Education for Ministry (EfM) is an international program from The School of Theology at The University of the South in Sewanee, TN, which helps small groups of participants understand their lives and shape their actions as they deepen their Christian faith.


Lay persons face the difficult and often subtle task of interpreting the richness of the church's faith in a complex and confusing world. They need a theological education that supports their faith and also teaches them to express that faith in day-to-day events.

EfM is a 4-year program of study, prayer, and reflection. Participants meet weekly over the course of a 9-month academic year. The studies, year by year, include the Old Testament, the New Testament, Church History and, lastly, Theology, Ethics and Interfaith Encounter. Equally important is the weekly practice and development of skills in theological reflection.

By examining our own beliefs and actions and how they relate to our culture and the tradition of our Christian faith, participants learn what it means to be effective ministers in the world. When we realize that everything we do has potential for manifesting the love of Christ, we discover that our own ministry is at hand wherever we turn.


The conversations in the class are intimate and authentic. We encounter the breadth and depth of Christian tradition and bring it into deep dialogue with our own experiences and feelings.

Each week's 3-hour seminar includes a short worship (perhaps a prayer or song or picture), a brief check-in, responses to the readings, a theological reflection, and the collective creation of a closing collect.

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