About REACH…
This is the first edition of REACH that serves both the Religious Education Association (REA) and the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education (APRRE). It is part of implementing the joint reorganization design approved in the fall of 2003. REACH will be published four times a year. As we live into the joint reorganization, the content and look of REACH will continue to evolve. In the short term its content will deal with organizational news, annual meeting, and the networking and resourcing of members. We will be including articles that help us understand the organizational cultures that are coming together and the opportunities the reorganization offers us. We will also use the three forums of the reorganization design to structure networking and resourcing. These three are the Religious Education in Faith Communities Forum, the Religious Education in Public Life and the Global Community Forum, and the Religious Education in Academic Disciplines & Institutions Forum. If you have announcements or quality resources to share in these areas, please contact Lawanda Smith, Executive Secretary, lfsmith@lsua.edu.

On the web site for Garrett-Evangelical, Jack writes of his vocation as a teacher “In a world, and even in a church, where division and mistrust too often are experienced, "glimpses" of hope break through, calling us to community. Religious education begins by witnessing to those glimpses of God's grace, hope, and justice. Religious education seeks to build communities of faith in the midst of difference. Therefore, key themes in my work include theological reflection grounded in the experience of grace, exploring how cultural contexts affect the learning of the faith, and witnessing to the impact faith can have on public life.”

The Search Committee, consisting of Peter Gilmour (chair), Leona English and Mary Hess were impressed with Jack's long history with both the REA and APRRE, his understanding of the field, and his enthusiasm for the journal. They were particularly impressed with his interest in highlighting the varieties of research informing religious education, his considerable reputation in the field, and his orientation toward the future of the journal.

Welcome to our new Editor! And, many thanks to Ted Brelsford for his exemplary service as Editor during the past four years. Jack Seymour and Ted Brelsford plan to work together to ensure a smooth transition for the beginning of 2005.

Lorna MA Bowman
President and Chair of the Board, Religious Education Association

We are beginning a new time for REA and APRRE, at the same time we are beginning a new partnership. I am pleased to be offered the position as editor of Religious Education. I look forward to working with Ted Brelsford, later this year, in the transition. We all need to extend many thanks to Ted! He has been an excellent editor, building a new relationship with Taylor and Francis, setting an excellent standard for the journal, and being a mutual and nurturing editor. We all wish him well as he focuses on scholarship to assist us all to consider directions and commitments in our field. I invite you to send me suggestions for topics for the journal and ways we can build on its strong foundations as we build our partnerships. I look forward to hearing from you.–Jack Seymour (jack.seymour@garrett.edu)

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 newsletter several implementation initiatives were listed and below is a status report:

The “Design for Joint Reorganization of REA and APRRE,” ballot results and background documents are available on the website (www.religiouseducation.net).

The joint reorganization will be implemented by REA revising its bylaws to reflect the joint reorganization design and APRRE members becoming REA members. The following membership plan has been approved by the REA Board, APRRE Executive Committee, and Taylor & Francis (journal publisher and membership management).

A one-time 18-month membership to the REA will be offered running July 1, 2004 – December 31, 2005. The fee for all new and renewing regular members will be $75.00. The student and retired membership fee will be $40.00. These rates are not an increase over current REA member rates, but simply reflect an 18-month versus 12-month membership period. 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). In January 2006, memberships will return to a 12 month period (January 1st to December 31).

For current REA members, this will mean renewing your membership as usual but with the above arrangement.

For current APRRE members, this will mean joining the REA per the above arrangement and not separately renewing through APRRE. APRRE members will technically become REA members with this new 18-month membership. Current APRRE members will have their membership in APRRE automatically extended through December 2004 at no additional cost. The continuance of APRRE memberships through 2004 is necessary because the REA bylaw revisions per the reorganization design will not be approved until November 2004. In January 2005 separate APRRE memberships will be discontinued.

Everyone will receive a physical mailing with membership details and membership forms prior to July, 2004.

Current APRRE Members…These membership changes will not be implemented until after our current budget year. We still need your financial support!! Also, being a current member of APRRE is a requirement for being eligible to submit a paper proposal for the annual meeting. If you have not already done so, APRRE members need to renew for 2003-04!!! If you misplaced your membership form, they are available on the website or you can contact Randy Litchfield at rlitchfield@mtso.edu.

