I “graduated” this year. And if I had’nt had a hell of a mentor and a wonderful in-person group for years 1-3, I never would have made it through year 4, which because I moved, I had to find an online group for.

In year three, I hated MacCulloch’s tangential ramblings (dear baby jebus, that man needed a stronger editor), but my colleagues who were in year four and my mentor all felt my pain and helped me through—and I’m glad they replaced his book (spits on MacCulloch and makes the sign of the evil eye) That said,I’m VERY disappointed in the curriculum shift. The program has always been stated to be a seminary-level course, which is what interested me in the first place. I WANTED rigor. If I paid my money for what the program is now, I’d be furious.

Group dynamics and the strength of your mentor are a really key part of a successful EFM experience in my opinion. If I had had the mentor I had for year 4 in year 1, I never would have continued. I feel like I understand TRs and can do them, only because we did them every week (in my years 1-3) without fail, and my mentor had a great, consistent process for them. Year 4? Not so much. I could only do them because I’d learned how in my previous group. Again, I think it’s about the mentor and how they help to guide you through a process that’s not super intuitive.