Nurturing Faith
A Practical Theology for Educating Christians
Author Fred P. Edie & Mark A. Lamport Foreword by Charles R. Foster ISBN 9780802875563 Binding Trade Paper Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date September 07, 2021 Size 152 x 229 mmFaith left on rocky soil withers. But faith nurtured in the good soil of Christian teaching, formation, and mentorship grows to maturity and yields thriving community. Educational ministries are so often where this happens—where the desires of the human heart are shaped toward a love for God, a love for one’s neighbor, and a love for the world.
In this comprehensive guide to educational ministries in the twenty-first century, Fred Edie and Mark Lamport explore how church leaders and others involved in Christian education can nurture a robust, cruciform faith within their communities. When discussing strategies and goals, Edie and Lamport consider a range of contexts and a variety of related fields that might give insight into educational ministry: theology, pedagogy, philosophy, social science, and more. Those working with any age group—children, adolescents, and adults—will find a relevant discussion of key underlying theological themes, a guide to concrete practices, and indispensable help in navigating shifting cultural dynamics. Exceedingly practical and consistent with the teachings of the gospel, the wisdom in this book will speak to all who long to foster discipleship in their church, school, or missional community.
Key Features
- A “Road Map” at the beginning of each chapter concisely introduces the chapter’s topic and essential themes.
- Sidebars throughout the text provide deeper insight into particular important or nuanced concepts.
- Discussion questions at the end of each chapter facilitate further reflection, especially in conversation with others.
- Suggestions for further reading are provided at the end of each chapter for those interested in exploring the chapter’s ideas in greater depth.
- Concluding the book is a series of afterwords from experts in the field of Christian educational ministries: Martyn Percy, Almeda Wright, Craig Dykstra, Kirsten Oh, Elizabeth DeGaynor, and Thomas Groome.
“In Nurturing Faith: A Practical Theology for Educating Christians, Fred P. Edie and Mark A. Lamport offer one of the most comprehensive reflections to date on the role of Christian education by addressing this church’s mission of nurturing and making disciples. . . . A wonderful contribution the fields of Christian education and practical theology.”
“Nurturing Faith conveys a robust vision and is a compelling guide for pastors and lay leaders, Christian education faculty and students, curriculum producers, and denominational staff engaged in the nurture of a faith deeply rooted in Christian tradition with the constructive capacity to address challenges of living faithfully in our postmodern world. At a point in time when young adults are not just leaving, but often fleeing our various religious communities, Edie and Lamport offer a fresh and powerful alternative way of living into the practices of Christian education in nurturing faith in Jesus Christ.”
— Charles R. Foster
from the foreword
“Nurturing Faith conveys a robust vision and is a compelling guide for pastors and lay leaders, Christian education faculty and students, curriculum producers, and denominational staff engaged in the nurture of a faith deeply rooted in Christian tradition with the constructive capacity to address challenges of living faithfully in our postmodern world. At a point in time when young adults are not just leaving, but often fleeing our various religious communities, Edie and Lamport offer a fresh and powerful alternative way of living into the practices of Christian education in nurturing faith in Jesus Christ.”
— Charles R. Foster
from the foreword
“This is the book we’ve needed to help us pastors form Christians for the challenges of the present age. Fred Edie and Mark Lamport integrate the insights of theology, psychology, human development, and the church’s liturgy to give us a lively call for the education, nurture, and formation of Christians who are equipped to live as if God matters. Here is the definitive book on Christian education for decades to come.”
— Will Willimon
author of Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry
“A thought-provoking work on communicating and nurturing faith in people of all ages. All engaged in nurturing the Christian faith will surely find something here of relevance and value.”
— Justin Welby
Archbishop of Canterbury
“Nurturing Faith is no ordinary introduction to religious education. Comprehensive in scope and deeply rooted in the Bible and Christian theology, the volume discusses the nurture of faith in children, adolescents, and adults in modern and postmodern contexts. It promotes religious education as the formation of character and virtue in the Christian community. I most strongly recommend this book for use in theological schools and seminaries and to pastors working in the field. Edie and Lamport have produced practical theology at its best.”
