Education for Ministry

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Anglicanism Portal

Education for Ministry (EfM) is a program of theological education-at-a-distance which originated at the University of the South School of Theology.^[1]

While the program is not exclusive to the Episcopal Church, it is mainly found in parishes of that church. It is a four-year program and participants receive 18 Continuing Education Units from the University of the South for each year's work.

Persons seeking either ordained or lay ministries may enroll.^[2]

It is used is many dioceses of the Anglican communion in North America, from progressive to traditional, and Anglo-catholic to Evangelical, including Southern Ohio (Cincinnati),^[3] Massachusetts (Boston),^[4] Springfield, Illinois,^[5] Canada, ^[6] and Albany, New York.^[7]

1 Effect on participants
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Effect on participants

One couple, a Jim and Donna Piscopo of Scottsdale, Arizona, were so inspired by their experience of taking Education for Ministry, that they started a ministry for the homeless in their own home.^[8] The article stated that:

the Piscopos quit their jobs and gave up their Scottsdale house to start Bridging AZ Furniture Bank, an organization that provides furniture to people coming out of homelessness, domestic violence and other hardships. "When these women leave the shelter, they have nothing," said Jim Piscopo, adding that the lack of furniture - along with the lack of startup funds - is one of the main reasons women may stay with an abuser. To provide furnishings, he explained, is to provide a way for a person who's starting over to plant roots and to heal.... The Piscopos' story started when they enrolled in a four-year "education for ministry" program at St. Barnabas on the Desert Episcopal Church in Paradise Valley. "After this, we felt a little empty. It prepared us for the mind-set of ministry ... to really walk the talk," said Jim, who had been volunteering at a domestic violence shelter in Chandler. While there, Jim saw caseworkers trying to store furniture for their clients. He was surprised to learn that when the women moved into their new apartments they weren't given any furnishings.^[8]