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Education for Ministry Program

Education for Ministry is a four-year certificate program for laity under the direction of The School of Theology at Sewannee, The University of the South.

The Education for Ministry program is not like any other bible study.  An in-depth study of scripture is an integral part of the program, but it is not the only part.

EFM is a powerful combination of scripture, worship, theology, and theological reflection which helps students develop the skills they need to better discern their call to ministry. More information can be found on the program HERE.

Since its founding in 1975, this international program has assisted more than 30,000 students in discovering how to respond to the call of Christian service.

The EfM program is preparation for the ministry to which we all are called. It is that vocation for which we pray at the end of the eucharist: "And now, Father, send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord."

The Diocese of Southwest Florida supports this important ministry to laity and offers classes and training at parishes in Southwest Florida.

Groups begin in September and run for 36 weeks. Registration starts each summer. (You do not have to be a member of the church where a group meets.) Online group meetings are also available.

St. Giles, Pinellas Park
St. Peter's Cathedral, St. Petersburg
St. Mary's, Tampa
St. Boniface, Siesta Key
St. Mark's, Venice    
Good Shepherd, Punta Gorda
St. Mark's, Marco Island
Trinity by the Cove, Naples

2021 Mentor Training

There is no in-person training this year due to Sewannee's COVID precautions. Online mentor training
can be found on the EfM website:

Register for online training HERE

Questions? Email The Rev. Deacon Martha Goodwill, EfM Diocesan Coordinator, at [email protected]

A Meditation for Lay Ministers

I am walking on a worn path. I need not imagine I am blazing a trail. I am barely scratching earth. I need not think my musings are the plans for a world-renowned structure. Though the tracks of birds are small, their wings have given them the gift of flight. Ants work with determination and fidelity. Their place on the earth is almost invisible, yet one follows another and others continue to come after and the hungry are fed and the young are nurtured.

I am bringing in my arms the treasurers of others more powerful than I. I am a distributor, less significant than many creatures; yet my work is blessed.

A radiant structure, this my church. I wake to it every day; the faith it gives me is a melody that stays with me all the day long. Its people are the greenery in a dry valley. I am one of the waterers. It is not an exalted job but a noble one. My church asks for attention to small details; it extends my hand to other hands. It clasps sorrow and despair. It opens to reveal the goodness of the people of my community.

I sometimes feel I am lost in a crown; my head barely reaches to the heads of others. Yet because I am serving God I am tall. My stature is not a result of pride or ambition. I am stretched by love. God has a wondrous power to move me beyond my physical being. I feel it when I am answering the call of others or when I have climbed through the fences and over the walls that separate me from my own spiritual riches. As a lay minister I no longer need reach for the repository of these riches. They are placed in my hand as I serve.

- Ms. Lucy Germany
Women's Uncommon Prayers: Our Lives Revealed, Nurtured, Celebrated
Edited by Elizabeth Rankin Geitz, Ann Smith, Marjorie A. Burke
Morehouse Publishing
Jun/2000
ISBN-13: 978-0-8192-1864-3

© 2023 Diocese of Southwest Florida All Rights Reserved.