Fall 2010 Episcopal Teacher

8/8/2019 Fall 2010 Episcopal Teacher

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Partnership Enhances

Work/Study Mission Trip

Page 6 Advent Festival

Page 8 Stations of the Nativity

Page 12 Finding the Essentials

Fll 2010 s Vl. 23, N. 1



Episcopal Teacher · Fall 2010

Editorial

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dtss Knbllty S. Lntum

We are entering a new era for Episcopal Teacher. Subscribers now can reca full-color publication in the mail or by email. When we asked your delipreference, about half signed up for email distribution—some expressing re

but wanting to be good stewards, practicing what they preached.

The rst issue of Episcopal Teacher was published in November 1986 as a moly newspaper tabloid with 16 pages. The rst editor, the Rev. Locke Bowmwas also the rst director for the Center for the Ministry of Teaching at VirgSeminary. The subscription cost was $10 a year.

Our subscribers asked us to consider a dierent format that would be easier to store and reence. In 1999 Episcopal Teacher underwent a major face li. It became a 16-page magazine-s

publication that was issued four times a year at no cost to subscribers.The seminary picked up the cost to continue its strong support of Christian education inEpiscopal Church. The coeditors of the revised publication were Amy Gearey Dyer and GeoKroupa, familiar names to our long-time readers for their thoughtful contributions over the yeCurrent editors are Lisa Kimball and Dorothy Linthicum.

As I leafed through past issues recently, the words of the wise Teacher in the Book of Ecclesiacame to mind:

What has been is what will be,and what has been done iswhat will be done;there is nothing new under the sun. (Eccl. 1:9)

In photos hair styles, fabrics and skirt lengths have changed over the years, but the smiles eagerness of children vary lile. Seasonal ideas dier slightly with cultural shis and new tnology, but the gospel message presented through Christian formation is consistent through

Though Episcopal Teacher may have a new style and look, it will continue to include the conyou have come to expect. We will write about topics facing educators in the church and supissues such as the Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation. We will share ideas from educathroughout the country about seasonal and other formation activities—in this issue alonehave writers from South Carolina, Oklahoma (by way of Alabama), Massachuses, Iowa, Psylvania, North Carolina, and Virginia. We will review new publications and curricula that mimpact your ministries.

Several new features have been added, including a list of Christian formation conferences workshops and suggested resources from the Key Hall Resource Room.

We encourage you to share Episcopal Teacher with people in your congregations, especially thserving as teachers, mentors and leaders of Christian formation groups. The publication isfree, and you have a choice of delivery: mail or email. (See p. 15 for subscription information

If you have ideas to share, please contact us. The quality of the content relies heavily on the tributions so many of you have made through the years. While there may not be anything under the sun, there will always be new directors, superintendents and teachers looking forative ways to tell others the Good News. —DSL

EpiScopaL TEachErEmbarks on a New Er

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EVENTAround the CounFor more information about theseevents and others, go to:vts.edu/cmt/events

Otobr 10-13, 2010Generous in Every Way: Growing a Fully Formed FaithWestern Christian Educators’Conference

Zephyr Point, Lake Tahoe, NVwesternceconf.org/

Otobr 22-25, 2010 Holy Spirit, Wild and FreeChristian Educators’ FellowshipBiennial Conference

Louisville, KYcefumc.org/displayconvention.cfm

Fbruary 3-5, 2011Equipping the Saints for the Workof Ministry

Naeced Tapestry ConferenceCharloe, NCnaeced.org/conferenceoverview

This is a new feature in EpiscopalTeacher. To post information aboutan event that is open to participantthroughout the country on the CMwebpage or in Episcopal Teacher ,contact [email protected].

From Key Hall

ResOuRces

3

hildrabel. Albert. Las Posadas: A Christmas Musical for Children from theMexican Tradition. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2007.Las Posados introduces a creative and diverse way to celebrate theChristmas story in song and drama.

Youth rooks, Bryan. Mission: Christmas—Youth Programs &

Ideas for Advent. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005.Five programs for Sunday school, youth groups, orBible study, with service projects, plans for parties,and worship ideas.

trratioalohansson, Lois J. Hands And Hearts : Intergenerational ActivitiesThroughout the Church Year. Harrisburg: Morehouse, 2006.Easy-to-follow instruction for activities based on the liturgical year tohelp congregations experience faith-based learning together.

Adulthuman, Thom M. (Iona Community). The Jesse Tree: Daily Readings for Advent. Glasgow: Wild Goose, 2005.Introduces lile-known biblical characters who are “branches” on the

Jesse tree.

For a omplt lit of rour, o to: vt.du/mt/rour.

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Episcopal Teacher · www.vts.edu

iscopal Teacher is the newsleer of the Center for the Ministry of Teaching locatedthe campus of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA. It is printed foures a year. For information: 703-461-1885

mber of Associated Church Press. ISSN 0895-0830

th covr: Mission group at Pamunkey Reservation in King William, Virginia;p. 4 for story. Illustrations on pages 7 and 12 are copyrighted by Communicationsources, Inc. and are used with permission. Photo of beads on page 9 by Maea.




By Malida collir

Parishes with small groups face dif-culties in planning activities suchas summer youth mission trips. Oneoption is signing on with a pack-aged program organized outsidethe parish. Another option is topartner with another church.

This summer 12 teens and youngadults from St. Mark’s, Richmond,and Trinity Episcopal, Fredericks- burg joined together to work and

serve at the Pamunkey Reservationin King William, Virginia, the lastweek in June. The partnership re-sulted from a friendship that beganat Virginia Theological Seminaryand strengthened through diocesancommiee work.

Vicky Koch, Director of ChristianEducation at Trinity, began working

with Nellie Adkins, educator andmember of the Chickahominy tribe,

who extended an invitation to bringa group of young people to thePamunkey Reservation. MalindaCollier, Director of Christian Educa-tion at St. Mark’s, learned about thetrip in January and quickly realizedthat it meshed with her hopes toprovide a service/learning week forthe St. Mark’s youth group.

This was the rst time the tribe hadinvited an outside group to the

reservation. Teaching the youngpeople from Richmond and Fred-ricksburg about Native Americantraditions was a primary goal. Ad-kins played a key role in planningthe trip, meeting with Koch andCollier several times to discuss theeducational activities of the missionweek.

The group was asked to help wilandscaping the reservation’s mus

um and historic schoolhouse. Theplanted shrubs, weeded, edged,mulched, and trimmed bushes. Athe same time, Adkins introducedthe young people to ethno-botanynative food ways, language, andculture.

Through Adkins’ eorts, the grouwas invited to visit the NativeAmerican center at William & MaCollege in Williamsburg where

doctoral candidate Ashley Atkinsa member of the Pamunkey Tribe,along with Dr. Danielle Morei-Langholtz, head of the center, led“material culture” lesson about thlife of Virginia Native Americans

Material culture is a way of extraplating meaning from objects basedon context and cultural assumptio

4

Partnership Enhances Work/Study Mission Tri



Episcopal Teacher · www.vts.eduEpiscopal Teacher · www.vts.edu

Cover Story

5

before actually learningabout them. Participantsdid hands-on work withartifacts and looked atdocuments of the Virginiaand western tribes bothpast and present.

A second visit to Wil-liamsburg oered anothermaterial cultural lessonand a walking tour ofGloucester Street, a pri-mary thoroughfare, withBuck Woodard, head ofColonial Williamsburg’sNative American Initiative.He told the group storiesabout important places

and events associatedwith Virginia tribes andthe colonial capital. Bothtrips provided fascinatinglessons about a past thatwas unknown to most andoen distorted in history books and popular culture.

The week ended at thereservation with an eve-ning of storytelling, drumming

and songs led by the chief, whoalso taught the group ceremonialdances. The group le the Pamun-key Reservation with thegreatest gi, an invitationto return to both serve andgrow in relationship withtheir native neighbors andfriends.

Key to the success of the part-nership was the trust shared by

the leadership team, the simi-larity of the cultures of the twoparishes, an equitable divisionof labor and responsibility forthe trip, and the willingness ofparticipants to both learn andserve. The education compo-nent resulted in an untypical“pound nails and paint walls”mission trip.

Another key factor in planninga trip involving another culture

is having a representative of thatgroup on the leadership team.Because the Diocese of Virginia

is interested in oering similartrips next summer, the leadership

team is writing a curriculum andprogram plan that can be used byother groups.

If you would like to know moreabout this week of service andlearning, contact Collier or Kochat the email addresses below. Theywould be happy to share theiradventure.

