R E A C H	
Religious Education Association Clearing House		Summer 2004	
Contents	
Annual Meeting
Meeting Theme
Plenary Sessions
Task Forces
Schedule
Registration Information
Hotel Information 
Break Out Sessions
APRRE Travel Fund Grants
	Organizational News
New President-Elect
APRRE Report
Reorganization Update
Overview of Religious Education	Networking & Resourcing
Remembering James Michael Lee 
Position Openings
Invitation from Down Under
ELCA Professors Publish
Events
Valparaiso Project Resources/Grants
Member Updates

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS 
As of July 1, 2004 the REA and APRRE have a joint membership (inclusive of the journal) in the "new" REA which comes about with our joint reorganization on January 1, 2005. 

To enable APRRE and REA to move simultaneously to a calendar year membership cycle, a one-time 18-month membership to the REA is being offered running July 1, 2004 – December 31, 2005. The fee for all new and renewing regular members will be $75.00 (US). The student and retired membership fee is $40.00 (US). All new and renewing members will receive 6 issues of the journal as a benefit of membership (Summer 2004, Fall 2004, Winter 2005, Spring 2005, Summer 2005, Fall 2005). 

The on-line and print membership forms are available for new members, renewing REA members and renewing APRRE members. 

Prior members of REA or APRRE should have received in the mail a membership renewal form from Taylor & Francis, the company which publishes the journal and maintains the membership list for REA. You may return that membership form or use the online form but please do not use both. Renewing APRRE members...use the REA membership form (there will not be a separate APRRE form). Renewing members who were members of both REA and APRRE... use the REA membership form (there will not be a separate APRRE form).

Note to APRRE members:  This year, you may pay dues to join REA with your credit card. This option is a major change for APRRE members, a long-awaited option finally available.

Join the REA online
You may join the REA by using this on-line form. Payment may be by credit card or check. Memberships are processed for the REA by Taylor and Francis, publishers of Religious Education. 
Join the REA by mail
You may join the REA by printing and mailing this form. Payment may be by credit card or check. Memberships are processed for the REA by Taylor and Francis, publishers of Religious Education. 

Taylor & Francis customer service can be reached by phone at 1 800 354 1420, ext. 216 or 1 215 625 8900, ext. 216

Annual Meeting

Contextual Pedagogies: Teaching Context as Religious Text
November 5-7, 2004
Brown Palace-Comfort Inn complex in downtown Denver, Colorado
A joint meeting of the Religious Education Association (REA) and APRRE

Religious education has been understood as a profession standing at a fork in the road facing “faithfulness to the ancient and honorable paths of the fathers” on the one hand, and the knowledge required for contemporary religious living on the other. Faith communities and the world demand accountability for both an authentic and usable knowledge -- knowledge to help persons understand and respond to spiritual experiences. Much of the debate at APRRE and REA over the past years has centered on which road to take. Educators with a pastoral focus may downplay the ancient text and those with an academic focus may believe that the present context is not their major concern.

In teaching, the text is typically understood as a book containing the gathered wisdom of a scholar, or a community, that a teacher uses to help students enlighten their experience. The context, on the other hand, can refer to the setting or times in which a particular text was produced. Context can also mean the present reality: the places from which students come -- the influences of community surroundings, racial background, family structure; and places to which they will go -- faith communities and neighborhoods in conflict, atomized societies, pluralistic worlds. Here teachers help students both gain and use the knowledge that no “text” may yet contain. 

Perhaps, the challenge of our theme can be captured in the wit and wisdom of Yogi Berra: “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Relating text and context calls us to teaching practices that, in David Tracy’s words, engage a “mutual critical correlation between an interpretation” of the religious experience and the contemporary situation. This means reading the texts with a commitment to the poor and marginalized in their contexts, teaching -- context as religious text.

The issues of text and context, while not phrased in these words, have been the focus for REA and APRRE in past discussions of “theory and practice.” In Denver we can take a next step with a critical study of religious educators’ teaching practices (contextual pedagogy) connecting students’ learning to the contexts of life and also connecting the realities of present life to a reinterpretation of the texts. Our aim is a more dynamic teaching in religious education promoting its enhancement to benefit communities of faith and the broader public.

Questions and comments about the theme and offers to assist in the design the meeting may be directed to President-Elect, Bob O’Gorman e-mail: rogorma@luc.edu 
________________________________________________________________________
PLENARY SESSIONS
Program Chairperson Bob O’Gorman and committee members are planning, for the opening plenary, a multi-sensory immersion into the 2004 APRRE-REA Meeting Contextual Pedagogies: Teaching Context as Religious Text – the context of the cosmos, the school, the culture and the liturgy.  Participants will move into the opening session through the four image stations, followed by a process of welcome and reflective interaction on the images.  The opening plenary will conclude with an introduction to the conference theme and the weekend.  

Plenary II, on Saturday, will be lead by Malcolm Warford, Research Professor and Director of the Lexington Seminar sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., Lexington Theological Seminary.  Dr. Warford is the editor of Practical Wisdom: Teaching and Learning For the Church's Ministries, forthcoming Fall 2004.  The plenary presentation will focus on stories illustrating the kinds of contextual concerns that face seminaries and many other institutions in our society.