In early March of 2004, we launched the combined REA-APRRE website at www.religiouseducation.net. The website includes UPCOMING EVENTS (annual meeting, forum events, announcements from other organizations); PUBLICATIONS (the journal with featured articles, REACH, APRRE newsletters, APRRE “Proceedings”); OPENINGS; RESOURCES (links, other organizations, future working group support); MEMBERSHIP (forms, directory); ABOUT US (REA, APRRE, joint reorganization). Please note that important historical documents related to the REA’s centennial are available on the website.

There are several content areas where we need to develop and expand: links to relevant organizations, resources for students preparing for leadership (particularly masters and doctoral levels), and resources related to each of the forums (books, articles, media, websites, programs, curriculum, etc.). Please contact Randy Litchfield, rlitchfield@mtso.edu, regarding these items.

Even though in 2003 half of the membership of APRRE belonged to the REA, we still need to learn a lot about each other as we bring together two organizational cultures. In upcoming editions of REACH, articles by leaders in the REA and APRRE will help us learn more about the histories, values and legacies of both organizations and the opportunities created by the joint reorganization. The following starts this process through excerpts from existing documents.

Religious Education Association (REA)
“The Religious Education Association (REA) was founded in 1903 by William Rainey Harper, the first President of the University of Chicago. That year, hundreds of outstanding religious and educational leaders from the United States and Canada converged on Chicago for the first convention, which featured speakers such as John Dewey and George Albert Coe.” (from REA History on website)

“For a century, membership in the Religious Education Association has meant attention to diverse cultural identities, inter-faith collegiality, scholarly reflection on practices of religious education, and the enrichment of educational practices in ecclesial, academic and public contexts. The REA gathered together professionals in religious education, scholars, and public leaders in religion and education. Through its conventions, regional meetings, special programs, research projects, and journal the Religious Education Association has sustained and inspired rigorous reflection and research on religious education. This has been a distinctive difference from many other religious educational organizations, where programming focuses only on the ‘how-to.’” (from “Design for a Joint Reorganization of APRRE and REA,” May 23, 2003)

“REA is rich with diversity; its membership includes those from the Baha'i, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant and other traditions involved in all aspects of religious education.” (from REA History on website)

Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education (APRRE)
In the 1950's, the National Council of Churches helped sponsor and organize an annual meeting of the “Professors and Research Section” under the leadership of their Division of Christian Education. In 1969, that section dissolved and formed an independent group, in order to encourage participation by professors whose religious communities were not members of the National Council of Churches, including Roman Catholics and Jews. In 1970, it re-organized and met as APRRE. (from CSSR Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 2, April 2002)

“APRRE has sought to contribute critical and constructive scholarship in religious education in order to expand and deepen knowledge in this arena; advance intellectual discourse across disciplines and faith traditions; and enhance reflective practice by providing the best ecumenical resources available to the reflective practice of teaching in university, college, seminary, and denominational offices.” (from “Design for a Joint Reorganization of APRRE and REA,” May 23, 2003)

Although a significant number of APRRE members teach in doctoral programs, members are predominantly engaged in preparing professionals (pastors, priests, religious, rabbis, and educators) who will be engaging in educational activities in religious contexts. This is also true of those members who teach in religious studies departments, some of whom have programs designed to prepare undergraduate students for service in faith communities…. APRRE membership includes Protestants, Catholics and Jews, representing a wide spectrum of theological, denominational and educational perspectives. Currently 43 different denominations and 17 countries are represented among members. (from CSSR Bulletin, Vol. 31, No. 2, April 2002)

Brown Palace-Comfort Inn Complex
Downtown Denver

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.