Wingapo Naptapewah! (Algonquin

for: “Greetings my dear friends andfamily!”)

Malinda Collier is Director of Chris-tian Education, St. Mark’s, Richmond,dre@stmarksrichmond; Vicky Koch

is Director of Christian Education,Trinity, Fredericksburg, [email protected].

Key to the success of the partnership was

the trust shared by theleadership team, thesimilarity of the cul-

tures of the twoparishes, an equitabledivision of labor andresponsibility for the

trip, and the willingnessof participants to both

learn and serve.




Start Holiday SeasonWith Advent Festival

Advent

6

By Allio Aki

Going counter-cultural gets harder each Advent. Theads start rolling before Jack-O-Lanterns even have achance to greet trick-or-treaters. What can a parishdo?

Consider oering an Advent Festival to help pa-rishioners discover alternative ways to observe theweeks leading to Christmas. At an Advent Festival,they can focus on the power of preparing for a greatcelebration with meaningful purchases, intentionalcreativity, and acts of generosity that reach beyond

the self to a broken world.This year the rst Sunday in Advent falls immediate-ly aer the Thanksgiving holiday, as it typically does.St. Martin’s, Columbia, SC, schedules its festival onthe second Sunday in Advent, honoring the need forfamilies to be out of town.

The festival has stations for all ages, including onefor the Cathedral bookstore, where books and lovelyAdvent gis are available for purchase. Shoppersare told in advance that all proceeds benet mission

projects.

Other stations include a place for children to deco-rate placemats for local nursing homes and to ll

holiday containers with Russian tea to be given toshut-ins or visitors during the Advent season. Tablesfor mission organizations oer alternative gis sug-gestions to address great need in the world: Epis-

copal Relief and Development, the Heifer Project,and a local ministry that serves the community werefeatured at last year’s festival. Each organization pro-vided catalogs, brochures and gi cards for people totake home aer the festival.

The festival also includes a sampling of Bishop’sBlend coees (available through Episcopal Relief andDevelopment), which support fair trade practices.Another station children make cinnamon clay orna-ments to give as gis. The pungent aroma of cin-

namon serves as incense, creating holy space wherepeople are doing God’s work, waiting and preparingtheir hearts for the newborn king.

Advt Ftival Tip

•Plan early; determine sta-tions and supplies needed.

•Focus on ways to movepeople toward the deepermeaning of giving in thename of the Christ child.

•Include a welcome stationto greet aendees; provideeach person a map of thestations.

•Create table cards to markeach station. Provide clearinstructions so people knowand understand what theywill be doing. Assign help-ers for each table.




Advent

7

•Create handouts about Advent web-sites along with information aboutactivities families can do at home.These can be available at the welcomestation or another area.

•Play music and provide simple holi-day refreshments to add to the festivefeel of the occasion.

Allison Askins is Director of Children andFamily Ministries at St. Martin’s–in-the-

Fields Episcopal Church, Columbia, SC.

Blessingof the

Stockings

For an Advent gathering, bring a nativity set that is neasily breakable. Put the gures in a basket and passthe basket around the circle. Ask each person to selecthe gure that they most identify with in the Christmstory.

With hildr: Consider doing this activity aer

reading the Nativity story together as you introduceplans for a Christmas pageant.

With youth: Use this activitiy to open worship andprayer. Aer sharing, ask each person repeat “ComeLord Jesus” as gures are placed in the creche seing

With adult: Aer doing this activity, ask participanto share what the seasons of Advent and Christmasmean to them, or what they wished they mean forthem and their families. — Amy Cook

Gathering

As part of a parish’s focus onAdvent, consider a Blessing of theStockings.

At this occasion, follow a simpleliturgy with an invitation to thechildren to bring their stockings to be blessed. The service works par-ticularly well if you also includean outreach component such as

stung stockings for the SalvationArmy. Aer both types of stock-ings are blessed, have a conversa-tion about the power of giving insecret.

At St. Martin’s, our Blessing of theStockings is held on St. NicholasDay aer lessons about the gener-ous bishop who gave in secret sothose without would have whatthey needed.

