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A Stimulus Plan for Sunday School

August 20, 2009 By Colin Kerr 5 Comments

Religious education is in the same shape as Detroit automakers.

Gone are the days when it was a cultural norm that every child would go to confirmation and every adult would dutifully attend Sunday School before church. According to the Barna Group, a pollster of American religious trends, Church attendance has remained fairly steady in the last decade, but Sunday School participation is slowly going the way of the buffalo. Churches have tried all sorts of gimmicks to reverse this trend—bagels, coffee, dancing bears—without much success. Meanwhile, the Barna Group also says only nineteen percent of self-identifying Christians profess belief in historical Christian doctrines, which is at an all-time low.

Forget about atheists. We’re quite capable of sabotaging our own faith, thank you.

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Filed Under: Christian Education, Presbymergent Tagged With: sunday school, worldview

Seasons of our Spirituality -how it changes during our lifetimes

September 23, 2008 By susan baller-shepard 3 Comments

This is self-serving, but there is method to this madness: I am leading an adult Christian ed class entitled  “Spirituality Through the Seasons of Life,”  looking at spiritual wisdom gleaned from life experiences, examining one’s spiritual path, and deciding what needs to go in order to draw closer to God. Basically, it’s looking at mid-life spirituality and beyond… We are using film clips, lots of questions, small groups, poetry, food, symbols (salt,seeds,yeast, candles), etc. to encourage people to attend….

“Mid-life spirituality” is a misnomer of sorts, as some people may have significant shifts in their beliefs earlier or later than mid-life. Sometimes as the church we want people to cling so closely to the faith they received as children, that we get threatened when members of the congregation say things like, “I don’t believe what I once did,” or “I don’t know what I believe anymore.”

How do we make room for people to grow in their faith and spiritual practices? I guess I’m asking, What have you done in your church on this topic? How did it work? What seemed to work well? What materials did you use?

Below are some resources, and I welcome hearing about what you’ve used or recommend…

Midlife Spirituality and Jungian Archetypes by Anne Brennan and Janice Brewi
Dear Heart Come Home: The Path of Midlife Spirituality by Joyce Rupp

The Soul Tells a Story: Engaging Creativity with Spirituality in the Writing Life by Vinita Hampton Wright 

Radical Amazement: Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas, and Other Wonders of the Universe by Judy Cannato
 
Spiritual Poetry Collections:
Thirst by Mary Oliver
Otherwise by Jane Kenyon
Uncollected Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke
The Unswept Room by Sharon Olds
Twenty Poems to Nourish Your Soul by Judith Valente and Charlie Reynard
Filed Under: Christian Education, Churches

Presbymergents with children in worship?

September 2, 2008 By Drew Ludwig 17 Comments

What's wrong with this picture? Is there a better way?

First, the background.  My congregation is more “traditional presbyterian”  in appearance, but I think emerging church terms.  Thankfully, a new church is emerging from the existing body.

In the meantime, some of the former habits are still around.  One of them is the “children’s sermon” and children’s worship (separate from the whole community).  More and more I have come to think that these practices are not healthy/effective/faithful (because we divide the community, because we make the kids a “show,” because the practices engage neither the children nor the adults that serve them.)

But I also know that we have to intentionally engage and demonstrate our value for people of all ages, but children especially.  Frankly, sometimes the Bible talks about “adult” things, and at those times, I am glad that the kids are getting a separate program.  I also wonder, because the first question that parents ask when they consider a church is “what is your children’s program?” if answering, “the whole worship celebration is kid-friendly, and we consider them and involve them every time we plan worship,” would be sufficient.  I also wonder if we could really do that and continue to serve/value the the older, “traditional” crowd.

How do you all do kids in worship?  How should we?

