It’s Planning Season!

April 27, 2015April 27, 2015Leave a comment

Sharon Ely Pearson shares some excellent ideas here on planning for next academic year’s educational ministry programs. I thank her for permission to reblog this post from earlier this month.

Rows of Sharon

All the planning, implementation, and celebrations of Holy Week and Easter Sunday are now a joyful memory, and those of you working in a congregation have hopefully had a quiet week of reflection and rest. But there is no rest for the weary . . . it’s time to begin evaluating this past year and begin planning for the next program year.

A checklist for the coming weeks:

Collect feedback from volunteer leaders and teachers about what worked and what needs improvement. Plan how you will be recognizing and giving thanks to all those who have given their time and talents this past academic year.
Begin the discernment process for calling new teachers and volunteers for next year.
Evaluate the programs and the resources you have been using. Do they need tweaking or refreshment? Poll participants, including children and youth, about what they have found memorable and life-giving over the past…

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Quicksheets for Youth Ministry

April 14, 2015Leave a comment

Quicksheets are free quality resources for youth ministry produced by the Presbyterian Church (USA). They are designed to offer quick practical resources for youth leaders and parents of youth. Some of the more recent titles are also available in Spanish language versions. Gina Yeager-Buckley and a team of writers and editors offer new Quicksheets each year. Here’s the link to the complete listing that begins with the most recent.

Two titles that may be especially timely are Faithfully Simple Living by Beth Greaves– a great series of ideas especially appropriate leading into Earth Day and Summer Ideas by Christy Williams and Shannon Guse–giving you many ideas for crafting quick and meaningful lessons for youth during the summer months.

Kathy Dawson, Associate Professor of Christian Education, Columbia Theological Seminary

Climate Justice

March 26, 2015June 16, 2015Leave a comment

Dana Waters is a current Masters of Divinity Student at Columbia Theological Seminary. He also serves in youth ministry. This lesson plan speaks to the conversation we are having in the Facebook group today on Christian Education beyond the walls of the church.

I created this lesson plan after I realized that everyone in my youth group had learned about climate change at school and many other places, but it had never been discussed at church– not even once. How could this be? Continue reading →

Biblical Storytelling

March 25, 2015June 16, 20151 Comment

Here is something new that isn’t really all that new to “try” – biblical storytelling.

I am part of a liturgical biblical storytelling troupe, whose members “tell” the gospel story (or another of the lectionary text) each week during worship.

Biblical Storytelling is reclaiming the ancient practice- when most of the world was illiterate- of telling the stories of the bible. Biblical Storytelling is the rediscovered ancient art of oral performance of the scriptural text. It’s the way the stories of the bible were always intended to be heard — the way they always were heard before they were written down, and even for centuries after that. Continue reading →

Childhood and Religion Journal

March 19, 2015June 16, 20151 Comment

Launched in 2010, the Journal of Childhood and Religion is a peer-reviewed, free, online journal that provides an interdisciplinary forum for scholars representing a wide range of research fields, interests, and perspectives that relate to children and religion. Such fields include religious studies, biblical studies, the range of human sciences, pastoral psychology, practical theology, pastoral theology, religious education, psychology of religion, sociology of religion, counseling psychology, social work, and cultural studies. JCR publishes articles dealing with childhood, youth, adolescence, and young adulthood, recognizing that these terms operate differently in a variety of cultural contexts. The journal welcomes original scholarship by recognized experts in their respective fields, but also seeks submissions from junior scholars as well as practitioners in work that supports children. Continue reading →

Next Church Conference

March 17, 2015Leave a comment

On March 16, 2015, we looked at a database of Christian Educators of the 20th Century. Today we focus on emerging leaders in the church, specifically the Presbyterian Church (USA) and what they may be thinking about educational ministry and faith formation for the present and future church. The Next Church movement is a network of leaders in the PC(USA) committed to hopeful conversations and reflections on ministry that is more relational, diverse, and collaborative. They host an annual conference and regional gatherings to carry out their mission. If you want to catch this year’s annual conference that began yesterday, they are offering live streaming on their website. There are also members of our Hope4CE Facebook group in attendance this year, who will be contributing their insights via Twitter, Facebook, or through this site.

A portion of this conference is set aside to present short Ignite talks (no more than seven minutes) that detail innovative ideas on a variety of topics. One of these talks from last year, by Landon Whitsitt is linked here. It launched a site of free resources (short videos with accompanying study guides) for new member and church officer training called Theocademy. Although designed specifically to address theology and polity in the Reformed tradition, they may be useful to others beyond the PC(USA) or to “ignite” your own ideas regarding educational ministry for these groups.

I wonder how you address new member and officer training in your church or denomination.

Kathy Dawson, Associate Professor of Christian Education, Columbia Theological Seminary

Christian Educators of the 20th Century Project

March 16, 2015June 16, 2015Leave a comment

The Christian Educators of the 20^th Century project was funded by the Lilly Endowment and is a web-based database. This site provides entries on about 200 Christian education leaders of the 20^th century who had a significant impact on the field of Christian education in North America. It has entries on Catholic, Protestant (mainline and evangelical), and Orthodox Christian education leaders, including: pictures, biographical essays, essays on their contributions to the field of Christian education, bibliographies of their publications, excerpts of their writings, and a beginning reading list for those who have never read anything by them. Continue reading →

Interfaith Dialogue

March 13, 2015June 16, 2015Leave a comment

We are at the height of living through the Christian holy days of Lent and Easter. At the same time, we may find ourselves in conversations with people of other faiths who may not understand what we are celebrating or why it is important to Christians. In the same manner we may not fully understand our Jewish brothers and sisters in their Passover celebrations or our Hindu neighbors in their Holi celebrations at this same time of year.

How do we begin to understand the diversity of faith expressions that surround us here in the United States? What are helpful ways of teaching and learning about others’ religious traditions and beliefs, as well as explaining our own Christian faith to them? Continue reading →

Holy Week for Children

March 12, 2015June 16, 2015Leave a comment

Many people around the web seem to be searching for resources to help explain the core stories of our faith, celebrated during Holy Week, to young children. In their inquiries I hear a fear and reluctance to talk to children about death and resurrection. Sometimes we hide this fear in metaphor by talking about dogwood blossoms or butterflies, but metaphors are confusing for most children. We will not scare children by talking about death. It surrounds them in the natural world. They play it dramatically in their games. Many see it within their families and community. The fear is more on the part of adults trapped in the cultural taboo of not discussing death, than it is in the minds and hearts of children. Continue reading →

Earth Education Resources

March 11, 2015Leave a comment

Cindy Coe, Episcopal Educator and member of the Hope4CE Facebook group is generously sharing her resources on earth education from a spiritual perspective with Hope4CE. She is especially interested in partnering with churches and camps who may want to pilot these resources currently in draft form and then give her feedback as they move toward publication. Thank you, Cindy for your generosity.

Curriculum Resources for Episcopal Organizations.

hope4ce

A place where innovative ideas and lesson plans can be shared for Christian Education

Category: Teacher Resources