Pilgrim - Leader's Guide: A Course for the Christian Journey - Softcover

Pearson, Sharon Ely; Cottrell, Stephen; Croft, Steven; Gooder, Paula; Atwell, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0898699363 ISBN 13: 9780898699364

Publisher: Church Publishing, 2016

Synopsis

Pilgrim is a teaching and discipleship resource that helps inquirers and new Christians explore what it means to travel through life with Christ. A Christian course for the twenty-first century, Pilgrim offers an approach of participation, not persuasion. Following the practice of the ancient disciplines of biblical reflection and prayer with quotes from the Christian tradition throughout the ages, Pilgrim assumes little or no knowledge of the Christian faith. Individuals or small groups on the journey of discipleship in the Episcopal tradition can use Pilgrim at any point. There are many different aspects to helping people learn about the Christian faith. We have taken as our starting point Jesus summary of the commandments. We are called to offer our lives to God through loving God with all our mind, soul, strength, and heart, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Learning about Christian faith and growing in Christian faith is about more than what we believe. It s also about the ways in which we pray and develop our relationship with God, about the way we live our lives and about living in God s vision for the Church and for the world. There are two stages of material in Pilgrim. There are four short Pilgrim books (each comprising a course of six sessions) in the Follow stage designed for those who are enquirers and very new to the faith. Then there are four short Pilgrim books (again, each comprising a six-session course) in the Grow stage designed for those who want to go further and learn more. Pilgrim is made up of two parts, each with four courses contained in four booklets: Follow: Do you turn to Christ? Releasing in March 2016 1. Turning to Christ 2. The Lord's Prayer 3. The Commandments 4. The Beatitudes Grow: Will you continue in the Apostles teaching and fellowship? Releasing October 2016 5. The Creeds 6. The Eucharist 7. The Bible 8. Church

About this title

About the Authors

SHARON ELY PEARSON is a Christian educator, editor, and author with 35+ years of experience in Christian formation on the local, judicatory, and church-wide level. Known for her knowledge of published curricula across the church, she has written or edited numerous books. She is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and a lifelong Episcopalian. She lives in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Stephen Cottrell is the Bishop of Reading in the Church of England. He has written or contributed to Reflections for Daily Prayer, the Emmaus discipleship course, Traveling Well, and Praying Through Life.

Steven Croft is the Bishop of Sheffield. From 2004 to 2009 he was Archbishops Missioner and Team Leader of Fresh Expressions. Former warden of Cranmer Hall, he spent 13 years in parish ministry.

Paula Gooderis a freelance writer and lecturer in biblical studies, a Reader in the Church of England, and a lay member of the General Synod. She is also a Trustee of SPCK and the Saltley Trust and an honorary Canon Theologian at Birmingham and Guildford Cathedrals. She is the author of A Way Through the Wilderness and the best-selling Lent course Lentwise, and co-author of the Pilgrim course and Love Life, Live Advent.

Robert Atwell was Vicar of Primrose Hill, London, from 1998 though 2008, when he joined the episcopate. Formerly a lecturer in patristics at Trinity College Cambridge, where he was Chaplain, for ten years. He maintains his link with the Order of St. Benedict.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Pilgrim

Leader's Guide A Course for the Christian Journey

By STEPHEN COTTRELL, Steven Croft, Paula Gooder, Robert Atwell, Sharon Ely Pearson

Church Publishing Incorporated

Copyright © 2016 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-89869-936-4

Contents

Preface by The Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, 27th Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church, 
Part One: Welcome to Pilgrim, 
An Overview of Pilgrim, 
About this Leader's Guide, 
Part Two: Teaching the Faith, 
Catechesis, 
The Pilgrim Way, 
An Annual Rhythm, 
Learning the Faith, 
Part Three: Leading a Pilgrim Group, 
Gathering a Group Together, 
Leading the Sessions, 
Part Four: Pilgrim Resources, 
Pilgrim Books, 
Liturgical Resources, 
Other Books and Resources, 
The Baptismal Covenant, 
The Five Marks of Mission, 
Part Five: And Finally ..., 
Three Images of the Catechist, 
Notes, 

CHAPTER 1

PART ONE: WELCOME TO PILGRIM

An Overview

Pilgrim is a course for the Christian journey. The aim of the course is to help people become disciples of Jesus Christ.

A pilgrim is a person on a journey. The Bible is a book full of journeys. God's people are always traveling. God's call to Abraham was to leave his own land for a great journey of faith. God's call to Moses was to lead God's people on a journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land. Jesus took his first disciples on a journey from Galilee to Jerusalem. One of the earliest names for the people called Christians was followers of the Way.

Pilgrim is designed to help every local church to invite others to join the people of God on our great journey of faith. Its purpose is to help you to draw together a small group of people who are inquiring about Christian faith or are new to faith and to help them learn about the faith together.

This leader's guide is for clergy and church leaders who are thinking about introducing Pilgrim into the life of their church and is also a short handbook for those who will lead the groups.

Why Pilgrim?

Lifelong Christian faith formation in The Episcopal Church is lifelong growth in the knowledge, service, and love of God as followers of Christ and is informed by Scripture, tradition, and reason. As stated in the Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation, God invites all people:

• To enter into a prayerful life of worship, continuous learning, intentional outreach, advocacy, and service

• To hear the Word of God through Scripture, to honor church teachings, and continually to embrace the joy of Baptism and Eucharist, spreading the Good News of the risen Christ and minister to all

• To respond to the needs of our constantly changing communities, as Jesus calls us, in ways that reflect our diversity and cultures as we seek, wonder, and discover together

• To hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people, placing ourselves in the stories of our faith, thereby empowering us to proclaim the Gospel message.

Pilgrim has been developed to help make new disciples and strengthen the understanding of discipleship to all who choose to deepen their understanding of the Christian journey and where they are on their own faith journey.

The structure of Pilgrim

There are many different aspects to helping people learn about the Christian faith.

We have taken as our starting point Jesus' summary of the commandments. We are call

Edition details

• Publisher: Church Publishing
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0898699363
• ISBN 13: 9780898699364
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96