Crafted 4 Care: Practicing Virtues for Christian Formation, Group Participant Workbook
DESCRIPTION: This 122-page participant workbook (Beta 3.0, dated 5/11/2023) equips small groups for practicing six relational virtues essential to Christian formation and neighborly love. Rooted in Jesus's command to love God and neighbor (Mark 12:30–31), it operationalizes emotional-spiritual growth through a repeatable fourfold process: heart (feeling neighborly need), mind (discerning it clearly), soul (drawing on virtues), and strength (expressing love practically). Round 1 covers gratitude (e.g., imagining Christ's thanks, savoring gifts), empathy (perspective-taking via third-party neutrality), and compassion (random kindness acts); Round 2 adds trust, mindfulness, and forgiveness with similar depth. Each session integrates "Just Breathe" warm-ups, scripture stories (e.g., Mark 14:3–6), obstacle-noticing for self-awareness, and preparation for mutual spiritual conversation per Wesleyan tradition. Developed collaboratively by Point Loma Nazarene University Center for Pastoral Leadership, Nazarene Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University Center for Vocational Ministry, and Church of the Nazarene district leaders, it blends empirical virtue psychology with Holy Spirit-led discipline, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 for noncommercial adaptation. The accompanying slides also linked below were prepared by Dean G. Blevins (Nazarene Theological Seminary) for presentation at the 2025 ATS Student Data and Resources Consultation.
KEYWORDS: open access / free access; ATS Student Data and Resources Consultation (2025); Christian formation; compassion training; emotional intelligence; empathy exercises; gratitude practice; slide deck; small group curriculum; spiritual disciplines; virtue ethics; workbook resource
CITATION: Benefiel, Ron, Dean G. Blevins, Chris Adams, et al. 2023. Crafted 4 Care: Practicing Virtues for Christian Formation, Group Participant Workbook. Beta 3.0. Point Loma Nazarene University, Center for Pastoral Leadership; and Nazarene Theological Seminary, Praxis Center. https://www.atsformationrepository.org/resources/crafted-4-care-practicing-virtues-for-christian-formation-group-participant-workbook.
