The Episcopal Diocese of South Dakota

The above photo: The fifth revision of the lay formation program features numerous multimedia components. | Education for Ministry

This week, thousands of laypeople across the country—as well as in parts of Europe, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong—will come together for at least two hours to study theology. They will meet in person or online in small groups of no more than 12, with one or two mentors facilitating discussions on various topics, from Hebrew and Christian Scripture to ethics and spirituality.

Liza Page Nelson, who worships at St. Bart’s in Manhattan, was part of a similar group over a decade ago. “I didn’t know what to expect. I joined primarily because I had not grown up in the church and wanted a structured opportunity to engage in conversations about what it means to be people of faith. What should we make of it? What should we do with it?” she told TLC.

“I went in for the learning and stayed for the unexpected spiritual safari, transformation, enrichment, and community,” Nelson said of Education for Ministry, the popular lay formation program focused on the study and practice of theological reflection, offered worldwide both within and outside the Episcopal Church. Since completing the four-year course, she has served as an accredited EfM mentor at St. Bart’s and is now the program’s coordinator for the Diocese of New York.

First introduced in 1975, EfM has over 120,000 graduates, many of whom serve as deacons, rectors, and missioners. Some may even be bishops. The Rev. Kevin Goodman had just graduated from college when he was invited to join an EfM group in 1995. After the group’s mentor was called to another church, he was selected by his group to serve as a mentor and became accredited.

“I graduated in 1999, but I have been a mentor since 1996, except for the three years I was in seminary,” said Goodman, who was ordained as a priest in 2006. After serving the Diocese of Chicago in various roles, he was appointed executive director of EfM in the summer of 2023.

During the official launch of its 50th-anniversary celebration on March 24, EfM announced that its core curriculum will undergo revision—the fifth in its history. It will be rebranded as EfM: Classic, while new materials under the EfM brand, including a one-year introductory course called EfM: Wide Angle, will be available beginning in fall 2025. A board game is also in development, along with EfM: Reflections, a series of six- to ten-week programs now being piloted and set for wider release this fall.

All the programs, including the classic curriculum, will follow four familiar steps: Engage, Respond, Reflect, and Resources. Engage represents participants’ self-study before the weekly seminar. Respond and Reflect occur during group discussions, while Resources refer to materials available for further study.

“This is the first time in history that the curriculum has been developed by a group rather than an individual,” Goodman told TLC, referring to the Curriculum Revision Task Force. In a webinar on April 1, he emphasized that EfM: Classic will remain a four-year program, allowing participants to commit to one year at a time—an option available since its inception.

Church Publishing Inc. will release a collection of essays in May exploring the program’s history and legacy. Originally called Theological Education by Extension, EfM was developed in the mid-1970s by theology professor Charles Winters at the University of the South’s School of Theology. A three-day event at Sewanee in June will bring together trainers, mentors, alumni, and participants for workshops, concerts, and an exclusive preview of the revised curriculum.

One of the biggest changes in the revision is EfM’s transition from a text-based program to a more immersive multimedia experience. “With the fifth revision, we’re moving into a multimedia program,” Goodman said. “Participants will not only read texts and essays, but they will also listen to podcasts, watch documentaries, and engage with videos from around the world—adding a new level of depth to the program.”

The updated curriculum and new EfM offerings will be housed in Pathwright, an online content delivery platform with an interface like Google Drive’s icon view. The Reading and Reflection Guide, written by the Rev. Rick Brewer and Angela Hock-Brewer when the curriculum was revised the fourth time, will be replaced by a multimedia syllabus called The Path. Each yearly theme will be:

• The Journey with God (2025-26)

• Following Jesus (2026-27)

• Listening to the Spirit (2027-28)

• Engaging the Word (2028-29)

The shorter courses are designed for those who cannot commit to a four-year program. EfM: Reflections, available for $10, will be led by non-accredited mentors and offered in two versions:

• A Theology for Trans Allies, based on Beyond a Binary God by the Rev. Tara K. Soughers

• Meditations for Racial Healing, based on The Night Is Long but Light Comes in the Morning by Catherine Meeks

Both books were selected because they resonated with EfM participants and alumni, Goodman said.

The inclusion of these courses is significant given today’s political climate, in which discussions on diversity are often silenced—especially in the public sector—and issues related to transgender people are frequently dismissed. “I’m sorry that it’s going to be perceived as politicized,” Goodman said, “but I really can’t do anything about that. All I can do is listen to the constituents of EfM, those who are struggling like myself to live a gospel-meaningful life during really challenging times.”

Brewer spoke to TLC Tuesday night after he led an EfM seminar with six people. “I learned of EfM while it was still being developed. It was more of an idea than a concrete process at that time,” he said. He had been an ordained priest for five years when his bishop sent him to meet Winters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when the professor was speaking to a group of leaders from the Diocese of the Rio Grande in 1975 about an adult education program that was essentially the first two years of seminary offered to laity. That concept led to its initial name of Theological Education by Extension.

The program appealed to Brewer because it made theological training accessible without requiring students to pause their lives for a residential seminary experience. He led his first EfM group in the fall of 1976. “I waited a year to make sure they had a full curriculum,” he said, laughing. Since then, he has been a mentor, trainer, and curriculum author. “I’ve done everything in EfM, including being on staff for a year,” he said. “The only thing I haven’t done is be a participant in the group.”

Reflecting on his experience leading at least 15 groups in the past 50 years and playing a role in four of the program’s five revisions, Brewer likened EfM’s evolution to venturing into the ocean. “At first, it was like wading up to your ankles,” he said.

“But then gradually we were able to move more deeply, and I think that the program now knows how to help people go waist-deep into the ocean. But we don’t really know yet how to help people swim with the dolphins.”