The final plenary, on Sunday, will be lead by Terence Copley, Professor of Religious Education, University of Exeter, the United Kingdom.  Dr. Copley has written 35 books and numerous articles for school children teachers, professionals and researchers in Religious Education. His latest book, Indoctrination, Education and God: the Struggle for the Mind is due to appear in early 2005. For eight years Professor Copley has directed the Biblos Project, a research project into teaching biblical narrative in the classroom, including the multi-faith classroom.  According to Dr. Copley, in the UK schools all students from ages 5 to 16 study religious education on a world-religions base (usually Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism). Included in their programs are selections of biblical narrative. A minority of young people are introduced to biblical narrative in faith communities (churches, synagogues etc). While inappropriate to make recommendations for North America from the UK context, Dr. Copley says we can identify key questions of help to religious educators in North American faith communities, in academia, and in public contexts in addressing their own situation at the ‘fork in the road.’
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TASK FORCES AND DENOMINATIONAL MEETINGS
The following people are conveners for Task Forces: 
Gender:  Susan Willhauck.  The task force will have a panel discussion on "Whatever happened to inclusive language?" A variety of perspectives will be represented to address questions like "Is it important?  Is it still being taught in the seminary? Is it only a white feminist concern?”  The discussion will concern the role of inclusive language in the discipline of religious education.

History of Religious Education:  Ronnie Prevost
Adult Education:  Jane Regan
Asian/Asian North American:  Mai Anh Tran and Tito Cruz
Children:  Karen-Marie Yust
Ethnography:  Margaret Ann Crain
Liturgy and Catechesis:  Ron Anderson
Peace and Justice:  Bud Horell
The Black Experience:  Fred Smith and Lynne Westfield
Greening of Religious Education:  Kathleen O'Gorman

The following people are leaders of Denominational Meetings  

Pan-Methodist:  Patty Meyers and Susan Willhauck
Roman Catholic:  Peter Gilmour
UCC-Disciples:  Sharon Warner
Baptist:  Ronnie Prevost
Presbyterian:  Lib Caldwell
Lutheran:  Norma Everist
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MEETING SCHEDULE
This working schedule is being made available to encourage you to make space in your calendar to plan arrivals and departures so that you can attend the entire meeting. A Note about the Schedule…At this year’s meeting, a joint meeting of APRRE and the REA, we will be enacting the joint reorganization of APRRE & REA, which will officially go into effect January 1, 2005. While this schedule does not reflect the integrated programming approved in the REA-APRRE joint reorganization proposal, it does attempt to follow the spirit of that proposal and foreshow it to a great degree.
Thursday November 4, 2004
3:00 pm into evening REA Board Meeting (& Dinner)
Lutheran Professors
Friday November 5, 2004 
8:30 -12:00 am 	APRRE Executive Committee Meeting 
(Last hour joint meeting with REA Board)	
12:00 - 1:30 	Student Caucus Meeting (Rebecca Davis convener)	
 	REA Journal Editorial Board Meeting	
11:00 - 4:30	Registration	
1:30 - 2:45 pm	Denominational/Particular Religious Traditions Meetings	
3:00 - 4:15	Plenary I Weaving Through Context: A multi-sensory immersion - Eileen Daily, Julie Lytle, Mary Hess, Bob O’Gorman	
4:30 - 5:45	Break-outs:
Interest Groups (IG), Resourcing Workshops (RW), & Colloquia 	
6:00 - 6:30	Time for shared Multi-Religious ritual	
6:30 - 8:30	Banquet with program (address by APRRE Program Chair; any awards/recognitions; and Celebration of the Transition of APRRE from its originating structure)	
Saturday November 6, 2004
7:00 - 8:15 am	Continental Breakfast (cost included with guest room)	
8:30 - 10:00	Plenary II The Lexington Seminar: Claiming the Vocation and Practices of Teaching in Contemporary Church and Culture
Malcolm Warford
	
10:15 -11:45 	Break-outs: 
Interest Groups (IG), Resourcing Workshops (RW), & Colloquia	
12:00 -1:30 pm	Women’s and Men’s Luncheons	
1:45 - 3:15 	Break-outs: 
Interest Groups (IG), Resourcing Workshops (RW), & Colloquia	
3:30 - 4:45	Task Forces	
5:00 - 6:00 	Joint REA/APRRE Business Meeting	
6:00 - 6:30	Reception	
OPEN EVENING	

Sunday November 7, 2004
7:00 - 8:00 am	Continental Breakfast (cost included with guest room)	
8:00 - 9:15	Break-outs: 
Interest Groups (IG), Resourcing Workshops (RW), & Colloquia	
9:30 -9:45 	Time for shared Multi-Religious ritual	
9:45 -11:00 	Plenary III and closing Young People’s Context, Biblical Narrative and ‘Theologising’ -- a UK Perspective Terence Copley
	
________________________________________________________________________
REGISTRATION INFORMATION
Look for your annual meeting registration form to be mailed in near future.  Registration fees are as follows:

Registration for APRRE or REA members:  		U.S. 			$115
								International 		$110
								Emeritus/Emerita	$75
								Full-Time Student	$75

Registration for non-members:						$165

Registration fees are in U. S. Dollars.  The meeting registration fee includes Proceedings (conference papers) on CD-ROM, conference fees, reception drink, and Friday banquet, 2004-2005 dues must be paid by Oct. 1 to register at member rates.  

Optional Fees:
Women’s or Men’s Luncheon:		$20
	Students				$15
Spiral 	bound hardcopy of 
	Proceedings in place of
	CD-ROM				$15
Late registration fee
	Postmarked after Oct. 10		$10

Cancellation policy: 
Full refund on or before October 15, 2004;  $45 withheld 10/15/04 – 10/27/04 (Proceedings will be mailed);  No refunds after October 27

Registration and optional fees are in U.S. Dollars.  Fees are payable by checks drawn on a U.S. bank or by international money order made payable to Religious Education Association.

HOTEL INFORMATION
Brown Palace-Comfort Inn Complex
Downtown Denver

Brown Palace Hotel (meeting rooms)
321 17th Street
Denver, Colorado 80202	Comfort Inn Downtown (guest rooms)
401 17th St. 
Denver, Colorado 80202	
The Brown Palace-Comfort Inn complex will offer meeting registrants the best of everything! Sessions will take place in the elegant and historic Brown Palace Hotel. The Brown Palace has earned a four-diamond award from AAA and “best business hotel” by Fortune Magazine. Within its long history (and with guests like Eisenhower, Churchill and the Spice Girls) there are also many fascinating stories to discover. Our guest rooms will be in the Comfort Inn, which is across the street from the Brown Palace and connected by a second story walkway. The guest rooms are very nice and have great views of the city and the mountains. By using the Comfort Inn we will have access to great facilities at an affordable cost.
The Brown Palace-Comfort Inn complex is one block from the 16th Street Pedestrian Mall and within walking distance of the Colorado Convention Center, the State Capitol building, the Denver Mint, and historical Larimer Square. Denver's Botanical Gardens, Six Flags-Elitch Gardens Amusement Park, the Children's Museum, the Denver Zoo, Ocean Journey Aquarium, and the Museum of Natural History are within 10 minutes of the hotel. Coors' Field (Colorado Rockies), Pepsi Center (Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets), and Invesco Stadium (Denver Broncos) are each a five-minute drive. Everything is a fairly easy walk or a short public transit trip.
The guest room rate at the Comfort Inn is $99 per night and this includes a nice continental breakfast. A small block of rooms is also available in the Brown Palace at $139 per night, including continental breakfast. The reservation cut-off date will be October 15, 2004. Following this cut off date, guestrooms are subject to availability and the hotel's prevailing room rates. 
You may find out more about the hotels on the web:
Brown Palace www.brownpalace.com
Comfort Inn Downtown Denver www.choicehotels.com/ires/hotel/CO057 
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2004 RESEARCH INTEREST GROUPS, COLLOQUIA AND WORKSHOPS
Friday, November 5, 4:30-5:45 p.m.
Workshop
D. Bruce Robers and Robert E. Reber, “Research on Contextual Pedagogies for Leadership Development in Peer Learning Groups:  The Indiana Clergy Peer Group Study Program”
Colloquia
Russell Haitch, “Distance Learning in Theological Perspective” and
Gabriel Moran, “Religious Education and National Interest”

Colloquium
Virginia Lee, “Multiplicity of Difference:  Developing a Resource for Understanding Diversity

Colloquia
Claire Annelise Smith, “Creating God’s Neighborhood as Learning Environment” and 
Chin Cheak Yu, “Christian Religious Education for Awakening and Living in the Spirit in a Chinese Church Context”

Research Interest Group
John L. Elias, “Thomas Edward Shields, Pioneer Catholic Religious Educator” and 
Lucinda A. Nolan, “John Lancaster Spalding (1840-1916): An Early American Catholic Philosopher of Religious Education.”

Research Interest Group
Caustino M. (Tito) Cruz, Carol Jacobson, Boyung Lee, Joyce Ann Mercer, Mai-Anh Tran, and Anton C. Vrame, “Teaching Context(s):  Using Congregational Studies and Participatory Action Research as Pedagogical Strategies” and
Kathy Winings, “Taking Religious Educaiton Out of the Classroom:  Service Learning as an Effective Contextual Pedagogy”

Research Interest Group
Thomas E. Leuze, “Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Experiment in Theological Education:  Would Finkenwalde Be Accredited by ATS” and
Eileen M. Dailey, “Catholic High School Religious Education and the Teaching Authority of the Catholic Church:  Is the Textbook Review Process Working?”

Research Interest Group
Dent C. Davis, "Accelerated Learning and Adult Religious Education:  Potential and Pitfalls” and
Catherine P. Zeph, “Location, Location, Location:  Ministry Education on the Road”

Saturday November 5, 10:15-11:45 a.m.
Workshop
Thom Bower, “Contextual Pedagogies:  Teaching Context as Religious Text”

Workshop
Naoki Okamura, “Elderly Japanese American Christian Women and Their Spiritual Silence”

Workshop
Henry C. Simmons, “Age as Context:  On-line Annotated Bibliography on Religion, Spriituality, and Aging”

Colloquia
Charles Foster, “Teaching Contextual Practices in Theological Education”

Research Interest Group
Fred P. Edie, “A Different Context for Difference:  Protestant Christian High School Students Practice the Ordo” and
Bert Roebben, “Redefining Theological Language and Education in the Context of Pastoral Ministry with Young Adults”

Research Interest Group
Linda L. Baratte, “Growing Within Our Hearts:  Exploration in the Faith Development and Religious Education of Adopted Children and Their Parents” and 
Mercedes Iannone, “A Qualitative Study Assessing the Residual Value of Family Learning Teams Context for Children at Good Shepherd Parish 1972-80”