— Peter C. Phan
Georgetown University
“Honest, inquisitive, theological, practical, comprehensive, and collaborative, Nurturing Faith is an essential primer for all ‘God’s fellow workers’ who tend God’s garden where he gifts and grows faith.”
— Ahmi Lee
Fuller Theological Seminary
“This book is a remarkable achievement. It is fascinating and sensitive in terms of its inter-relation of pedagogical theory, philosophical reflection, theological presentation, ecclesial locatedness, pastoral awareness, multi-religious wisdom, biblical reflection, and historical contextualizing. The book is a ‘must’ for theological educators and education.”
— Tom Greggs
University of Aberdeen
“Join the dialogue. Live as disciples. Seek the realm of God. Through this important textbook, Edie and Lamport invite us into an amazing conversation about nurturing faith. It is at once fresh and comprehensive, culturally aware and theologically faithful. They guide us through challenges to educating in faith to offer gifts for nurturing faith. Through sidebars, a foreword, and six stimulating responses, they invite others to join us in the dialogue. How to nurture Christian disciples who make a difference serving God’s realm of hope and justice is the conversation they host. Indeed, I recommend you join with them in the dialogue.”
— Jack L. Seymour
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
“This detailed overv
Fred P. Edie is associate professor for the practice of Christian education at Duke Divinity School. He is a United Methodist pastor and veteran youth worker. His research interests include the relational, bodily, and cultural dynamics of faith formation including through worship and mission. His first book is titled Book, Bath, Table, and Time: Christian Worship as Source and Resource for Youth Ministry.
Mark A. Lamport is a professor at graduate theological schools in Colorado, Arizona, Virginia, Indiana, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Portugal. He is editor of the Encyclopedia of Christian Education, the Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, and the Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States, and he is the author of over two hundred publications related to practical theology.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Charles R. Foster
Introduction
Part One: Cultural Dynamics for Nurturing Faith
1. Leaving the Faith: Eulogies of Disenchantment, Lethargy, and Irrelevance
2. Stories We Tell Ourselves: How Concepts of Modernism and Postmodernism Inform and Inhibit Nurturing Faith
3. Fusing Belief and Practice: How Religious Nominalism Informs and Inhibits Nurturing Faith
4. Keeping the Faith: Sketching a Practical Theology for Nurturing Faith
Part Two: Criteria for Nurturing Faith
5. Revelation, Experience, and the Hope of Profound Transformation
6. Humanity, Embodiment, and the Trust of Interdependent Kinship
7. Jesus, Sin, and the Grace of Cruciform Resurrection
8. Church, Reconciliation, and the Faith of a Countercultural Community
9. Virtue, Character, and the Joy of Kingdom Practices
10. Prophecy, Reflection, and the Freedom of Discerning Community
Section Three: Colleagues in Nurturing Faith
11. Nurturing Atmospheric Faith in Children
12. Nurturing Passionate Faith in Adolescents
13. Nurturing Vocational Faith in Adults
Section Four: Contexts for Nurturing Faith
14. Nurturing Intergenerational Faith through Congregations
15. Nurturing Integrative Faith through Christian Schools
16. Nurturing Intentional Faith through Theological Education
Section Five: Conversations in Nurturing Faith
17. A Teaching Agenda for the Global Church in a Postmodern World
18. A Conversation among Practical Theologians
Response 1: Reflections on the Nature of Revelation and Religious Experience by Martyn Percy
Response 2: Kinship and Difference: Relationships Aren’t Easy by Almeda M. Wright
Response 3: Participation in the Means of Grace by Craig Dykstra
Response 4: Redeeming Hope: An Alternative Kingdom Informing Culture by Kirsten Sonkyo Oh
Response 5: Lived Faith in Communities of Charitable Critique by Elizabeth DeGaynor
Response 6: Knowing for Living Faith by Thomas D. Groome
Rejoinder and Epilogue