How To Use The Learning Covenant In Religious Education

How to Use the Learning Covenant in Religious Education: Working With Adults provides the educational and biblical bases for the learning covenant, then details the procedures whereby religious educators can successfully use the learning covenant technique. Book jacket.

The second edition of Qualitative Research responds to the growing need in Doctor of Ministry programs for a textbook that guides students in Participatory Action Research, prospectus, and dissertation that reflect the recent trends in the discipline of practical theology. The Standards of Accreditation for the Commission on Accrediting of the Association of Theological Schools states, “The Doctor of Ministry is an advanced, professionally oriented degree that prepares people more deeply for religious leadership in congregations and other settings.” Standard 5.3 states, “The Doctor of Ministry degree has clearly articulated student learning outcomes that are consistent with the school’s mission and resources and address the following four areas: (a) advanced theological integration that helps graduates effectively engage their cultural context with theological acumen and critical thinking; (b) in-depth contextual competency that gives graduates the ability to identify, frame, and respond to crucial ministry issues; (c) leadership capacity that equips graduates to enhance their effectiveness as ministry leaders in their chosen settings; and (d) personal and spiritual maturity that enables graduates to reinvigorate and deepen their vocational calling.” In accordance with the standards, Qualitative Research guides students through appropriate research methods to satisfy the objectives of the degree in order to enhance ministerial leadership for the transformation of communities of practice.

In this study, first published in 1965, the author explores the implications of research for an alternative approach to religious education. The book deals with the psychological bases of religious development, reviewing the natural limitations as well as the basic needs of the young, and how religious education should be affected by educational theory and practice. The author also examines what content and methods of teaching are consistent with the healthy development of children and adolescents. Teachers in schools, students in training, lecturers, clergy and ministers, and local education authority committees will welcome the book as an important aid to the task of rethinking syllabuses and the need for more child-centred methods of teaching.

Supervision--the shaping of spiritual leaders--occurs formally and informally in many aspects of congregational life. Every year, thousands of pastors supervise field education students and interns; staff members and lay leaders often supervise committee members or other staff; clergy and lay leaders supervise each other as a way to offer support and establish accountability. While supervision enhances the work of all concerned, it is rarely explicitly addressed in congregations. For over fifteen years, Abigail Johnson has supervised and trained others to supervise candidates for ordination within the United Church of Canada. Recognizing that supervision is as important in the formation of lay leaders as in the life of candidates for ordination, she has developed this book to guide all who supervise others in a congregation. Johnson views supervision as a ministry and shows how leaders can use their own innate gifts to enhance their supervision skills. By shaping the supervision relationship based on the gifts of the people involved as well as the context in which the relationship occurs, supervision can become an opportunity for mutual growth and learning that strengthens all other areas of ministry. This book provides a hands-on approach to supervision, addressing key areas such as identifying a learning focus, covenanting, managing conflict, understanding and using power and authority, offering and receiving feedback and evaluation, and celebrating and ending the supervisory relationship. Supervisors who pay attention to these and other key areas will help those they supervise develop their gifts for ministry in all forms.

Small groups continue to be a significant part of church life and Christian formation in the twenty-first century, impacting a church and society characterized by loneliness and fragmentation. As such, Julie Gorman is prompted to declare, "Small groups have come of age! They have found unprecedented acceptance and endorsement." This is a comprehensive book on small groups and Christian formation informed by theology, church history, and the social sciences. It addresses both the foundations and praxis of groups, with a special emphasis on leading dynamic group discussions.

Ronald Habermas and Klaus Issler have written a textbook on Christian education that reflects their conviction that the educational function of the church is central to Christ's mission of reconciliation. They suceed in balancing both theory and practice.

Beyond the Classroom provides an easy-to-read plan for church pastors and church leaders to improve Christian education in the church. Teaching and teacher training are the main emphasis of the book. The scholar and former director of Christian education in a New York megachurch provides the AZ plan for developing or improving Christian education.