Research Interest Group
Jerome Berryman, “Religious Education and Evil” and
Theresa O’Keefe, “Coming to Know the Other—Coming to Know Oneself:  A Study of Jewish-Catholic Dialogue at the Congregational Level”

Research Interest Group
Sue Singer, “Educating for Conviction and Commitment:  Insights from Postmodernity” and
Siebren Miedema, “Religious Education Today:  Between James and Durkheim and in Dialogue with Charles Taylor”

Saturday November 5, 1:45-3:15 a.m.
Workshop
Burton Everist, “Community College:  Challenging Context for Teaching Religion”

Workshop
Dean Maternach, “Journaling:  Teaching the Context of Our Lives”

Workshop
Clarence H. Snelling and Shirley Heckman Snelling, “Remythologizing Religious Experience for the 21st Century”

Colloquia
Kathy Dawson and Cindy Kissel-Ito, “Preschool Community and Faith Practices” and
Beverly Jones, “The Great Assignment”

Research Interest Group
Suzanne J. Gallagher, “Exploring the Use of Theological Reflection:  Connecting Faith and Context” and
Alison LeCornu, “People’s Ways of Believing:  Learning Processes and Faith Outcomes”

Research Interest Group
Peter Gilmour, “Text and Context of ‘The Passion of Christ’” and
Carol Lakey Hess, “Fiction and the Public Search for Truth”

Research Interest Group
Rebecca L. Davis, “Perpetuating Justice:  Transformative and Emancipatory Pedagogies” and
Nam Soon Song, “Self-Cultivation and Christian Education:  Exploring Self-Cultivation in the Life and Teaching of Jesus

Research Interest Group
Leona M. English, Mario O. D’Souza, and Leon Chartrand, “Religious Education Journals on Two Sides of the Atlantic—Are We Alike or Different?” and
Boyung Lee, “Decolonizing Bible Studies:  A Postcolonial Challenge to Contextual Pedagogy”

Sunday November 6, 8:00- 9:15 p.m.
Workshop
Christine Gapes, “Braiding Learning:  Weaving Mats and Eating Kim-Chee Pie”

Workshop
Karen J. Markin, “My Story, Your Story—Journeys of Reverence”

Colloquia
Jane Struvoka, “Confirmation through the Contextual Lens:  Rethinking the Practice of Confirmation in the Slovak Lutheran Church” and
Anne Carter Walker, “Contexts for the Support of Agency and Vocation”

Colloquia
Barbara Fleischer, “St. Gabriel’s Parish:  A Case Study in Communal Praxis” and
Kevin Lawson, “the Impact of Long-term Small Group Participation:  40 Years in a Women’s Bible Study and Prayer Group.”

Research Interest Group
Cheryl Magrini, “Ethnographic Inter-textual Voicing in Children’s Storyboard Art:  Biblical Meal Stories Interpreted through the Practice of Hospitable Pedagogy” and
Simone A. deRoos, “Young Children’s God Concepts:  Influences of Attachment and Socialization in a Family and School Context”

Research Interest Group
Paulette Isaac, “Toward a Scriptural and Cultural Context of Adult Education in the African American Church:  A Health Application” and
Richelle B. White, “Christian Education Theoryfor the Hip-Hop Generation”

Research Interest Group
Kathleen O’Gorman, “The Natural World as a Religious Educator” and
Mark Markuly, “Literacy of the Heart:  Finding a Language for the Affective Dimension of Religious Education”

APRRE TRAVEL FUND GRANTS
Because of the generosity of APRRE members over many years, APRRE has a Travel Grant Fund that enables it to offer a limited number of travel grants to APRRE members needing assistance to attend the annual meeting. Since the joint reorganization is still in process and such funds remain separate, grant awards will be limited to those who would traditionally be APRRE members. Preference is given to doctoral students and active younger scholars and the amount of award is influenced by the amount of need. To apply you must be a member in good standing, i.e. dues paid for 2004-05. Persons awarded a grant for the 2003 meeting are not eligible for grants for the 2004 meeting. The size of grants will depend upon the number of applicants and funds available.

Application for a Travel Grant can be e-mailed to Dr. Lawanda Smith, exec_secretary@religiouseducation.net or surface mailed to REA-APRRE, P.O. Box 12576, Alexandria, LA 71315 by September 15, 2004. Applications must include the following information: (a) cost of round-trip airfare, (b) the portion of airfare being reimbursed, if any, and by whom, (c) and amount of personal funds to being used for the meeting. Decisions about grant awards will be made by September 16.
Organizational News
DR. RONNIE PREVOST TO BECOME 
PRESIDENT-ELECT/ PROGRAM CHAIR-ELECT
I am pleased to announce that the nomination of Dr. Ronnie Prevost to become President-Elect/ Program Chair-Elect (2005) for the reorganized Religious Education Association has been ratified by both the Religious Education Association Board of Directors and the membership of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education. Dr. Prevost is Professor of Church Ministry at Logsdon School of Theology, Hardin-Simmons University, Texas and teaches in the areas of Religious Education, Church Ministry, Scripture, and Baptist History. Both APRRE and REA appreciate Ronnie’s willingness to give step into the leadership for the first official meeting of the reorganized Association in Toronto in 2005. 

Lorna MA Bowman
REA President and Chair of the Board, APRRE President
________________________________________________________________________
APRRE 2003-04 MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCES
The 2003-04 membership year saw a lower total membership from the prior two years, down a total of 24 members from 2002-03. The areas of decline were international members (down 9 people), students (down 12), and US members (down 4). Associate and retired member categories remained the same or slightly increased.

APRRE	2003-04	2002-03	2001-02	2000-01	1999-2000	1998-99	
Mailing list	494	453	400	436	444	439	
Paid Members	298	322	312	302	299	304	

APRRE	  2003-04	As a percent of 2003-04 membership	
US Members	         173			58	
International Members		22 			  8	
Associate Members	15			  5	
Student Members		48			16	
Retired Members		40			13	
Total	          298		          100%	

Despite the membership renewal pattern, the APRRE budget is estimated to close with a positive cash flow. A full budget report will be available later when the books for 2003-04 have been closed.
________________________________________________________________________
REORGANIZATION UPDATE
The implementation of the joint reorganization is moving ahead in good fashion! Many thanks should go to the REA and APRRE officers who are working collaboratively to make this happen: Lorna Bowman, Bob O’Gorman, Barbara Anne Keeley, Ted Brelsford, Lawanda Smith and Randy Litchfield. In the winter  and spring newsletters several implementation initiatives were listed and below is a status report:

The APRRE and REA websites will be merged	DONE	
The APRRE and REA newsletters will be merged	DONE	
A plan to move to a single membership will be developed	DONE	
New Executive Secretary will take responsibility for REA & APRRE	DONE	
A committee will begin work on revising the REA bylaws to reflect the “Design”	IN PROCESS	
A committee will begin nominating people for the new organizational structure 	DONE	
The “Design for Joint Reorganization of REA and APRRE,” ballot results and background documents are available on the website (www.religiouseducation.net).
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AN OVERVIEW OF RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PUBLISHING AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
With the reorganization of REA and APRRE as one association, about 200 persons who were formerly members of APRRE (and not REA) will now be receiving the Religious Education journal for the first time as a benefit of membership. Below is a brief account of the journal’s publication history, which may be of interest to both new and ongoing journal subscribers. Contact information for membership or subscription concerns is listed at the end of this article.

The Religious Education Association first published the journal in 1906, three years after the founding of the REA. While the bulk of the pages were given to scholarly and professional articles, the journal also carried news on regional chapter meetings of the REA, speeches given at those meetings, essays on current challenges and strategies by religious educators in the field, and book reviews, book notes, and a listing of relevant articles recently published in other periodicals. The journal was published bi-monthly until 1983, when the present pattern of quarterly publication was adopted. The current journal format includes a section for articles of scholarly and practical interest, an occasional section of essays responding to articles in the journal or special topics raised by the editor, and book reviews.

In 1984 the journal dedicated one entire issue to selected papers from the preceding APRRE conference. This pattern continues into the present, with the special APRRE conference issue usually being published the summer following the fall conference. Corresponding with the inclusion of an annual APRRE issue in 1984 the journal adopted the subtitle: “The Journal of the Religious Education Association of the United States and Canada, and the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education” even though there was never any legal relationship between APRRE and the journal, and in order to receive the journal one had to join the REA. The journal was published by the REA (using printing and mailing services in Chicago, New Haven, and then Atlanta) up until 2001.

In 2001 the REA entered into a publishing partnership with Taylor and Francis, a well-established (founded 1798) publisher of scholarly materials based in London with offices in Philadelphia. The Taylor and Francis team that we work with in Philadelphia specializes in scholarly journals, of which they publish nearly 300. Under this partnership Taylor and Francis maintains membership lists, fulfills back orders and other special requests, copy-edits, prints, distributes, and markets the journal. The REA is responsible for the journal’s content via its appointed editor. The publisher and REA share profits from subscriptions and membership fees. This arrangement has stabilized and professionalized the production of the journal and proven financially advantageous to the REA compared to years prior to this partnership.

As we move through the transition to the reorganized Religious Education Association: An Association of Professors, Practitioners and Researchers in Religious Education, Taylor and Francis is working closely with us to accommodate new members from APRRE and trouble shoot inevitable problems with addresses and journal shipments, etc. Concerns about membership status or receipt of the journal may be directed to Cathy Brown or others in the Taylor and Francis customer service department: cathy.brown@taylorandfrancis.com or 800-354-1420, ext. 275. Unresolved concerns should be directed to Lawanda Smith, REA Executive Secretary:  Lawanda@cox-internet.com or 318-427-4446.

Ted Brelsford, Editor

The Religious Education Association Centennial documents can be found on website at http://www.religiouseducation.net/reach/2003/cent_reach_access.htm

Networking and Resourcing

“The Glory of God is the Human Person Fully Alive”  
-- Saint Irenaeus second century of the Christian era

The death of James Michael Lee certainly came as a great shock to the religious education community.  A tall tree on our forest-scape has fallen. Practically no one of us attending REA:APPRE in Denver this November will have known a time at these gatherings where Jim was not present.  He has been part of the religious education air we breathe.  

Jim’s contributions to religious education are the measure of his dedication to this field.  Initially, in the late ‘60s Jim set out a vision of religious education in foundational research in what he called a social science approach (over and against a philosophical/theological theory of instruction).  He laid out this vision in his trilogy, the Shape, the Flow and the Content of Religious Instruction. Simultaneously from his position at the University of Notre Dame he fostered a Ph.D. program, situated in the University’s division of social science (not the theology department).  This program flourished for a decade educating a significant number of professors and researchers in the field. From 1963 to 2000 Jim wrote eight books and edited seven. Perhaps Jim’s most significant work was his establishment of REP – the Religious Education Press.  Since 1974 Jim has personally recruited, edited, published and promoted over 100 religious education books.  The list of authors matches the APRRE and NAPCE membership rosters.  The areas compose for a virtual taxonomy of religious education:

Adult Religious Education 
Children's Religious Education 
Curriculum in Religious Education
Bible in Religious Education
Family Religious Education 
Foundations of Religious Education 
History of Religious Education
How to Teach Religion 
Intergenerational Religious Education 
Leadership in Religious Education
Multicultural/Multifaith Religious Education 
Pastor in Religious Education 
Philosophy of Religious Education 
Small Church Religious Education 
Spirituality and Religious Education 
Theology of Religious Education 
Urban Religious Education
Renewal of Religious Education 
Youth Religious Education and Youth Ministry plus,
Reference Books 
Religious Psychology Books 
Pastoral Theology Books 
Moral Education And Moral Development Books
 
Jim served 18 years on the Board of Directors of the REA and had been a member of APRRE almost since its founding. Since the early 1990’s he has been a member of North American Professors of Christian Education (NAPCE).   

What most members of APPRE and REA knew of Jim, however, was much more than his academic pedigree.  Perhaps no one member was such a public “personality” always en grande tenure  on display at our gatherings. Jim was feisty with many, if not vitriolic to some, always ready to engage and challenge in the most flamboyant manner. In reflections at his funeral, a fellow New Yorker, former Notre Dame student and close friend recalled Jim as both  a classical  Renaissance man and a rough and tough stick-ball guy from a Brooklyn neighborhood. But he went to Irenaeus to spiritually describe Jim - “The Glory of God is the Human Person Fully Alive.”  

Perhaps the reflection that most resonated with congregation at the funeral were the words by the Benedictine head master from the nearby by abbey school where Jim’s youngest son was enrolled.  Describing Jim’s involvement with the school and its administration he stated, “It would be inappropriate, to pray ‘Eternal Rest Grant unto Him, O Lord’” 

Sentiments surrounding the funeral conveyed the message that Jim had finished his work, that he had finished running the great race.  These were offered by his three sons, Patrick (19), Michael (21) and James Michael V (23), as well as his wife of 27 years, Marlene.  Back at the house after the burial, Marlene called all of into the study and handed each in the crowd a Waterford glass filled with a fine Champaign and then gave this toast: “On his deathbed, Oscar Wilde exclaimed: ‘Alas, I am dying beyond my means.’ To Jim!”
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POSITION OPENINGS
The Faculty of Theology of the University of St. Michael’s College invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position in Pastoral Theology and Ministry Formation at the rank of Assistant Professor, to begin 1 July 2005. Requirements: Earned Doctorate with competence in Ministry Studies such as Pastoral Counselling, Spiritual Theology, Spirituality, Liturgical Studies. Publications record commensurate with experience. Evidence of teaching competence and pastoral experience essential. Commitment to the mission of the Faculty of Theology. Functions: Teach courses in Pastoral Theology at the Basic and Advanced Degree levels; supervise theological field education and pastoral ministry formation; serve on various Faculty committees; eventually direct advanced theological research in area of expertise; collaborate with colleagues from the Toronto School of Theology. St. Michael’s is a Roman Catholic Faculty of Theology in the Toronto School of Theology, an ecumenical federation of theological schools affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is strongly committed to promoting theological research and publication in the Catholic tradition. It prepares men and women for various forms of pastoral and academic ministry in the Church. The Faculty welcomes applications from all qualified men and women; however, preference will be given to Canadian citizens and landed immigrants.

Send letter of application, CV, and three letters of reference to:
Chair – Appointments Committee
Faculty of Theology 
University of St. Michael’s College
81 St Mary Street
Toronto, ON 
Canada
M5S 1J4

Application Deadline: 15 October 2004.

