Letter from the editor: 12 highlights of 2025

12 resource lists

This year we have released 12 compilations of new and updated resources that cover a range of ministry areas, liturgical seasons, and important occasions. Here is one of our new lists that you might find useful: “Stations of the Cross and Seven Last Words Resources for All Ages.”

11 sustainable VBS programs

In March, we completed a two-year project: updating the list of top picks for the Vacation Bible School Perennial Studies Program. A wonderful team of reviewers (more on that below!) has done a ton of work to research, evaluate, and build a new list of recommended VBS program options that are available year after year. Our final list includes 11 programs for planning VBS, camp, and intergenerational summer training opportunities in a variety of settings: “Permanent Favorites VBS, summer camp and intergenerational program.”

10 months of contributions from new and old authors

I am deeply grateful to all of our 2025 authors. They have brought rich wisdom, resources, stories, and ideas to Building Faith and this community. I appreciate what I learned from them and want to thank them all for sharing their expertise, voices, and creativity in the service of forming people of all ages in the Christian faith in meaningful and life-giving ways.

9 Roots & Wings Articles on Intergenerational Worship

An exciting collaboration began this year between Building Faith and Roots & Wings: Inter Generational Formation Collaborative, a new grant initiative in the area of ​​lifelong learning led by Sarah Bentley Allred that works to support and equip churches in intergenerational worship, ministry, and community living. As part of this collaboration, Sarah and her team members wrote a total of 9 articles dealing with intergenerational worship that Building Faith was privileged to publish.

If you are curious about intergenerational worship or wondering what “intergenerational” means, then I recommend checking out “Intergenerational Perspectives: What is intergenerational ministry?» by Wendy Claire Barrie and Sarah Bentley Allred.

8 Building places and spaces of faith to know

Our website now contains over 1,500 articles. You can find many at Building Faith. However, if you’re new to the site, it can be difficult to know where to start and how to find what you need.

So here’s a quick overview of Building Faith in 8 steps you might want to know about as 2025 ends and we approach 2026:

7 articles to support ministerial leadership

In 2025, we published 7 articles focused on topics and resources to support and inspire you in ministry leadership. Many of these articles addressed difficult issues that are not often discussed in ministry or in churches. We hope these articles will open more spaces for conversation and discernment about how to serve and lead in times of joy as well as difficult situations.

Here are a few that may be helpful: “Watch: Suicide Prevention and Youth Ministry” And “Best Practices for Talking about Death in Ministry.”

6 things to look forward to in 2026

In addition to the highlights of 2025, I want to share some opportunities and current projects for 2026:

• Building Faith will take place at Forma 2026 Conference in Denver, Colorado! I’m running a workshop at the conference and will also be at the Lifelong Learning booth, so if you’re there, please stop by and say hello! I would love to meet you and hear about your ministry.
• VBS Reviews – Be on the lookout for our annual review of new VBS resources around February.
• More seasonal toolboxes – Easter comes earlier in 2026, so we are already preparing a Lenten toolkit to send to our subscribers in January (and you can sign up for free on our subscription page). We will also continue to send toolkits for other church seasons throughout the year.
• More updates on top program picks – In 2026, we will update our selection of adult education and Bible study programs as well as catechesis and confirmation programs.
• Call for articles and writers – Also be on the lookout for an open call for articles and writers in the coming months. If you have a resource, activity, or experience from your training ministry that you would like to share, please contact us!
• More new articles to equip and inspire training ministries

5 seasonal tool boxes

This year we sent 5 toolkits filled with faith-building articles, intended to simplify and inspire formation planning for different liturgical seasons. These toolkits include activity ideas, teaching tips, and printable resources, and you can receive them in your inbox by subscribe at Building Faith or via our Facebook page. You can consult our Epiphany Toolkit 2026 to find out more.

4 reviewers from the VBS program

I had the privilege of working with 4 wonderful Vacation Bible School curriculum reviewers this year. They reviewed a wealth of new and old resources for VBS programs and summer camps and wrote thoughtful and informative reviews based on their expertise and experience as training leaders. A big thank you to each of them!

Sally Benton

Molly Herman-Gallow

Juniper LaNunziata

Marvin McLennon

3 stalks of wheat in our new logo

This summer, Building Faith received a new logo to give a fresh look to our site and communications. It features 3 stalks of wheat, which not only evoke growth, life, bread, parables and more in Christian formation, but also resonate with the familiar image of wheat on our home page. It also includes a backdrop of colorful stained glass to reflect our roots in lifelong learning and Virginia Theological Seminary.

2 new pages of intergenerational resources

Thanks to the work of Roots & Wings, we have 2 new pages on our website dedicated to providing resources on intergenerational worship and ministry (and you can find both in the main drop-down menu under “Intergenerational Worship”):

• Intergenerational Worship and Ministry Resources – A platform for articles on intergenerational ministry organized into 4 main categories: Intergenerational 101, curriculum and lesson plans, activities and worship.
• Toolkit on Characteristics of Intergenerational Worship – A page with information and instructions for conducting a worship survey of your congregation to discern strengths and areas of growth in intergenerationality.

And 1 incredible team behind the scenes

Building Faith could not be what it is without the contributions of many people behind the scenes. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all members of the Lifelong Learning Department for their support of the Building Faith ministry. I would also like to specifically thank the following people:

• Sarah Bentley Allredmy co-editor, who is an integral part of our editorial team and has done so much this year to bring the wisdom and fruits of her work on intergenerationality in Roots & Wings to serve ministry leaders and communities impacted by Building Faith.
• Wallace BentonAssociate Director of Lifelong Learning, who is also a member of our editorial team and has provided invaluable support in everything from planning and editing articles to viewing the logo and troubleshooting the website.
• Evan Graberwho joined our editorial team this fall and has played an integral role in our editing and publishing over the past few months
• Josh BrownOperations Manager of Lifelong Learning, who provides much-needed logistical support to Building Faith and helped keep everything running smoothly behind the scenes.
• Kim Arakawa, Samantha Claire, Elizabeth DeGaynor, Lindsey Lewis, Allison LilesAnd Rich Nelsonwho, along with the people I’ve already mentioned, participated in a brainstorming session for Building Faith this fall and generated a bunch of article ideas to enrich Christian formation in the present moment and beyond.

It is a privilege to know and work with all of these colleagues. A big thank you to all of you!

Finally, wonderful readers, thank you for being here, for the work and ministries you do, and for supporting each other in training through Building Faith. I wish you, your communities and everyone you care about a Christmas and holidays full of endless love.

-Jodi

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The image shown is of Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash