EfM 2022
Exploring Faith Matters
Today’s church upholds the ministry of the laity: all baptised people have a ministry.
To effectively exercise this ministry we need to be informed and skilled.
EfM helps us to interpret the richness of the church’s faith in our complex world and to express it with confidence, in both words and actions, in our day-to-day lives and in our own communities.
EfM is formational and transformational for Christian life and ministry.
Year Texts
Each Year level has a different focus, so a different Year Level Text.
Year One: The Hebrew Bible
A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible, 3rd Ed.
by John Collins.
The Hebrew Bible - Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives
by Gale A. Yee, Editor
Year Two: The New Testament
Introducing the New Testament, 2nd Ed.
by Mark Allen Powell.
What Are Biblical Values?: What the Bible Says on Key Ethical Issues by John J. Collins.
Year Three: Church History
Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
by Diarmaid MacCulloch.
Year Four: Theology, Ethics, and Interfaith Encounter
Theology: A Very Short Introduction
by David Ford.
Mysteries of Faith
by Mark McIntosh.
The Christian Moral Life: Practices of Piety by Timothy F. Sedgwick.
My Neighbor's Faith
edited by Peace, Rose, and Mobley.
Interlude texts
Two extra books may be read by all Year levels together - called Interlude texts.
Every year there are different Interlude Texts.
For 2022 they are:
God Next Door: Spirituality & Mission in the Neighbourhood by Simon Carey Holt.
The beginning of John’s Gospel tells us (according The Message version of the Bible) that in Jesus “The Word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighbourhood”! This book, written by an Australian living in Melbourne, helps us to reflect on Living Faithfully in Our World, essentially by doing theological reflection our way – bringing the experience of numerous men and women of faith in a variety of urban and suburban neighbourhoods into conversation with biblical and cultural perspectives - our Tradition and Culture sources. The insights and implications offer new possibilities for local mission in the 21st Century.
The Dream of God: A Call to Return by Verna J. Dozier
"The Dream of God is a small masterpiece. . . . Her vision of the Bible is insightful and persuasive, her writing accessible and powerful." -- Marcus Borg "This contemporary prophet has touched lives and transformed hearts through her books and talks. Many centuries before Verna Dozier, there was Amos, from the country, speaking out in the market square against the corrupt practices of merchants who 'sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes.' In this century we have Dozier, a black female, spreading God's word in the nation's capital, across the country, and outside its borders." -- Washington Diocese Again and again the Christian church has fallen away from the dream God has for it, a dream in which we are called to follow Jesus and not merely to worship him. Through adept storytelling and Bible study, Dozier reawakens our sense of calling and our desire for truth.