Kate Sullivan and Halcyon Westall give an overview of what this course is and how you might use it.

Resources Mentioned on the video:

Sophia Fahs Sunday 2015: Journeys of the Spirit It's a "Worship in a Box" free for downloading!

Transcript of video:

Halcyon: Hi- I’m Halcyon Westall, Assistant Director of the Fahs Collaborative which is a think tank based at Meadville Lombard Theological School working on new ideas in Faith Formation.

Kate: And I’m Dr. Kate Sullivan and i’m working in the NE region as a religious education consultant.

Halcyon: Welcome! We’re so excited you are joining us and taking the time to learn about this year’s project for Sophia Fahs Sunday 2016. Which is called: Here Together: Developing Multigenerational Communities Through Worship. It is a course we’ve developed that focuses on how to put together a multigenerational or whole church worship service.

Kate: What is Sophia Fahs Sunday? In 2015, The Fahs Collaborative brought together a team of religious professionals, ministers, musicians, and religious educators to do something new- create a resource for congregations, small and large celebrating faith formation. The worship packet we created, “Journeys of the Spirit,” is still available for free download. It includes a full order of service script with personal stories, interactive components, original music and children’s activities. It is a worship service in a box!

Journeys of the spirit was well received, but people said they wanted to learn more about HOW to construct mulitgenerational or "whole community" worship service.

Halcyon: And that’s where Here Together comes in. Again, we’ve created a resource that is free online for you and your community. It is a video course for you to watch with sections on all the aspects of planning, creating, and celebrating worship for your community that includes everyone! Who can use it?

Kate: Anyone!

Halcyon: Anyone interested in putting together good worship, and in particular good multigenerational worship can watch this series of videos that we have put together. So, What is Here Together? This year we again brought together the team (musicians, ministers, and religious educators) to create a “best practices” learning course so community members can create worship for the whole community. Learning videos, resources, reflection questions, and music. As with all Fahs Collaborative projects, Sophia Fahs Sunday highlights multicultural diversity, multiple learning styles, and the best of what we know about faith development

Kate: How should you use Here Together? Well, this is a learning module consisting of 8 separate videos intended to be watched in order. It does take some time. We think it would be a great idea to invite staff team planners to watch it together, and even discuss it together. It’s all about Collaboration! Start early! And go back to re-watch the videos that are particularly interesting to you.

Halcyon: So many of us are longing to be a part of an authentic multigenerational community. A community where children, youth, adults, and elders share, learn, worship and grow together. We believe One of the most important ways to build multigenerational community is through worship.

Kate: But most of us haven’t had a lot of practice with creating multigenerational or whole community worship services! Sophia Fahs Sunday’s Here Together video course is here to help!

Halcyon: Thank you and please let us know what you think! We want to hear how you are using these videos and the great worship is happening in your community.