— Allison Askins



statio Thm How Prtd

1 Zechariah Drama – Zechariah and angel

2 The Annunciation Storytelling

3 Visitation to Elizabeth Drama – Mary and Elizabeth

4 Birth of John the Baptist Scripture reading

5 Joseph’s Dream Scripture reading and meditation

6 Birth of Jesus Scripture reading and music

7 Shepherds and Angels Drama – Shepherds and angels

8 Shepherds at the Manger Scripture reading. Artwork – ceramic angels, shepherds and sheep

9 Circumcision or Naming of Jesus Banner with names of Jesus; recorded meditation

10 Magi Drama: Magi with three gis – gold, frankincense and myrrh

11 Presentation at the Temple Storytelling

12 Flight into Egypt Scripture reading with a display of maps and a suitcase

13 Massacre of the Innocents Scripture reading with a display of a sword

14 Return to Nazareth Scripture reading and meditation


The Seasons

The Stations of the Nativity have been an Advent tradition at St. John’s, Montgomery, Alabama, for sev-eral years. Each year, it changes as dierent groups both add to it and take away from it. Last Christ-mas was the rst year the congregation actually “traveled” throughout the building.

In previous years, everything took place in the nave with symbols of the Infancy Narrativein the windows. In 2009, however, the creators wanted to make the experience more child-friendly and allow everyone to see the stations in a dierent way.

The fourteen stations take the congregationthrough the entire Advent/Christmas season,

beginning with the angel appearing to Zecha-riah and ending with the Holy Family return-ing to Nazareth. Two narrators read scriptureat each station, except those with a storytellerusing material from Catechesis of the GoodShepherd or Godly Play.

Stations with dramatic presentations had sev-eral participants, who were asked to portray

specic characters, reading their parts andresponding to questions as best they could.Station “travelers” moved from place to place

Congregation ExploresS N

8

By sabria eva



Liturgical New Year’s Bracelets are a tangible way for parishioners ofall ages to remember the seasons of the church.

suppli•

Beads to match the colors of the liturgical year (see below). “Pony beads” are an inexpensive choice that are easily found at cra storesor online.

•Elastic (yarn or twine can also be used) for stringing the beads.Remember that young children will probably need help with tyingand knoing the yarn or string.

Dirtio1. Cut a length of string or elastic to t around each person’s wrist,

leaving enough extra to tie into knot2. Thread beads on in order of liturgical seasons:

Blue Advent

White Christmas DayGreen EpiphanyPurple LentRed Palm Sunday

Black Good Friday

White EasterRed PentecostGreen Ordinary Time

3. Tie o and wear.

To enhance the project, set up a dierent table for each season anddisplay the liturgical color and several seasonal objects, such as astar for Epiphany and prayer beads for Lent. — Amy Cook

BeADIng THe seAsOns


The Seasons

Photo by Diane Harrington

Children, youth and adults at Grace Cathedral, Topeka, Kansas, dressed in elaborate costumes last Janu-ary as part of an Epiphany pageant. Three children who were dressed as kings were carried in proces-sion on liers to the altar on the shoulders of adult members of the congregation.

following a star with an elec-tric candle inside. Some loca-tions were outside the church,such as the station where angels

proclaim the Good News to theshepherds.

Aer the experience, the organiz-ers realized just how much thechildren’s involvement added tothis event. A larger crowd thananticipated aended the stationspresentation and from their com-ments seemed to be thoroughlypleased.

The program at St. John’s wasoriginally adapted from the Ser-vice by Raymond Chapman andseveral of the stations used themeditations from this book.

Sabrina Evans is now the Directorof Christian Formation at the Dio-cese of Oklahoma.

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By M War

“An individual has not started livinguntil he can rise above the narrow con- nes of his individualistic concerns tothe broader concerns of all humanity.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Despite all of the demands placed

on families’ time, many are willingto give up a day o for a chance toserve others if given the opportuni-ty. Trinity Episcopal Church, IowaCity, has found a creative way toprovide that opportunity.

When we began hosting a serviceevent on Martin Luther King Day,we wanted to engage the childrenat our church in a service projectthey could participate in alongside

their parents. We quickly foundthat there were no opportunities forvolunteers under 16 in our commu-nity; so we decided to host our own.We asked people of all ages to cometo our church to sew quilts, knithats and gloves, cut eece scarves, bake food, and assemble toiletrykits – all for Shelter House, our lo-cal homeless shelter. Parishionerswere joined by university students,

retirees, elected ocials, and chil-dren of all ages who came togetherto serve the needs of people theymight never meet.

