What is EFM?
All Christians are called to live out their faith in daily life. EfM is short for Education for Ministry. In each EfM seminar, you’ll experience community by praying, studying, worshiping, reflecting, and discovering our unique way of walking in the world through faith. Through these five practices, we build community right from the start.
EfMers gather together. People read and reflect on one of five years: Hebrew Scripture, Christian Scripture, Church History, Christian Ethics and Spirituality, or Wide Angle. By having members in multiple years, we can explore the common themes throughout the faith journey. We experience the multiple voices of the spirit through each other’s experiences.
EfM participants study what the Bible says, and also learn how to understand the Bible within its historical, literary, and cultural settings. Biblical studies form the primary work of the first two years. EfM helps participants understand and then apply Holy Scripture to daily life. God’s revelation through Christian tradition is taken seriously by EfM, from the earliest biblical messages, through the development of liturgy and theology, and even to the context of the challenges we face in our own times and daily lives. In the environment of the weekly seminar, this study becomes the fodder for discussion and theological reflection.
You may wonder what Theological Reflection is. It is the heart of EfM — it is what makes EfM not just a Bible study. Using everyday experiences, we connect our heart and head! Theological Reflection is the bridge between the Bible and our lives. It is a technique that enables our faith to impact our lives. It is an intentional disciplined conversation — we are putting things into conversation with God and others. Through the lens of faith, we see the movement of God in our lives, which leads us to grow and transform.
Each seminar group sets its schedule to accommodate the thirty-six weeks of the EfM: Classic and EfM: Wide Angle programs. Each seminar includes worship, community life, theological reflection, and a reflective discussion of the participants’ study from that week’s assignments.
Participants experience twenty-seven weeks of EfM: Classic and EfM: Wide Angle by engaging material specific to their year.
EfM: Classic involves four years, taken one year at a time: Old Testament, New Testament, Christian History, and Christian Spirituality and Ethics.
EfM: Wide Angle is an overview of the spiritual journey that introduces participants to EfM: Classic by touching on the Old Testament, New Testament, Christian history, spirituality, and ethics within one year. It can be done before or after EfM: Classic and also as a stand-alone experience.
Nine weeks are common lessons, which include two weeks marking the beginning and end of the year, four Spiritual Sojourner Essays, and three weeks of Community Gathering sessions.
For a more in depth discussion of what EfM is all about, have a look a the following video.
For more information about EFM, please contact Mark Patzman.
Texts for the upcoming year (2025-2026) include:
Current programs within the Diocese of San Diego are:
