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Building Faith’s Favorite Free Christian Formation Resources

Christian formation does not have to be costly. Yet finding formation resources that are substantive, useful, and affordable can be tough. Expenses for curricula, books, supplies, equipment, and seasonal materials add up quickly. For communities working with lower formation budgets, these costs can simply be too high to bear year after year and leave formation leaders feeling underresourced.

If your community is experiencing financial strain or looking for ways to stretch more dollars, we’ve got your back. In this article, we have compiled a list of our favorite formation resources that are available for free. This list includes short-term and year-round curricula, devotional resources, and materials for Advent and Lent.

If you know of a helpful free resource that isn’t on this list, please leave a comment and tell us about it!

Curricula (Updated May 2025)

1. Abundant Life Garden Project

This curriculum emphasizes the abundant life that God gives to creation and the importance of sharing that life with others. It consists of 6 lessons on the topics of “Water,” “Soil,” “Seeds,” “Animals,” “Harvest,” and “Celebration.” It can be used throughout the year or as a Vacation Bible School curriculum.

2. Adult Faith & Wellness Circle

This curriculum is designed to help adults enrich their understanding and practice of wellness by grounding wellness in their faith. It addresses wellness in relation to “heart,” “soul,” “strength,” and “mind.” Lessons offer guidance for sessions up to 90 minutes long and include contemplative prayer practices, journaling activities, group discussion questions and takeaways, and scriptures related to wellness. The curriculum consists of a facilitator guide and a participant workbook, which can both be downloaded from the Living Compass website.

  • Age group(s): adults
  • Publisher and date: Living Compass, 2023 (not affiliated with a specific denomination)
  • Number of lessons: 6

3. Connecting Faith and Justice: Youth Lectionary Curriculum

This curriculum follows the Revised Common Lectionary with a focus on justice each week. Lessons explore topics like poverty, racism, diversity, inclusion, advocacy, protest, civil disobedience, peacemaking, environmental justice, and more. Each lesson offers a “centering moment” or practice, scripture reading and discussion, group activities, and a “closing moment.”

4. Faithful Resilience: Building Spiritual, Physical, and Social Climate Resilience

This is a curriculum for exploring how communities might practice resilience and seek equity and justice in the face of imminent changes that the climate crisis is bringing, especially rising sea levels and people having to relocate to other communities and places as a result. Its lessons include scripture, questions for reflection, research prompts to learn about local ecologies, actions to take, and stories spotlighting communities that put resilience into practice.

5. Lesson Plans That Work for Youth and Young Adults

This curriculum provides youth and young adults opportunities to engage justice through scripture, group learning and discussion, activities, and prayer. It consists of two series of lessons, one on “Racial Justice” and another on “Climate Justice.” The curriculum includes age-specific lessons for both youth and young adults.

6. Living the Way of Love in Community / Vivir el Camino del Amor en comunidad / Vivre la Voie de l’amour en communauté

This curriculum enables adults to learn about the seven practices of the Way of Love in small groups and to discern ways of incorporating the practices into their lives. Its lessons are designed for 90-minute sessions with possible meal fellowship for an additional 30 minutes. The lessons include prayer, group discussion, reflection and writing activities, and worship. You can access additional accompanying resources in English, Spanish, and French through the Way of Love website.

  • Age group(s): adults
  • Publisher and date: The Episcopal Church, 2018, revised 2019
  • Number of lessons: 9

7. “Love God, Love God’s World” Creation Care Curriculum

This digital curriculum brings together documentary films, videos, podcasts, readings, and theological reflections by eight authors to provide a discussion-oriented formation opportunity on the topic of creation care. It is designed to help adults reflect critically and constructively on climate change in tandem with their faith as well as to inspire engagement in caring for creation in their contexts. The curriculum involves three parts with three lessons each: exploring the question “What Is God’s Dream?”; “Truth-telling” about the negative impacts of ecological degradation on human and non-human lives; and grappling with what “Restoring the Covenant, Repairing the Earth” can look like. Each lesson includes: a guiding scripture, prayer, resources to review (which are accessible for free on the curriculum website), theological reflection, discussion questions, a closing practice, and suggested action steps to do during the week. Recommended session length is between 75 and 90 minutes, but like the Sacred Ground curriculum (see below), length and format can be tailored to each group.

8. Sacred Ground: A Film-Based Dialogue Series on Race & Faith

This multimedia digital curriculum enables adults to learn more about the history of race and racism in the U.S. and to examine that history critically in conversation with their faith. The curriculum illuminates the histories and experiences of Indigenous, Black, Latinx/Latine, and Asian/Pacific people on this land and addresses topics like European colonization, the Doctrine of Discovery, white supremacy, the model minority myth, mass incarceration, and racial trauma. The curriculum uses documentaries and other videos as well as downloadable reading selections, which can be accessed for free on the curriculum website. Sessions may take up to 2 hours to complete (and can be longer with options for sharing a meal and viewing the videos together), but length and format can be tailored to each group.

Note: The required reading for the curriculum includes two books that are not free.

9. Teen Compass Faith & Wellness

This curriculum helps youth explore wellness in their own lives. It incorporates story examples, scripture, group discussion, journaling, and prayer to enable youth to reflect on what wellness means in relation to Christian faith and to create goals for practicing wellness. The curriculum is designed for a minimum of 26 sessions, and the scope and sequence contains 8 units on different components of wellness with 3 lessons in each unit.

  • Age group(s): middle and high school youth
  • Publisher and date: Living Compass, 2016 (not affiliated with a specific denomination)
  • Number of lessons: 27

10. Transforming Questions

This curriculum is designed to help adults grapple with key questions about faith and life. It seeks to make space for asking questions and being formed and transformed through the asking. The topics treated include questioning faith, Jesus’s identity, how to read the Bible, what happens after death, and more. Lessons involve leader presentations and small group discussions with the option for extending a 60-minute session with a 30-minute meal together.

Note: While the curriculum is free, the curriculum’s companion book is not a free resource.

Devotional Resources (Updated May 2025)

1. The BIG Way of Love for Kids / El GRAN Camino del Amor para Niños / La GRANDE voie de l’amour pour les enfants

This resource for children’s formation is a deck of playing cards that children can use, with or without an adult, to apply the Way of Love to their daily lives. The cards provide prayers, conversation prompts, and activity ideas that correlate with the seven practices of the Way of Love. They are designed to be a flexible and mobile resource for engaging faith at home, outdoors, at church, and beyond. They also offer multiple options so that the cards may be accessible to both young and older children as well as to children at various developmental stages, and they are available online for free as digital downloads in English, Spanish, and French. For more details and ideas for using this resource, check out Kristin LeMay’s Building Faith article “‘The BIG Way of Love for Kids’: A Child-Centered Formation Resource.”

Note: Printed versions of the card decks are also available for purchase at Forward Movement.

  • Age group(s): children ages 2 – 10, intergenerational
  • Publisher and date: The Episcopal Church, in partnership with Forward Movement, 2024
  • Additional details: deck includes 76 cards; additional free accompanying resources are available on the BIG Way of Love website linked above

2. d365

This daily digital devotional for youth and adults follows the Revised Common Lectionary and guides participants through five steps: “pause,” “listen,” “think,” “pray,” and “go.” The devotions include an opportunity for centering, scripture passages, meditations with reflection questions, prayer, and a practice to try. The site also provides an option to listen to music while using the devotional. You can access it through their mobile app or a web browser.

3. Forward Day by Day

This devotional follows the Daily Office Lectionary in “The Book of Common Prayer” and Revised Common Lectionary and provides daily meditations that connect with scripture. Entries feature a scripture verse, daily scripture references, a short meditation or story, a prompt for reflection or action, and a call to pray for churches and dioceses throughout the world. It is available for free in several different ways: daily emails (to which you can subscribe for English or Spanish versions), daily podcast episodes, mobile app, daily prayer website in English or in Spanish, and a Braille edition.

Note: Printed and e-book versions in English or Spanish are also available through paid subscriptions.

4. Praying in Color Templates

Sybil MacBeth has created several free resources to complement her book “Praying in Color: Drawing a New Path to God” (Paraclete, updated 2019). These resources include guides for teaching adults and children how to “pray in color,” a practice developed by MacBeth that involves writing, drawing, and coloring to offer prayers and thanksgivings to God. They also include tips for using praying in color with “Lectio Divina” and collections of printable templates for practicing praying in color any time of year as well as during the seasons of Advent and Lent.

Note: The book “Praying in Color” is not a free resource.

Seasonal Resources (Updated May 2025)

1. AdventWord

This digital resource is an interactive Advent calendar that not only offers a word and meditation for each day of Advent, but also invites people to develop and share their own creative expressions for the word of the day through photos, reflections, and more. The daily meditations are accessible for free by email or at the AdventWord website linked above. For a host of ideas on engaging AdventWord, check out Miriam Willard McKenney’s article “Ways to Use AdventWord.”

2. The Good Book Club (varies between Epiphany, Lent, Summer)

This online program is like an asynchronous daily Bible reading challenge for adults. It provides an opportunity to read a book of the Bible with others during a season of the church year. The program includes free daily reflections that you can receive by email. It can be a useful resource to engage individually, with a partner, or in a Bible study group.

  • Age group(s): adults
  • Publisher and date: Forward Movement, ongoing (The Episcopal Church)
  • Additional details: amount of recommended daily reading can vary by biblical book and length of the season; see the website for reading schedules from previous years

3. Journeying the Way of Love Advent Curriculum & Calendar / Recorriendo el Camino del Amor Currículo de Adviento y Calendario / Cheminement sur la Voie de l’Amour Programme de l’Avent et Calendrier

These resources enable adults to bring the Way of Love into the season of Advent. The curriculum draws upon Luke 1 – 2 to illuminate the Way of Love practices. Lessons are designed for 60-minute sessions and include prayers, scripture readings, and questions for group discussion. The curriculum and calendar are both available for digital download in English, Spanish, and French.

  • Age group(s): adults (curriculum); adults and intergenerational (calendar)
  • Publisher and date: The Episcopal Church, 2018; ongoing for calendar editions
  • Additional details: curriculum contains 4 lessons; calendars are updated annually

4. Life Transformed: The Way of Love in Lent Curriculum & Calendar / Una Vida Transformada: El Camino del Amor para la Cuaresma / La Vie Transformée: La Voie de l’Amour dans le Carême

These resources are designed to bring the Way of Love into the season of Lent. The curriculum uses the Easter Vigil scripture lessons to explore the practices of the Way of Love. Lessons involve prayers, scripture readings, teaching commentaries, and group discussion questions. The curriculum and calendar are both available for digital download in English, Spanish, and French, and the website also provides an additional free curriculum in all three languages for a Lenten quiet day.

  • Age group(s): adults (curriculum); adults and intergenerational (calendar)
  • Publisher and date: The Episcopal Church, 2019; ongoing for calendar editions
  • Additional details: curriculum contains 7 lessons; calendars are updated annually

5. Living Well through Advent & Living Well through Lent / Vivir un buen Adviento y Vivir una buena Cuaresma

In preparation for Advent and Lent, Living Compass regularly publishes daily devotionals that bring a focus on wellness to the liturgical seasons. The devotionals are available in English and in Spanish, and they can be downloaded as PDFs or received via daily emails for free.

Note: Printed versions are also available for purchase on the Living Compass website.

  • Age group(s): adults
  • Publisher and date: Living Compass, new releases annually (not affiliated with a specific denomination)
  • Additional details: facilitator guides to accompany the devotionals are also offered for free as downloadable PDFs for individual or group use

6. Preparing to Become the Beloved Community (Advent & Lent) / Preparación para convertirse en la Amada Comunidad (Adviento y Cuaresma) / Preparation a la Conversion en Communauté Bien-Aimee (Avent et Carême)

These curricula engage the seasons of Advent and Lent through the theology and practices of Becoming Beloved Community. They combine scriptures that follow the Revised Common Lectionary with the four key practices of Becoming Beloved Community: “Telling the Truth,” “Proclaiming the Dream,” “Repairing the Breach,” and “Practicing the Way.” Lessons are designed for 45-minute sessions and include prayers, scripture readings, reflections, discussion questions, and group activities. The Advent lessons also involve a lighting of the Advent wreath candles. Curricula for both seasons in all three lectionary years are available to download in English, Spanish, and French.

