Service Track
- Healthy Congregational Dynamics
- Christian Caregiving
- Cultural Diversity & Anti-Bias Training
- An Overview of Church History
- Two electives
Plant yourself in good soil.
The Program
Growing in Faith
Longing to Grow? Plant yourself in good soil!
Growing in Faith is a ministry within the ELCA committed to fostering learning environments for followers of Jesus to grow in faith. We believe that lay members of our parishes are integral to healthy discipleship in our churches and communities.
Program Overview
Grow in faith together
We gather followers across congregations to grow in faith together. Growing in Faith is a community of followers growing in Jesus through classes, retreats, and mutual care.
The two-year curriculum provides foundational and practical learning. The first year establishes a common foundation; in the second year, students continue through either the Faith Track or the Service Track.
“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:7
Course of Study
Year 1 — Foundation
Growth begins with solid roots, and so do we.
Christianity in a Lutheran Key
While all Christians share a common set of theological beliefs, Lutherans look at things through a filter of grace. Students discover more about Lutheran roots and look forward to challenges that face us in the future.
Introduction to the First Testament / Old Testament
An overview of the structure and theology of the Hebrew Scriptures, the varieties of forms used to communicate the truth of God’s Word, covenant theology, and the relationship of Old Testament theology to our understanding of the New Testament.
Introduction to the New Testament
Explore the gospel message revealed in the New Testament, the life and faith of the first-century Christian church, how the Bible came to us in its present form, and tools for interpreting the Bible.
Lutheran Creeds and Confessions
An analysis of the historical context and theological content of the Book of Concord—the Lutheran Confessions—with an eye toward its witness for Christian mission and ministry.
Living as a Christian in the World
Explore our role as members of a Christian community and the community at large, including discernment of future service and ministries in congregations and communities.
Worship and Sacraments
Explore why we worship, whom worship serves, and the tensions between a God focus and communal focus, head and heart, structured and free worship, and local and universal church.
Year 2
Choose Your Path
Time to stretch out and grow through one of two tracks.
Faith Track
- Cultural Diversity & Anti-Bias Training
- An Overview of Church History
- Four electives
Elective options for either track
- Christian Doctrine
- Communicating the Gospel I: Living Out Our Baptismal Promises
- Christian Ethics / ELCA Social Statements
- Living in a Multi-Religious World
- New Testament In-Depth Courses: Letters of Paul; Deutero-Pauline and Catholic (General) Letters; Synoptic Gospels and Acts; Gospel and Letters of John and Other Early Gospels
- Old Testament In-Depth Courses: First Testament Prophets
- Witness and Outreach
Student Experience
Growing together
“I hadn’t anticipated learning so much from classmates and class discussions. In each course, I learned from my fellow students: questions, answers, insights and ponderings, as well as the diverse life experiences they brought.”
“I find that I cannot grow spiritually without sharing my faith with others. The members in the class have become my friends in Christ.”
Our Graduates
Turning Faith into Action
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus calls us to go forward in faith and action, making disciples of all nations. Students and graduates of Growing in Faith/Diakonia respond to this great commission in a variety of ways.
Based on their spiritual gifts, they may apply personal ministry to administration or lay teaching; the pursuit of social justice; environmental stewardship; or service to the youth or the elderly. Living out their Baptismal vocations, they seek to be God’s Light in this world, bearing witness to Christ in word and deed.
Some graduates feel called to continue theological education at an ELCA seminary and go on to become ordained pastors or rostered leaders.
Our Story
History of Diakonia / Growing in Faith
Where It All Began
The Diakonia program was started by the Rev. Dr. Stephen P. Bouman in 1977 when he was pastor at Atonement Lutheran Church in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. Atonement, along with First Church in Stamford, Connecticut, and Central Methodist in Harlem, received a grant from Union Theological Seminary for a one-year study to determine what each needed to do to reach out to the community.
As a result, Pastor Bouman developed Diakonia to take the message of the font and the altar out the front door of the church into the community. The program emphasized spiritual formation and theological education of the breadth, but not depth, of the theological education pastors receive in seminary. Local parish pastors were invited to teach the courses, and the first classes were held in Queens, New York. Six students completed the two-year program in 1980.
Through the efforts of graduates who relocated, Diakonia was planted in other ELCA synods. After more than forty years, the program was redesigned for the needs of 21st-century churches and students and given the name Growing in Faith, with an updated curriculum and additional flexibility.