Forgetting the Past with a Purpose

Forgetting the Past with a Purpose

By: Rodger Nishioka “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.”  Isaiah 43:18 In a recent lecture, Walter Brueggemann, professor emeritus here at Columbia Theological Seminary, said that most people deal with the past in one of two...
Step Out onto the Ledge

Step Out onto the Ledge

By: Thom Cunningham My son wanted to step out on the “Ledge” last year on his 7th birthday. The Ledge is a glass box that hangs 1,353 feet above Chicago’s Magnificent Mile on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. As my...
A Time for Growth and Change

A Time for Growth and Change

By: Zeta Lamberson Every fall new things happen. School starts back up after a summer break with new teachers, new classrooms, new companions on the journey. New teams are formed in sports leagues.  New bands and orchestras are assembled. New teachers, youth leaders,...
Looking Ahead . . . Advent and Christmas

Looking Ahead . . . Advent and Christmas

By: Sandy Safford Looking for some new ideas for the coming church season? This column, which we hope to include in each issue of the Advocate, is intended to give you some resources to consider for the months ahead. Maybe it will just remind you of something you...
Exploring Digital Media for Ministry

Exploring Digital Media for Ministry

By: Kyle Oliver Something is happening in Christian education and formation. Ministry models are changing. Curricula and other resources are adapting. Teachers and learners are discovering the joys and challenges of using new media to enrich their faith journeys. For...
Educator of the Year for 2016: Beth Hayes

Educator of the Year for 2016: Beth Hayes

By: APCE Phoebe Elizabeth Abrams Hayes (Beth) grew up in a PCUSA church that played a very significant role in her early life. Her early involvement with that church family inspired her to major in religious education at Converse College in Spartanburg, South...
Resources to Explore: God’s New Things

Resources to Explore: God’s New Things

By: Mary E. Speedy Check out resources from Annual Event speakers and others who will open your eyes to God’s new things. When “Spiritual but Not Religious” Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church, Lillian Daniel. Jericho,...
How Can We Keep Our Children Singing?

How Can We Keep Our Children Singing?

By: David Gambrell Last night after dinner I heard my daughter chiding her sister: “You forgot to clean the table! Put your dishes in the sink.” Except she wasn’t just saying it—she was singing it, to the nineteenth-century hymn tune Nettleton (“Come, Thou Fount of...
A Fresh Look at Protection Policies

A Fresh Look at Protection Policies

By: At Myers Park, the church where I serve, we’ve had a Child and Youth Protection (CYP) Policy for years. It includes all the elements recommended by experts: sections on screening employees and volunteers; training; guidelines for reporting and responding to...
A Fresh Look at APCE

A Fresh Look at APCE

By: Zeta Lamberson What did you think? How did it go? Did that work? These are questions we ask after a party, a committee meeting, a small group, a conversation to solve a problem, a worship service, an annual event. As educators we know and value the process of...