  • Age group(s): adults
  • Publisher and date: The Episcopal Church, 2021 – 2024
  • Additional details: both Advent and Lent curricula contain 5 lessons for all three lectionary years

7. Room in the Inn: Ideas for Celebrating Posadas / Lugar en el mesón: Ideas para celebrar posadas (Advent)

This resource is a guide to help communities better understand and celebrate the Latin American tradition of Las Posadas, which usually takes place between December 16–24. The guide describes the tradition along with its theological significance, and it includes a host of ideas, best practices, and resource recommendations plus music for organizing Posadas and building relationships among Anglo and Latinx/Latine communities in your context. The resource is available as a free digital download in English and in Spanish. For more on the history and meaning of Posadas, see Yuriria Rodríguez’s article published in Spanish and English versions: “Celebrando los dones de Dios para todo el mundo: El significado y la invitación de Las Posadas” and “Celebrating God’s Gifts for All People: The Meaning and Invitation of Las Posadas.”

8. Stations of the Cross: An LGBTQIA+ Lenten Journey (Lent, Holy Week)

This digital printable resource offers a Stations of the Cross liturgy that invites participants to contemplate the story of Jesus’s death through the lenses of LGBTQIA+ lives and experiences. It features 16 stations based on scripture, some of which overlap the traditional stations, and each includes a scripture reading, artwork, short reflection with a question prompt, and prayer. You can also download their printer-friendly version for free.

Additional Resources (Updated May 2025)

1. Becoming Beloved Community Where You Are / Convertirse en la amada comunidad allí donde esté

This free PDF is a hub of resources and ideas for getting started and going further in the racial and social justice movement toward Becoming Beloved Community. It lays out the theological and practical commitments of the movement and offers links to information like training programs, a racial justice audit handout, pilgrimages, and websites about the work that communities are doing toward justice, reparations, and reconciliation. While this document is grounded in the Episcopal Church’s particular approach to seeking racial justice, a number of the resources can be helpful for communities affiliated with other church denominations as well. Both English and Spanish versions of the downloadable PDF can be accessed through the links above.

  • Age group(s): adults
  • Publisher and date: The Episcopal Church, English edition updated 2024, Spanish edition updated 2021

2. Ministry Planning Calendar

This digital printable monthly calendar is designed to make it easier for ministry leaders to plan programs and events in their communities. It includes links to helpful online resources like the lectionary and offers tips and ideas to prepare for both the current month and events happening in future months. At the link above, you can access the calendar PDF as well as an instructions document for getting started. For more on this free resource, see Heidi J. A. Carter’s article “A Free Tool for Formation Planning: The Ministry Planning Calendar.”

3. Truth, Healing, and Repair: A Christian Call to Environmental Justice and Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples

This resource is a digital downloadable booklet that engages the legacy of colonization and ecological destruction with Indigenous people and nations at the center. It highlights churches’ complicity in the harm and oppression that Indigenous peoples and their lands have endured, and it illuminates various ways for churches to get involved in restorative justice with Indigenous peoples and the earth. The booklet’s focus on California may be particularly helpful for residents and communities in that context, but it is nevertheless instructive for people in communities across the U.S. and offers reflection prompts for discerning resonances and applications to other contexts. Although this resource is not a formal curriculum with lesson plans, its information is organized into several different sections with an opening exploration of the story of Zacchaeus in Luke’s gospel, which can make this booklet a useful resource around which to construct a formation series.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on July 31, 2024. Its formatting has been updated and more resources have been added for its republication on May 14, 2025.

Featured image is by Josh Appel on Unsplash

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