Assistant/Associate Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry (CFM)
The Christian Formation and Ministry department at Wheaton College invites applications for a tenure-track position (assistant/associate professor) beginning in the fall of 2005. This individual will teach primarily in the Christian Education and Ministry undergraduate program, with some teaching in the Christian Formation and Ministry M.A. program.  Position requires Ph.D. or equivalent by August 2005, solid biblical and theological approach to the field, relevant ministry experience, and demonstrated excellence in classroom teaching. Moreover, preference will be given to candidates who have demonstrated a record of scholarship and proven ability to teach and conduct research in one or more of the following social science areas: teaching and learning theory, educationally-based spiritual formation, and cultural issues in ministry. A commitment to liberal arts education and to the preparation of students for ministry is essential.  The person holding this position is expected to pursue research and writing in his or her field of specialty, fulfill all responsibilities and duties of a member of the faculty, and participate in the life of the church. Application deadline is December 1, 2004.  Please send cover letter, full curriculum vitae, and list of three references to Dr. David Setran, Chair, Christian Formation and Ministry Department; Wheaton College; 501 College Avenue; Wheaton, Illinois 60187. Wheaton College is an evangelical protestant Christian liberal arts college whose faculty affirm a Statement of Faith and the moral and lifestyle expectations of our Community Covenant.  Wheaton College complies with federal and state guidelines of nondiscrimination in employment; women and minorities are encouraged to apply.  
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AN INVITATION FROM “DOWN UNDER”
I desperately need a colleague for team ministry here in the parish of Warrnambool and Port Fairy, in Victoria, Australia. The role is especially for ministry with young families and youth, but it is truly team ministry where we will share responsibilities for preaching etc. and pastoral care of the congregations according to the special gifts of each partner in ministry. The congregations would really like a young married male minister with a family - I'm in my 50's and a single (heterosexual) female. There is a great crew of lay folk here but they want another clergy to help me with the official ministry load.
Melbourne is less than 4 hours drive or train ride to the east, and we are at the end of the Great Ocean Road with the 12 Apostles (sea stacks) and the wonderful scenery shown on brochures about Australia. Weather is mild, dry summer and cool wet winter, but it never snows and rarely gets even near 90F in the summer. We are in the midst of a housing boom.  There is a university and vocational college as well as two major hospitals to service the region with all health areas covered. The Uniting Church is a union of Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregational churches (mainline Protestant), and we have a great ecumenical spirit among the clergy in the town.  If a young scholar wants a great opportunity to work overseas, please contact me at wbooluca@eftel.net.au or phone from USA/Can. 011-613-5561 6085 (also the fax number). Thanks, Elizabeth Nolan (Rev Dr E Nolan, PO Box 363, WARRNAMBOOL. VIC. 3280 Australia.)
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ELCA CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PROFESSORS PUBLISH!
The Christian Education Professors from the ELCA seminaries have produced a new book titled The Ministry of Children’s Education: Foundations, Contexts, and Practices. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004. Searching on the fortresspress.com website it will come up under "Various" (authors) and on Amazon.com will come up under  "Krych" (writer of Introduction).
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Events (details on events section of the REA-APRRE website)
New Visions of Youth Ministry-- September 16-18, 2004 
Conference on Youth, Theology and Youth Ministry Sponsored by the Youth Theological Initiative, Candler School of Theology/ Emory University

Many Facets of Christian Education: Reflecting the Face of God--October 14-18, 2004
A conference bringing together youth workers, directors of children or adult ministries, program directors, pastors, Christian educators, and everyone with a commitment and responsibility for the many expressions of Christian education ministries. Sponsored by Christian Educators Fellowship, The United Methodist Church.
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VALPARAISO PROJECT RESOURCES AND GRANTS
The Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith is pleased to announce the fall publication of two new books in the Practices of Faith Series (Jossey-Bass) -- Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian, by Tom Long; and A Song to Sing, A Life to Live, by Don Saliers and Emily Saliers. Download free study guides for both books from the Project's online library at www.practicingourfaith.org. Consider a Practice Grant of up to $10,000 to support innovative teaching based on these books-- see website for details. Upcoming application deadlines are: October 15 (2004), February 15 (2005), and September 1 (2005). The Valparaiso Project will award one final round of Challenge Grants for teams of youth and adults (up to $3,500) see www.waytolive.org  or details. The application deadline is September 15, 2004. We encourage religious educators who are teaching youth ministry courses to promote the Challenge Grants Program with their students. Don Richter (donricht@bellsouth.net) is available to consult with you about any of these Project resources.
MEMBER UPDATES
Judith V. Aronson is currently a member of the Faculty of the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles.  She is teaching education courses.

Jerry Bowling has completed a book on curriculum entitled Before You Write Your Own, 21st century Christian Publishing, 2003. It is co-authored with Dr. David Wray.

Rev. Dr. Carmen J. Pagán Cabrera is Professor of the doctoral program of Christian Education at the School of Theology, Inter American University of Puerto Rico.

Florence Canada graduated from Union Theological Seminary and The Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia on May 30, 2004 with a Ph.D. in Practical Theology-emphasis Christian Education.

Brendan Carmody was promoted last year to Professor of Religious Education at the University of Zambia.

Finola Cunnane has published a book entitled New Directions in Religious Education.  It is available in Ireland through www.veritas.ie

Mary A. Love, of Hood Theological Seminary, compiled with the aid of students and members of the Committee on Black Congregational Ministries (NCC) A Bibliography of Africentric Resources.

Two of Elliot Dorff’s books have appeared in the last two years: To Do the Right and the Good: A Jewish Approach to Modern Social Ethics (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002), and Love Your Neighbor and Yourself: A Jewish Approach to Modern Personal Ethics (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003).  

Judith A. Frediani is Director of Lifespan Faith Development (formerly Religious Education), Unitarian Universalist Association.

After graduating from Candler School of Theology at Emory University in May 2003, Lisa Garvin is serving on the Connectional Ministries staff of the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church.  In that position she is related to Youth Ministry, Higher Education and Campus Ministry, Young Adult Ministry, Camps, the Commission on the Status and Role of Women and the Urban Ministry Task Force.  Lisa is a commissioned Deacon in the Mississippi Conference.

Darwin K. Glassford, of Montreat College, Motreat, North Carolina, was promoted to the rank of Professor.  He also published “The Biblical Foundations of Presbyterian Education.” Called to Teach: The Presbyterian Mission in Higher Education. Edited by Duncan Ferguson and William Weston. Louisville, KY: Geneva Press, 2003.

Dr. Michael Horan was granted promotion to full professor in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California. 