All of the materials were donated by our church, community, and lo-cal businesses. We asked for yarn,fabric of all sizes, sewing supplies, baking supplies, and travel size toi-letries. We thought we might get

a handfulof peoplethe rstyear ande n o u g hs u p p l i e sto keep

them busy.I n s t e a d ,volunteershave numbered in the hundredsand this year we produced 9 quilts,84 toiletry kits, 2 hats, 24 scarves, 6head warmers, 6 loaves of bread, 10dozen muns, and 3 dozen granola bars—all for Shelter House.

All day in dierent rooms in thechurch children worked along-side adults tying quilts, decoratingquilt squares with fabric markers,stung toiletry bags, and learningto knit, sew and bake. All of thechildren’s quilt squares were sewninto toddler and child quilts for theyoungest guests at Shelter House.

People of all ages shared their sew-ing machines, kniing needles aswell as their knowledge, love, and

passion for sewing, kniing, andcooking. Everyone, regardless ofskill or previous knowledge, couldsort toiletries into comfort kits con-sisting of toothpaste, toothbrush,shampoo, soap, lotion, etc.

Consider turning your church intoa site for service next MLK day. Bea place where people of all ages cancome together as part of the Na-

tional Day of Service. Start with aneed in your community and bringpeople together to brainstorm waysthat you could be creative in meet-ing that need. Visit www.serve.govand www.mlkday.gov to registeryour project and receive tips, sam-ple press releases, and ideas to helpyou organize and promote your

service day.

What we discovered was that ourDay of Service beneted those whocame to serve every bit as much asit did the temporary residents atShelter House. As Dr. King said“Everybody can be great… becauseanybody can serve. You don’t haveto have a college degree to serve. Youdon’t have to make your subject andverb agree to serve. You only need a

heart full of grace. A soul generated bylove.” Everyone from the youngestto oldest volunteer that day real-ized they had plenty of grace andlove to share.

Meg Wagner is the Director of Chris-tian Formation at Trinity EpiscopaChurch in Iowa City. You may contacther for more information at:mwagnertrinityic.org.

Celebrate MLKwith National

Day of Service

Episcopal Teacher · www.vts.edu 11



By Judy gai smith

I am the last survivor of four genera-tions of my family. The task fell tome to sell the homeplace and orga-nize an aic full of memories andcluer. The task became for me ametaphor of Christian education.

As Christian education changes, thesame questions crop up—what willwe keep and what will we throwaway?

What do w kp?I challenge educators to do thesame thing. What is essential? Whatthough painful, will you let go? To be creative is to prune the tree. Hereis my list:

1.We should not give up storytelling.The faith we celebrate is the storyof God with us. Priests and min-isters proclaim the Word; educa-tors provide foundation blocks forunderstanding.

2.We should provide experiencesthat illustrate basic Christian doc-

trines: sin, atonement, justicationand sanctication. We teach morethan denitions. When we do aChristmas pageant we teach Incar-nation; when we work on a Habitathouse we experience Reconcilia-tion. We provide experiences thattake participants from their com-fort zones. We esh out the mean-ing of faith in their daily lives.

3.We play an important role in the

spiritual development of the peo-ple. That means we cannot get toocarried away with the busy-ness ofactivities. Ezra Earl Jones, for-merly of the Board of Discipleship

of the United Methodist Church,said “The world is on a spiritualquest—the church is on an activityquest.” If the church pushes ac-tivities rather than spiritual disci-plines, we create an organization ofactivities rather than people seek-ing God and being transformed byGod.

4.We are meant to be joyful Chris-tians and this is oen expressedthrough music.

What do w diard? Just as discarding family possessionsis dicult, there are some practicesthat are very hard to give up. Eventhough I have loved and still lovethese traditions, I’ll give them up ifthere is a beer way. 1.Reluctantly we need to give up

methods that we have developed

that illustrate our creativity. Noneshould ever get in the way of theSpirit. If a method works use it—otherwise let it go. This also meansgiving up preconceived notions ofhow we learn and how we weretaught to teach.

2.Be ready to give up any place ortype of place. Making space sacredis worth doing, but sacred spacecan be created out of shared space.

I have had great trouble withshared space, but I am learnin be more exible.

3.We should be ready to give upcurriculum. Writing curriculu

past 25 years has been an enjoventure, but no curriculum is important that teachers and leers.

