Connect is a Christian faith formation program for young adults. It’s meant to inspire as it does what its name says: connect young adults, to each other, to the church, to the gospel mission, and most of all, to Christ. And it accomplishes those things in a fresh and engaging way. It’s not just a series of lectures, it’s not workbooks and study guides. Instead, it takes advantage of new media: streaming HD video right from the website. It’s personal, as young adults share transformative stories from their lives on a topic. It’s theologically grounded, with theologians sharing the Church’s story on that topic. And it’s inspiring, with the sacred art of the Saint John’s Bible to ignite the spiritual imagination as we pray with a scripture passage on that very same topic.
So each Connect topic brings these pieces together – we relate through a personal narrative, we learn from a respected theologian, we pray using sacred art and scripture as our inspiration, and we reflect on how all of this is important in our own lives.
It’s easy to get started. Once you create an account on the website, you can purchase each topic individually, and it comes with all of those videos and components. Clicking on a topic takes you to a page with a description and a sample video. You can buy it right from that page, and from then on its connected to your account. Click on that topic again, and the resources will be waiting for you.
Using the free program manual and facilitator’s guide, you can follow a preset format to lead a group through the process of learning and praying and reflecting. And since it’s all available online, you could be ready to go today.
If you’re not sure it’s what you need, try it. The first topic on the list, Living out our Baptismal Vocation, is completely free.
Connect is an outreach program of Saint John’s School of Theology·Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. We developed it as a way to live out own mission, and it’s our hope that the program will help inspire young adults, and connect them to each other, to the gospel, to the church, and to Jesus Christ.