September 16-18, 2004 Conference on Youth, Theology and Youth Ministry
Sponsored by the Youth Theological Initiative, Candler School of Theology/ Emory University

“New Visions of Youth Ministry,” YTI’s 2004 Conference on Youth, Theology and Youth Ministry, will bring together scholars and youth ministers to explore new ways of engaging in youth ministry to foster critical theological reflection among youth. Keynote speakers will be Dr. Evelyn Parker (Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas) and Dr. Michael Warren (St. John’s University, New York). YTI’s Director of Research and Youth Ministry Education, Dr. David F. White, will present his most recent research into the theological perspectives and practices of youth, focusing on issues of vocation. Workshop leaders will include representatives of several theological programs for high school youth sponsored by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., drawing upon their own research into adolescent faith development and pedagogy. Lectures and workshops will focus on integrating theories and theologies of youth ministry with practices of youth ministry. To request more information or registration materials call 404-727-4160 or email David White at dwhite7@emory.edu.

The Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith sponsors two grant programs: Practice Grants for congregations, educators, and agencies (up to $10,000) -- see www.practicingourfaith.org. Application deadlines for 2004 are June 30 and October 15. Challenge Grants for teams of youth and adults (up to $3,500) see www.waytolive.org. Application deadline for 2004 is September 15 and this is the final round for the program. Religious educators who are teaching youth ministry courses are encouraged to promote the Challenge Grants Program with their students. Contact Don Richter (donricht@bellsouth.net) with any questions.

The British Journal of Theological Education is being revamped and to mark a broader range and remit of the journal the name is now the Journal of Adult Theological Education. Reg Wickett has been appointed an associate editor responsible for helping attract contributions from North America. The Journal of Adult Theological Education is an academic, peer-reviewed journal that promotes dialogue among those involved in adult theological education. Its perspective is international and ecumenical. Its contribution is both theoretical and practical. The journal is published twice a year under the sponsorship of ACATE-The Association of Centres of Adult Theological Education.

If you are a member of an organization for educators within your religious tradition and that organization has a website, please email the link to Randy Litchfield, rlitchfield@mtso.edu. We would like to add this to the REA-APRRE website.

We will be using the three forums of the reorganization design to structure networking and resourcing information. These three are the Religious Education in Faith Communities Forum, the Religious Education in Public Life and the Global Community Forum, and the Religious Education in Academic Disciplines & Institutions Forum.

In this issue of REACH we start off with some resources related to Religious Education in Faith Communities. These were compiled by Dr. Ronnie Prevost, Logsdon School of Theology, Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, Texas (rprevost@hsutx.edu). If you have announcements or quality resources (books, articles, programs, media, websites) to recommend for any forum area, please contact Lawanda Smith, Executive Secretary, lfsmith@lsua.edu. We are very interested in resources from diverse traditions and settings.

Jung, Shannon, et al. 1998. Rural Ministry: The Shape of Renewal to Come. Nashville: Abingdon Press. -- All too often religious education research overlooks application in rural contexts. This book grew out of Wartburg Seminary’s Center for Theology and Land: Rural Ministry Program and challenges the reader to consider the essential nature of and challenges confronting rural parishes and communities.

Pazmiño, Robert W. 2001. God Our Teacher: Theological Basics in Christian Education. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. -- Writing from an evangelical perspective, Pazmiño does a wonderful work describing how a community’s theology can and should shape the content and structures of its religious education.

Phelps, Joseph. 1999. More Light Less Heat: How Dialogue Can Transform Christian Conflicts into Growth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. -- Genuine dialogue is vital to religious education within communities. This book is helpful in showing how dialogue can remain open and frank and lead to growth without degenerating into something counterproductive at best and destructive at worst.

Regan, Jane E. 2001. Toward an Adult Church: A Vision of Faith Formation. Chicago: Loyola Press. -- A Roman Catholic, Regan suggests that refocusing on the spiritual formation of adults will be a key to religious communities being effective and transformational in contemporary culture.

Richardson, Ronald W. 1996. Creating a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and Congregational Life. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. -- Any community of faith is comprised of individuals, each of whom comes from their own diverse family systems with all the accompanying baggage. To mold these into a nurturing community/family necessary for effective religious education is a daunting task. A pastoral counselor, Richardson’s expertise is helpful in defining the issues and offering practical guidance for the undertaking.

It is the practice of APRRE to publish once a year updates that members provide about professional accomplishments. This serves to keep us connected to be aware of new research and resources. It does however make for a longer newsletter!! We hope to make professional updates and ongoing practice of the reorganized REA, all members.