4.We need to give up traditionaschedules and even days. I’veconcerned that we no longer ha Sabbath. What does this sayabout the Ten CommandmentBut reluctantly—it may be nesary to give up any one particday.

Job Driptio etialAer we make the dicult deciabout what to keep and what tocard, how do we describe Chriseducators? These are the tasks tare essential from my point of v

1. Pass on the stories of our faith2. Provide experiences illustrati

Christian doctrines

3. Emphasize spiritual growth4. Exemplify the joy of Christianthrough music and other mea

What does your list look like? Itly is dierent from mine. I challyou to list all your jobs as a Chreducator and then narrow it dofour things you would not give What is your passion in Christiaeducation?

C the clutter to find

the essential




The youth at the church where I worshipobserve two seasons of the year—before campand aer camp. “Before camp” starts in Janu-ary with conversations about how to decoratecabins, what it will be like to be a counselor,and whether their team will win the tourna-ment games again. It is a time of planning and joyful anticipation.

Everything points to the event--camp: sevendays of new friendships and memories out

of which a new community is birthed. Campis the hinge that opens the door to a seasonin which campers are sustained by re-tellingstories and spreading their excitement withothers who might join them next year. The“before and aer camp” calendar sustainstheir common life and welcomes others.

The liturgical calendar is similar. It gathersour Christian stories and points us to that mo-ment on the cross through which we are all

transformed into new life. Think of the litur-gical year as a loom. The threads of our livesare drawn through the we of Christ, keepingus rmly rooted in Christian spirituality.

Through Advent we are woven into joyousexpectation. During Christmas we adorn thethreads of celebration. Through Epiphany our threads, together with Jesus, reveal thewonder and love of Jesus. While in Lent our

threads endure the tugs of being drawn ina desert through which we must travel, thewe keeps us on the journey toward Jeru-salem, through death, and into the new lifeof Easter. As we look back, we can see the beauty of the whole fabric—our life withChrist with Easter as the dominant image.

We oen think of the liturgical calendar onlyas a tool to remember the life of Christ. Whatthe “before and aer camp” calendar created

by campers, however, tells us is that it is alsoa way to order our lives in a meaningful way.It can prepare us for the seasons of our ownlives and keeping us oriented toward Christ.

Hang a liturgical calendar in a prominentplace in the classroom for children andyouth. Adorn the prayer table with theliturgical colors. Begin your time togethernoticing the season and asking youth howit reects lives. Doing so will raise up the

rhythm of your common life and point theway of Christ. — Jenifer Gamber

The Church Year Calendar was created by JeniferGamber; it is available on her website, myfaith-mylife.org/home/htm. For more information aboutthe seasons, download the younger youth guide“The Episcopal Church Year” in the EpiscopalCurriculum for Youth series at vts.edu/iclf/cen-ter/published.

The Seasons

of the Church Year





Curriculum Review

sparkhou, 2010

warparkhou.omLadr guid: $39.99Additioal ot for DVD ad

tudt workbook

re:form is a curriculum that is rootedn historic Christianity, but speakso youth on their level, empoweringhem to discover for themselves

what they believe. The emphasiss on exploration as opposed tondoctrination. It is a resource for

conrmation, but it can be used inother seings.

re:form is designed to empower youtho discover for themselves what they

believe, through three components:

• eoutr by watching DVDswith 40 animated short lms thatframe theological questions thatyoung people oen ask, like “Whowrote the Bible?” and “Why does

God let bad things happen?”

• ea by using a studentworkbook devised to be a center-piece of each young person’sconrmation experience. It has

activities and ideas and space to journal and doodle.

• Rpod by making videos, takingpictures, interviewing people, andcreating objects and art that can

be uploaded to an online portfolio

— the re:form gallery — whereparticipants can share what theyhave been learning with the wholecongregation.

Each session begins with prepara-tion material for adult leaders.The background material hashistorical information and criticalinterpretations of the biblical text.Tips about adolescent developmentand culture guide leaders in the

selection of additional resourcesand appropriate teaching strategies.The three components listed abovefollow with activities, questions,suggestions and ideas.

The leader guide or website doesnot specify an age-range forthe curriculum. The topics anddiscussions in re:form are appropriatefor adolescents of all ages, but theanimated lms and many of theactivities are more suited for youngeryouth. High school conrmationleaders could still use the curricula byselecting age-appropriate activitiesand omiing the video clips. Thewebsite includes session samplesand portions of the DVDs (through

youtube). Before purchasing materialsyouth leaders should preview theavailable sessions and videos.