Jose R. Irizarry has been recently appointed as Dean of Doctoral Level Programs and Associate Professor of Cultural Studies in Religion and Education at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.  Also, he is one of the contributors for the recently published "Diccionario Ilustrado de Interpretes de la Fe" Justo L. Gonzalez, Edt., Editorial CLIE, Barcelona, Spain 2004.
The Christian Education Professors from the ELCA (Lutheran) seminaries have produced a new book titled The Ministry of Children’s Education: Foundations, Contexts, and Practices. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2004. Searching on the fortresspress.com website, it will come up under "Various" (authors), and on Amazon.com it will come up under "Krych." Margaret Krych is writer of the introduction.

Dr. Jerry Larsen is Senior Minister at Los Altos United Methodist Church in Long Beach, California.  He has published Religious Education and the Brain: A practical Resource for Understanding How We Learn about God, Paulist Press, 2000.

Mary A. Love, of Hood Theological Seminary, compiled with the aid of students and members of the Committee on Black Congregational Ministries (NCC) A Bibliography of Africentric Resources.

Wilda K. W. (Wendy) Morris is editing The Pebble, a quarterly Children's Ministry newsletter, for American Baptists Churches USA.  

Debra Dean Murphy’s book, Teaching That Transforms:  Worship as the Heart of Christian Education, will be published next month (August) by Brazos Press.  Information about the book can be found at www.brazospress.com.

Karen Oddi hase a new position in addition to her previous position  New:  Archdiocesan Evangelization Coordinator, in addition to Associate Director, Faith Formation. 

As of July 1, Janet Parachin is the Assistant Professor of Education and Spirituality at Phillips Theological Seminary. She has also been the Director of the Doctor of Ministry program for the past year, but will move into full-time teaching.

On May 7, 2003 the Southern Methodist University Board of Trustees voted to promote Evelyn Parker to Associate Professor of Christian Education with Tenure.

As of January 2004, Sharon Ely Pearson has been appointed Children's Ministries & Christian Education Coordinator for the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.

Daniel Schipani  is a co-editor of  the just released book,  Through The Eyes of Another: Intercultural Reading of the Bible, together with Hans de Wit, Louis Jonker, Marleen Kool. Published by the Institute of Mennonite Studies in collaboration with the Free University Amsterdam (the Netherlands), 544 pp.  Daniel also gave five lectures on “Educación desde la fe cristiana: Cinco pistas para nuestro tiempo”  (Education from a Christian perspective: Five guidelines for out time) at the Seminario Teológico Centroamericano. 

Richard Shields has earned his Ph.D.

W. Alan Smith had an article entitled "Dancers Exult At the Awakening" published in the January 2004 issue of Teaching Theology and Religion (volume 7, Number 1) and have completed an entry on George Herbert Betts for the "Christian Educators of the 20th Century" project. The latter is out for peer review at present.

Fred D. Smith, along with Charles Foster have published Black Religious Experience: Conversations pm Double Consciousness and the Work of Grant Shockley, Abingdon Press.  Smith is Associate Professor of Urban Ministry and Associate Director Practice of Ministry and Mission, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC.
As of July 1, Wanda Stahl has been appointed to serve as Director of Connectional Ministries for the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church.  She has just completed five years on conference staff as Resourcing Director in the area of Spiritual Life and Discipleship.

Dr. Sophia Steibel wrote an article on “Leroy Ford:  Interactive Educator” along with Dr. Daryl Eldridge for The Christian Education Journal, Fall 2003;  she also completed a biographical entry on Paul Vieth for the “Christian Educators of the Twentieth Century” project available at www.Talbot.edu/ceacademic, January 2004.  Also, she was awarded Who’s Who Among American’s Teachers in the Eight Edition 1003-1004.

John B. Switzer this year received the First Annual Adjunct-of-the-Year Award from the Division of Lifelong Learning at Spring Hill College, Mobile Alabama.  It was his first year with the college.

Rev. Francis S. Tebbe, O.F.M., D.Min., reports a change of address:  Executive Assistant to the President, Secretary of the Corporation, Office of the President, Saint Xavier University, 3700 West 103rd Street, Chicago, Illinois 60655-3150.

Jacqulyn Thorpe  announces a book publication:  Willhauck, Susan and Thorpe, Jacqulyn.The Web of Women's Leadership Recasting Congregational Ministry.  Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 2001.

Mai-Anh L. Tran completed her Ph.D. in May 2004 at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.  In the fall, she will be promoted from Instructor to Assistant Professor in the area of Youth Ministries (new title pending) at the Pacific School of Religion.

Jane Rogers Vann, Associate Professor of Christian Education Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education Richmond, Virginia, recently published Gathered Before God: Worship-Centered Church Renewal, Westminster John Knox Press, 2004.

Brett Webb-Mitchell will be one of the leading participants at a consultation of the World Council of Churches in Nairobi, Kenya, August 14-21, 2004, in which the primary issue to be discussed is theological education and people with disabilities.

Brad Wigger has been promoted to full professor, with tenure, at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. 

Dr. Grace C. Yeuell has been promoted to Associate Professor of Religion/Christian Education at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, USA.

Karen-Marie Yust, Christian Theological Seminary (Indianapolis), has published her second book, Real Kids, Real Faith: Practices for Nurturing Children’s Spiritual Lives, with Jossey-Bass.