The Faith Diet
Taught at church, reinforced at home one step at a time
by Debbie Streicher
When we see the word diet we often think it relates to losing weight. The word diet can also mean the nutrition consumed by a person. A healthy diet is one defined as eating a well-balanced number of foods from specific food groups.
In today’s world we are challenged when it comes to maintaining healthy diets as we are tempted daily by big juicy cheeseburgers, fries, and milkshakes. Everywhere we turn, there are restaurants and commercials. Not to mention the tempting large portion sizes delivered to our tables.
It’s up to us to determine just what a healthy “faith diet” may look like.
The FAITH5 is a step-by-step plan that can change the way a family relates forever. The plan is role-modeled every week at a gathering and in a small group setting and then practiced every night in every home. It can mean big change in the life of a family. We like to call practicing the FAITH5 the “meat” of all our resources.
This all sounds great. But c’mon…do you know how hard this is to do? Our answer is, “Yes!” We also know that small groups and families who practice them share fascinating faith stories.
There is more support, family communication, and reading the Bible. It’s not easy. It’s one step at a time. Read on…
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Faith Inkubators Now on Facebook
Drop by and say "Hi"!
www.facebook.com
by Thomas J Collins
Faith Inkubators employees have been using Facebook to keep in touch with immediate family and friends for about a year now. Over this year, we’ve gradually noticed everyone from our grandparents to grandchildren interacting on the service.
With that in mind, we decided it was time for Faith Inkbuators to officially join Facebook. (Though, I’m wondering if this decision is actually a subtle excuse for employees to hang out on Facebook during work hours!)
Regardless, we have set up two pages on Facebook. If you get a chance, stop by and say “Hi”!
FAITH INKUBATORS FRIEND PAGE (Link)
This is the Faith Inkubators “friend” page. It’s going to be a low-key place for us to hang out when we are signed into Facebook. Feel free to drop us a “friend request” and will be happy to add you to our list.
FAITH INKUBATORS COMPANY PAGE (Link)
This is where you can learn the latest news from Faith Inkubators. On this page, we will post product release announcements, training event notices, training videos, old photos, and more. You can click the “Become a Fan” link in the upper-right corner if you would like to add a link from your Facebook page.
Honestly, we have a number of ideas on how to work with Facebook, but we are still going to be experimenting and making a lot of this up as we move forward.
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Bang for the Buck
Use Your Head to the Heart Materials for Multiple Ministries
by Monty Lysne
First of all, Happy New Year! 2008 was certainly interesting, to say the least. Here's hoping for a much more normal and low-key 2009.
Budgets are tight and most likely will be again at the end of this year. This means that ministry will have to do more with less in 2009 and beyond. One suggestion I'd like to offer is to use the 90+ lessons of Head to the Heart (H2H) in a ministry setting other than standard confirmation class. First, some background:
I recently received an email asking about the appropriate age-range for Head to the Heart materials. The short answer: H2H is designed for confirmation programs, meaning kids in grades 6-9 will be well-served by the material. There are a few churches with confirmation programs that go a bit earlier than grade 6 and a bit later than grade 9, and H2H can still be a solid foundation for learning with these age groups too.
Why? We've tried to be faithful to "whole brain" teaching (just as "whole grain" is better for eating, "whole brain" is better for teaching.) We present our teaching materials in multiple ways using multiple senses. A concept (and we do want kids to explore concepts - not just memorize facts) is set up to be presented in speech, sight, movement, song, drama, etc., so every child can grasp the concept where they are. On top of this, due to the small group "processing," a trained leader can facilitate discussion, further focusing in on questions and thoughts of the particular group.
There is no rule that says Head to the Heart must be used only for confirmation. With multiple lessons presented in a "whole brain" way and processed in a small group, you may wish to explore using Hot Topics with your Sr. High, or the Luther lessons (or Calvin or Wesley) for Adult Ed. The Baptism lessons could be the basis for a family baptism class, or the communion lessons for first communion instruction. With Lent and Easter on the way, look to the Life of Jesus lessons for sermon ideas and illustrations, or use the Jesus material as the basis for a lively and relationship-building new member class.
Head to the Heart is designed as complete ministry–not simply instruction, so you can use the H2H materials to benefit your ministry far beyond your middle school kids. Since adults are just bigger kids with more money, what engages kids will engage adults as well. With a little creative thinking, Head to the Heart can be put to multiple uses, making it a valuable part of your ministry.
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Thank You, Vanessa!
Director of Membership accepts new position at The College of St. Catherine
2009 brought a change to the Membership Department at Faith Inkbuators. We said goodbye to our longtime Director of Membership, Vanessa Beaudry. Vanessa has taken a new position with the Admissions Department of The College of St. Catherine in Saint Paul, MN. We are excited for her and wish her great success in the new job.
As for the Faith Inkubators Membership Department, we will miss Vanessa’s presence a great deal. Her institutional memory of her communications with our members will be sorely missed. Fortunately, Vanessa was a spectacular record keeper. That has made the transition much easier.
During this time of transition before Vanessa’s position is filled, your membership questions will be coordinated by Arlyce Melheim. Please let us know if we can be of any assistance to you as we head into the Lenten season.
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PowerPoint is Our Friend*
(*most of the time)
by Monty Lysne
I get my fair share of PowerPoint® questions from churches. Over the years, I have found that the vast majority of questions revolve around one thing: music is not playing correctly. I’ve also found that 99% of the time, this is not due to an error in our PowerPoint files (although that does happen occasionally) but incomplete installation or lack of knowledge of PowerPoint on the church's computer. Here are some tips:
Make sure your church is using the full version of PowerPoint 2003 or 2007, NOT the free PowerPoint Viewer. Our files are tested and compatible with PowerPoint 2003 and 2007. They WILL open but WILL NOT play some of the music if using the free PowerPoint Viewer. (This is a Microsoft issue, not a Faith Inkubators issue.) The PowerPoint Viewer WILL open our files but WILL NOT play any Bible verse songs or other Flash animation. The free PowerPoint Viewer is NOT the full version of PowerPoint.
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