Sacred stories: Faith experiences of volunteer teachers in a religious education program

This study explores the relationship between faith experiences of volunteer teachers and the curriculum of religious education. The conceptual framework that guided this study was a process model of faith formation based on the understanding that formation in faith is developmental and process-oriented and influenced by life experience. A narrative methodology that incorporated in life story was chosen for the study to capture the richness, complexity, and human quality of the process of faith formation.;Interviews with four volunteer teachers were conducted over the course of 18 months and followed up with a focus group. Transcripts of the interviews and the focus group were reviewed and analyzed using the constant comparative case study method. Themes that emerged from the analysis of the data were viewed in the context of each participant's life story and summarized.;The findings of this study affirm the theory that faith formation is a process that involves life experience. The curriculum that participants developed and delivered was influenced by the interaction of the teachers with their belief systems as their beliefs and faiths were formed by their life experiences.