Christian Formation Week is Sept. 7-13
New family resource inspired by David LaMotte is available
LOUISVILLE — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will observe Christian Formation Week Sept. 7–13, with a focus on equipping families and congregations for transformative discipleship. The PC(USA)’s Office of Christian Formation encourages churches to use the week to highlight intergenerational ministry, spiritual practices and justice-oriented discipleship and offers multiple resources and Quick Sheets to guide congregations and formational opportunities in the home.
This year’s celebration introduces a new resource, "Drops Like Me: Worldchanging with Families," a conversation guide inspired by musician and activist David LaMotte’s TEDx talk, “Why Heroes Don’t Change the World,” and his book, “You Are Changing the World: Whether You Like It or Not.”
Available now, the guide for family conversation invites families to explore how small, intentional acts of love and justice can ripple outward to create lasting change. The Quick Sheet for Church Leaders, We Don’t Need Another Hero, is also now available. Spanish versions of both resources will be available in September.
In his book LaMotte writes: “We often wait for someone else to fix things, but the truth is, we are all already changing the world. The question is how.” In a video introducing the resource, he emphasizes that changing the world is not about grand gestures by one person but about cultivating everyday courage and compassion within communities.
Co-written by LaMotte and Amy Kim Kyremes-Parks, church resources acquisitions editor at the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, the companion resource is designed to spark meaningful conversations across generations. LaMotte, who has long partnered with faith communities through music and activism, hopes the resource will help families reclaim their role in God’s unfolding story. “You don’t have to be famous or powerful to make a difference,” he said. “You just have to show up — with love, with intention, and with others.”
As a Christian educator, Kyremes-Parks brings years of experience in youth ministry and intergenerational Christian formation to the project.
“This resource is about expanding our understanding of what being a change-maker looks like,” Kyremes-Parks said in an interview. “Our goal is to help people of every age recognize that they are changing the world already. This guide helps open conversations on how to recognize our interdependence, that positive change is always done in community. This guide is for you and your people, families of origin and those we create and claim as family along the way. We hope you will gather and co-inspire one another in how we can show up for one another in this beautiful and broken world.”
The guide includes reflection questions, storytelling prompts, and practical activities that align with the themes of LaMotte’s TEDx talk, which challenges the myth of the lone hero and uplifts the power of community. “Heroes don’t change the world,” LaMotte says in the talk. “People working together do.”
According to Miatta Wilson, mission associate for the Office of Christian Formation in the Interim Unified Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Christian Formation Week is a special time set aside by the PC(USA) to celebrate and lift up the vital ministry of Christian formation in our faith communities. “It is an opportunity to recognize the importance of lifelong faith development for all ages, to commission teachers, youth leaders and ministry volunteers, and to launch or renew programs that nurture spiritual growth,” said Wilson, who acknowledged that churches start their formation program years at different times throughout August and September: “While the timing may vary from church to church, the heart of Christian Formation Week remains the same: to celebrate learning, deepen discipleship, and affirm the shared responsibility of nurturing faith in the life of the church.”
Liturgy resources for lifting up Christian Formation in worship, as well as program ideas, are available at www.pcusa.org/christianformationweek.
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