The curriculum was designed for var-ied denominations; congregations thattested the materials included Meth-

odists, Episcopalians, Lutherans, andPresbyterians. Specic informationabout the Episcopal Church and itstraditions would have to be added bythe leaders.

Sparkhouse, the creator of re:form, isnot directly aliated with a denomi-nation, although its materials are dis-tributed by Augsburg Fortress, a Lu-theran publishing house. Its missionstatement notes that “churches of allkinds and theological viewpoints are

struggling to be relevant - even to sur-vive.”

“We are inspired by design,” note thecreators of the re:form curriculum. “Weapproach problems in a certain waycollaboratively, with imaginationand a discipline that we considerspiritual. Our calling is to re-imagineresources…in a way that creates newvitality, change, and relevance inChristian communities.”

The program includes units about theBible, creeds, discipleship, Jesus, andother beliefs. The nal section looksat “tough questions” that youth oenask, such as “Is it okay to be angry atGod?” or “What does God think abouwar?” among others.

re:form can be customized to t a vari-ety of programs. Since most churchesdon’t have time to use all 40 lessonsconrmation leaders can select whichones to use. If they want to empha-size a point, units can be expandedinto multiple weeks to allow time forthe group to work on individual ac-tivity pages or use the student work-

book pages at the end of every unifor their own church’s activities.—DSL




PISCOPAL TEACHER

mlmenty Substn nd infmtn request Fm

u Nme: _____________________________________________________

gnztn: ____________________________________________________ ddess: ________________________________ y: ________________________________ te: ___________ Z: __________

ml addess: _____________________________

Ml ts un t: Esl Teecente f te Mnsty f Teng 3737 Semny rd

alexnd, Va 22304

Send me Esl Tee by eml

OR

Send e es f Esl Tee by ml

Ts s my pariSh ddess

Ts s my hoME ddess

Eml: [email protected]

Telene: 703-461-1888

Planning for Christian Education FormationBy Iral galido ad Marty c. caadaychali Pr, 2010halipr.omcot: $16.99

Planning for Christian Education Formation is designed

to help congregations plan and organize a Christianeducation ministry as part of Christian formation ina community of faith. Taking the vocabulary of edu-cational leaders such as Maria Harris and ThomasGroome, the authors have created an eective forma-tion process for churches of all denominations.

The authors have experience in local churches andformal academic seings. Israel Galindo is dean andprofessor of Christian education at Baptist Theologi-cal Seminary in Richmond; Marty Canaday has been acongregational educator in churches in Virginia, South

Carolina and Georgia.

They have developed a model for organizing a Chris-tian education leadership commiee or team for achurch that uses the church year as a frameworkfor planning the Christian education ministry of thechurch. The model provides a means to assess the ef-fectiveness of the educational ministry of the churchas well as a process to help congregations move to-ward a community of faith approach.

In discussing this approach, the authors note that theaributes that separate Christian teaching from otherforms of education are relationships and community.“At heart Christian education formation is not about acreed, or a book or body of knowledge, but a person: Jesus Christ. Christian formation is a product of beingin relationship with Christ in the context of the com-munity of faith: the Church (p. 23).”

Canaday notes that many“congregations have nothelped church membersadvance into deeper levels offaith maturity…congregationsthat are concerned about thismust become intentional inaddressing this spiritual formation need.”

The authors agree that a community of faith approachis more authentic and more eective than a schoolingapproach. The methodology goes from the content offaith to the practice of faith, distinguished by pedagogthat moves from passive learning to active, commiedlearning. The center of the community is always wor-ship and the Word, or liturgy. There is constant move-ment through the acts of inviting in and sending out.

While many have wrien and talked about spiritualformation needs, few have provided practical helpin changing this paradigm. This book oers a practi-cal guide to help churches embrace the fact that “allexperiences of congregational life are formative…Thecurriculum of the church has more to do with howwe structure communal life than . . .printed resourcesordered from publishing houses (p. 79).”

While many of the ideas expressed in Planning forChristian Education Formation are not new, there has been a lack of practical paradigms for turning theminto action. This book provides a way for churches ofany denomination to redene Christian education for-mation for themselves. —DSL

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Fall 2010 Episcopal Teacher

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