives. At the center of Christian teaching are the admonitions to “love God” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Christian formation is true to its purpose only when it leads to a life-perspective faithful to these two great commandments.

At Saint John’s the approach to Christian formation is based on the following: Worship, Education, Pastoral Care, and the Ministry of the Baptized. All of these recognize their centeredness in God and are acted out by living in a way that is faithful to our Covenant with God. That Covenant calls all Christians to be mindful of the fact that “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and all who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). Thus, how we live in relation to one another, our environment, and the world community as a whole is how our Christian formation occurs. It nurtures and informs us how to live in the world as true disciples of Jesus Christ whom we recognize as “Emmanuel” or God with us.