Filed Under: Christian Education, Emerging Worship, Liturgy Tagged With: children, kids, Worship

The crazy balance of your mind

December 7, 2007 By Ryan 10 Comments

I share this in hopes of gaining more insight from this collective wisdom. This morning Carol Howard Merritt, alumni from APTS, discussed the financial disparity that exists out there in ChurchWorldLand. She says, “I wish that each pastor had a set amount, based on cost of living, housing, experience, and education. A set salary, where certain things don’t matter—things like ethnicity, age, gender. And certain things do matter, like how much you had to go into debt to get your seminary education.” Carol I am with you. It hurts deeply to imagine a world full of debt and suffering in a place that is supposedly home to most of the world’s wealth.

I will be the first person to admit that even our lowest standard of living is higher than many countries average daily income levels. We are not the worst. We are also sitting atop a volatile mountain of debt, spending, and imaginary power cells. What the fuck are we living for? Where is the service to Christ? Where is the transformation? We are dying as a church in the west and people say they care but they are not supporting it.

I wrote this in response to Carol’s post. I am not a pastor, but a seminarian on the verge of graduation. I am terrified to go into ministry. All of the fears you spoke of add to my anxiety. What shall I do to ensure I can afford to raise a family or even serve a congregation? I heard far too much, “trust God! It is a matter of faith.” I agree trusting God is the beginning. Where is the practice of trust when it comes to financial support from the congregations? Folks will complain, but they will not support.

We are all to blame in the decline. We are part of the problem. This stance of “trust God and if you do not then you have no faith” removes the responsibility from congregations, the Body, and all have in supporting the church. We do not train pastors for free. Is it fair and good stewardship to expect these individuals to shoulder the cost of training that is required?

We have to pay 80 dollars per ordination exam — that is 400 dollars if you can pass these antiquated monsters in the first shot. Not many do! Then there are the psychological evaluations, anywhere from 600 to 2500 dollars. Then the cost of seminary itself, from 10,000 to 15,000 per year for tuition and an additional 10,000 or so to live each year. That is about 60,000 to 75,000 in debt to begin your service with. We need to be smarter with this. If we say we are concerned with the death of the church then we need to step up and support.

The day of the full time pastor maybe behind us. I for one think it is. We must seek sustainable ways to minister in the context to which we find ourselves. Does this mean we have to do away with seminaries and the education they provide? No, the seminary education is foundational to service in the reformed tradition. We must change our lives to live responsibly and centered on Christ.

I used to joke that I wanted to open the First Presbyterian Church of Holy Rollers Bowling Alley. I am no longer joking. Is a coffee house, pub, bowling alley, or restaurant the answer? It is sustainable and attracts folks. In some areas it would respond to the desire and need of a distanced population. It would provide a place for community, care, warmth, outreach, and financial resistance. We just need folks to grasp the idea. Like one of my favorite groups would said, “Rage full on!”

In conjunction with a new way we can inventory our stuff and ask: Do we need the ipod? The newest phone? The cable TV? The two cars? The this or the that? All of this stuff is nice. What does it say about what you live your life for and for whom you live for? I am a f’king hypocrite right along with many of us. I crave the technologies! The Apple computers. The name brand running shoes, the jeans, the shirts, the designer vitamins and food. I love to eat out and am overweight and a burden to this world. I do not practice all that I preach. I need grace, forgiveness, and courage to be what I have witnessed in this world. To stand against the tyranny of consumerism and stereotypes, and hopelessness.

There is a better way. Please pray about it and pray that we can find the way to the cross and sit at the feet of Jesus. The rebel rousing Jesus that roundhouse kicks the money lenders out of a house of Prayer. WTFWJD?

Filed Under: Christian Education, Churches, Culture, Emergent, Feedback, Funding, Leadership, Networking, Ordination, PC(USA), Polity, Presbymergent, Seminary, Theology Tagged With: , Churches, consumerism, jesus, mission, Seminary, shifting, wtfwjd

Ideas for CE Dedication?

September 7, 2007 By Tom Robinson 3 Comments

It’s that time of year again, time to dedicate (or whatever term you want to use) our Christian Education students, teachers, programs, etc. Does anyone have any good Emerging ideas for ways to do this? I could do the same old litany and that would be fine, I guess. But I would like to do something different. Any thoughts?

Filed Under: Christian Education, Presbymergent