Centre for Lay Education
Education for Ministry
* Next EFM Mentor Training Session in Montreal *
February 7th to 9th, 2013. (Thursday evening to Saturday at noon.)
Please contact the if you are interested in registering for this event.
EFM Mentor Training: March 8th to 10th, 2012 at Diocesan College, Montreal
Front Row: Robert Callender, Pamela Yarrow, Andy O'Donnell, Patricia Martin (trainer)
Back Row: Jim Pratt, Sheldon Carr, Sophie Rolland, Wanda Dillabough, David McCreery
Education for Ministry is for laity who wish to deepen their knowledge of the Christian faith and reflect on their Christian calling with others in a small group setting. EFM is a four year program, although we sign up for one year at a time. Tuition for one year is $375. In year one we study the Hebrew Scriptures; year 2 The Christian Testament; year 3 Church History; year 4 Theological Choices.
We meet weekly in our seminar group from September to May. The group meets at the time and location that is convenient for them. There is a mentor(s) for each group. The mentor's role is to buy coursework online, not to be the one with "all the answers". The students are responsible for their own study and learning. When we gather each week, we begin with worship, and then engage in Theological Reflection (connecting our everyday life to what we believe), and then discuss the week's readings together.
At present there are 2 EFM groups in the Diocese of Montreal. More groups will be forming as more people are trained as mentors and as more laity express their interest.
EFM originated in the University of the South in Sewanee Tennessee, a theological college of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America. The Diocese of Kootenay was invited, in 1985, to promote and manage the programme in all of Canada and EFM–Canada was born. EFM is a world wide programme with students in the Canada, Australia, Central America, Europe, New Zealand, South America the United Kingdom and the USA. To date, EFM–Canada has 650 graduates. In May of 2008, we graduated 10 more students from the EFM Program in the Diocese of Montreal bringing our total to 63 graduates. There are currently 58 active groups in Canada with over 500 students.
Two Montreal area groups are welcoming new members for September 2010
- Monday Evening Group meeting at St. Mark’s in Dorval
- Wednesday Evening Group meeting at Diocesan College in downtown Montreal.
If you are interested in joining one of these groups, please speak to the EFM mentors or get in touch with the Rev. Tim Smart 514-849-4437 See the poster.
To Inquire about joining an EFM Group here in Montreal:
- Monday Evening Group: or
- Wednesday Evening Group: or
Those who are interested must register for the fall session before July 15th, 2010.
Visit the web pages of EFM Canada
Visit the web pages of EFM in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Year 1
The Hebrew Bible
* Overview of the History of Israel
* Introduction to the Critical Study of the Scriptures
* The Book of Genesis
* The Themes of Creation, Sin, Judgment and Redemption
* Beginning the Study of Theology, Ethics and Liturgics
* The Exodus-Sinai Event and the Establishment of the Tribal Confederacy in Canaan
* The Covenant of God with His People
* The Books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, and 1 Samuel
* The Rise of the Monarchy
* The Books of 2 Samuel, 2 Kings, Deuteronomy, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel
* Exilic and Post-Exilic Judaism
* Second Isaiah
* Ezra-Nehemiah
* The Chronicler
* The Psalter
* The Wisdom Literature
* The Maccabean Revolt
Year 2
The New Testament
* Greek Culture
* The Roman Empire
* Judaism and the Second Temple
* Galilee
* Biblical "Criticism" and the Gospels
* The Gospel of Mark, Matthew and Luke
* The Gospel of John
* The Life of Jesus
* The Mighty Acts of Jesus
* The Cross of Jesus
* The Exaltation of Jesus
* The Acts of the Apostles
* Pauline Christianity and the Epistles
* The Letters of John
* The Revelation of John
* Hebrews
* 1 Peter and James
* 2 Peter and Jude
* Doing Theology with the New Testament.
Year 3
The Third Year: Church History
* The Early Church Fathers
* Gnosticism
* Montanism
* The Apologists
* Irenaeus
* Clement and Origen
* The Great Cappadocians
* Athanasius
* Tertullian to Augustine
* Nicea to Chalcedon
* Early Liturgies
* Spirituality: Monasticism, Mysticism, and Prayer
* The Medieval Church
* Aquinas and Bonaventure
* The Crusades
* The Renaissance
* Secularism, Religious Dissent
* The Reformation: Luther and Calvin
* The Catholic Reformation
* The Radical Reformation
* Anglicanism, Puritanism, Pietism
* The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
* The Industrial Revolution , John Wesley: The Methodist Church
* Nineteenth Century Anglicanism
* American Church History
Stepping Stones, written by Dr, Norman Knowles, presents four additional lessons on Church History and Theological Development in Canada. It is designed to be incorporated into the Fourth year readings.
Year 4
The Fourth Year: Theological Choices
* The Emergence of Modern Religious Thought
* The Rise of Science
* Kant, Schleiermacher, Hegel, Kierkegaard, Sartre, Camus, Whitehead
* Modernism
* The Rise of Biblical Criticism
* Ritschl, Barth, Bultmann
* De-Mythologizing and Neo-Orthodoxy
* The Ecumenical Movement, Vatican II, God and Human Suffering
* New Theologies
* World Religions
Moving into the Twenty First Century