Becoming Disciples Training Kit




	PROJECT TITLE: "BECOMING DISCIPLES" TRAINING KIT “Becoming Disciples” is a national project of the Uniting Church in Australia, designed to assist churches to plan ways to engage adults in exploring and experiencing Christian faith for the first time. The “Becoming Disciples” training package is designed to assist clergy and local church leaders to plan effective ways to engage adults in a process of faith discovery and commitment leading to baptism. “Becoming Disciples” is a process, not a program. Through examining the process, hearing stories from other churches and engaging in guided discussion, local church leaders will be able to develop their own five step process to assist people to explore Christian faith. An overview document from the UCA national Assembly is available here (PDF - 100kb.) This project is based upon an actual work project that I am undertaking in 2007. While some aspects of the assignments will be treated as hypothetical, I am expecting that the assignments will assist my development of the project as a real production. At the end of the process I plan to reflect on the gap between the real and hypothetical projects. SCOPE The "Becoming Disciples" Training Kit is a computer-assisted instruction package designed for a trainer to use with a group of adults. The training package comprises material for four 1 ½ hour sessions. These can be conducted in one day or sequentially (for example, over 4 weeks). The training package consists of an interactive CD-ROM containing a facilitator’s guide for each of the four sessions (on screen and PDF format for print) handout materials for participants (on screen and PDF format for print) video clips for use within the training sessions background notes on the “Becoming Disciples” process (PDF format for print) additional video material to assist local planning links to websites with additional resource material, including the Becoming Disciples website a video DVD containing the same training video clips as in the CD-ROM but in DVD format AUDIENCE The intended audience are Uniting Church clergy and congregational lay leaders. The latter may include local ‘elders’, church council members, and leaders of adult education programs. There are approximately 2,800 congregations and 1000 clergy in congregational placements in the Uniting Church. Recognising that there will be some interest from other churches in this material, the maximum possible audience is approximately. An initial estimate production run is 800 copies. Most such leaders will be over 45 years of age with limited technological competence: hence the provision of the video material in two formats. It is assumed that the training sessions will be conducted in groups of 10 to 25 people with the use of a data projector, laptop computer and audio amplification equipment. It is also assumed that the CD-ROM will be used by individual clergy or leaders to assist their own personal planning (an hence not necessarily by a group). PURPOSE Background The Uniting Church (UCA) is the third largest Christian denomination in Australia. It was formed in 1977 from the Methodist, Congregational and Presbyterian churches. Like many mainstream churches, the Uniting Church’s membership overall is in decline; hence there are a range of initiatives to help local churches communicate their faith and make a positive contribution to their local communities. Mainline churches worldwide are seeking to identify and offer pathways to faith to adults. In this instance the process is based on an historical practice called “catechesis”, whereby people (catechumens) were able to experience Christian faith by being in the company of a Christian community (a sort of ‘try before you buy’!). The process is intended to be invitational, voluntary, and authentic rather than proselytising or manipulative. Training Aims The purposes of the training package are to assist participants to to understand Christian identity as it relates to sharing faith with others to understand historical, biblical theological foundations of processes of discipleship formation and initiation to familiarise people with the UCA ‘Becoming Disciples’ process to identify pastoral, educational and liturgical processes and events that might guide and support a ‘Becoming Disciples’ process CONTENT This project is based on a current real-life project which is partly underway. A training script has been drafted and some filming done. However the scope of the final product is flexible at this stage, hence the opportunity to refine it here. The following multimedia components will comprise the training package: Interactive CD-ROM Facilitator’s outline and training handouts These will be included as printable PDFs On-screen training guide Each training session will be presented through a series of on-screen summary slides or cues. These may be in Powerpoint, PDF or SWF format (yet to be determined). A hyperlink menu will be included to allow the trainer to tailor the session both to the audience and to the time available. Diagrams and animations Some concepts will be presented within the on-screen training guide as diagrams and possibly SWF animation Movie clips Movie clips will be used in order to - provide interviews with leaders and participants in local church discipling programs - demonstrate aspects of the liturgical (worship) elements of the discipling process - provide additional background interviews for facilitators about the ‘Becoming Disciples’ process Website Links The CD-ROM will contain hyperlinks to website with material related to the “Becoming Disciples” process, including the official “Becoming Disciples” website VIDEO DVD The DVD will provide an alternative presentation method to items 2 – 4 above with a navigable interface. On-screen training guide The training guide including diagrams will be presented as a series of navigable slideshows. Movie Clips The movie clips will be presented as separate movies with chapters where appropriate. For more information contact Craig Mitchell Submitted as Assignment 1 - MMS 8020, Semester 1, 2007.