ADVOCATE
Facing the Twinge of Anxiety
By: Forrest Palmer I greet you as a disciple in Christ, now serving as the president of the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE), a five denomination partnership with the mission goals that APCE exists to “connect, enrich, empower and sustain persons...
Life Achievement Recipient Tom Malone
By: Tom Malone served the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for more than 41 years as a Christian educator and pastor. Born and reared in South Carolina, Tom attended Florida State University (B.A. in English) and Columbia (M.Div.) and McCormick (D.Min.) seminaries. The...
APCE’s Educator of the Year: David Hoonjin Chai
By: The commitment and the dedication of David Hoonjin Chai, APCE’s 2013 Educator of the Year, for development of leadership in Asian American congregations is legendary. For the past 20 years, David has been a pioneer in the field of Christian education for the...
Protecting children from a sexualized childhood
By: Two decades ago, a friend recounted an unsettling dinnertime experience. Just as he put a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth in a busy restaurant, his 10-year-old daughter casually asked, “What’s a blow job?” My friend recalled how he had to first...
Innovative children’s ministry happens where…
By: My children’s summer highlight is vacation Bible school when 100 children and 70 adult volunteers come together for a memorable week of exciting activities and experiential Bible lessons. My children sing the VBS songs practically daily clear through...
Trends and innovations
By: Diana Butler Bass, Christianity after Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening. HarperOne, 2012. Church membership continues to plummet in America. Yet interest in the soul is rising. What’s behind this spiritual but not...
Isaiah 43:16-21: Trends/Disruptions
By: The deep anxiety in our society (that now readily spills over into violence) reflects a loss of confidence in trends that seem to have been interrupted and broken, a disruption that is powerfully symbolized by 9/11 and the loss of our illusion of invulnerability....
Trends and innovations
By: Change is a comin’. How do you deal with change? There are lots of changes coming our way and we have to adapt or not. What is new and innovative in the church in Christian education or faith formation? What is change? Is change doing things differently and...
The church’s response to cultural shifts
By: It seems that at every conference I attend these days we are talking about “The 21st Century Church” and how to be the church that reflects the realities of today’s culture. Some people want to skip the theory to discover the next...
Serving Christ with small hands
By: For many years the focus of children’s ministry has been on engaging the Bible in new and inviting ways. We’ve looked for curriculum resources that have bright engaging illustrations, multi-sensory ways of learning, and easy to follow instructions for...