CPI Launches Speaking of Faith® for Small Groups™;
New online resource utilizes radio interviews by Krista Tippett
(New York, NY) - As part of a unique new partnership between a publisher and weekly radio broadcast, Church Publishing Incorporated (CPI) has developed and released a series of new, online church-group resources in conjunction with the popular radio program, Speaking of Faith® with Krista Tippett, produced by American Public Media.
Titled Speaking of Faith® for Small Groups™, the new program resources are designed for high school, young adult, and adult study groups and revolve around topical, interfaith conversations and interviews conducted by Krista Tippett on previously broadcast programs. Four modules of Speaking of Faith® for Small Groups™ are now available, including:
- Sustainable Faith: God, the Environment and Human Responsibility
- Einstein's God: Science, Faith and the Life of Wonder
- Spiritual Heroes: Women and Men on the Frontiers of Faith
- Living Islam: Beauty, Truth, Compassion
The modules can be previewed and purchased exclusively at www.churchpublishing.org/speakingoffaith.
"This is a totally unique approach for contemporary discussions on life, meaning, and responsibility," said CPI vice president Pete Velander, who led the development and launch of Speaking of Faith® for Small Groups™ thru the company's Denver affiliate, Morehouse Education Resources. "Plus we're making it easy to sample and try. We're offering free sample recordings and study guides for each of the modules on our website, so church leaders and educators can see just how powerful and engaging these programs are, to say nothing of easy to use. We're also offering special launch pricing on all of the modules until October 15."
Each module includes five episodes, enough for at least five sessions, and can be used alone or in concert in any order. The fully downloadable components for each module include both printable participant's guides, presented as pdf files, and related audio files, presented as mp3s. Users can reproduce as many copies of the printed material as needed; there is nothing else to buy. The regular price is $39.95 per module. The introductory price, valid now through October 15, 2010, is $29.95 per module when using promo code SOF10DM at checkout.
"Speaking of Faith® for Small Groups™ is part Christian formation, part community building, and totally stimulating and invigorating," said Velander. "It opens countless new doors into the types of conversations that change lives."
Speaking of Faith® is public radio's conversation about religion, meaning, ethics and ideas. Each week, Peabody award-winning host Krista Tippett focuses on a different theme, asking writers, scientists, historians and others to discuss how religion shapes everyday life. (Visit speakingoffaith.org to find when the program airs in your area.) Speaking of Faith® learning materials are developed with major funding from Lilly Endowment, Inc. American Public Media is the nation's second-largest producer of public radio programs, including: A Prairie Home Companion®, Marketplace®, Speaking of Faith®, The Splendid Table® and Performance Today®.
Coincidentally, the launch of Speaking of Faith® for Small Groups™ follows less than ten weeks after publication of Breaking through the Stained Glass Ceiling by Morehouse Publishing, another CPI imprint. The new book is a compilation of interviews with contemporary female religious leaders conducted and originally broadcast by Host Maureen Fiedler on public radio's Interfaith Voices program.
Founded in 1918 and headquartered in New York City , CPI is the publisher of official worship materials, books, and music for the Episcopal Church, plus a multi-faceted publisher and supplier to the broader ecumenical marketplace. Publishing imprints include Church Publishing, Morehouse Publishing, and Seabury Books. Additional CPI divisions include Morehouse Church Supplies, a provider of church supplies, ecclesiastical furnishings, and vestments, located in Harrisburg, PA; and Morehouse Education Resources, which produces lectionary-based curriculum, faith formation programs, plus e-publishing resources and services, in Denver, CO.