Fall 2001 Newsletter
In This Issue
Spiritual Journey & Our Communities of Faith
SHEMA!
Planning
Begins for Children's Spiritual Development and Formation Conference
"Christian
Educators of the 20th Century" Project Receives Funding from
Lilly
In
Memoriam: Bill O'Byrne, Jonathan Thigpen
Research
Presentations
Book
Reviews
NAPCE 2001: Spiritual
Journey & Our Communities of Faith
Conference Preview and Registration Information
The theme of the annual NAPCE conference for the year 2001 is: Spiritual
Journey and our Communities of Faith. The conference will be
held in Arlington Park near Chicago, October 25-27, 2001. NAPCE
Vice President Mark Senter has prepared a conference designed to
focus on the richness of the spiritual journey found in diverse
expressions of the Body of Christ and explore the implications of
this for personal and corporate growth.
Registration for the conference is now underway. Please refer to
the conference webpage for
more details about registration and schedule. Note, especially,
that discounted airfare is available through United Airlines specialized
meeting Reservation Center, at 1-800-521-4041. Mention the NAPCE
conference (meeting ID number 593XG) to receive information on the
best available fares.
NAPCE members seeking roommates to share hotel costs should contact
Dennis Williams at 502-897-4813 and provide the following information:
your name, phone number, fax number and e-mail address. Dennis can
also be reached via fax (502-897-4004) or e-mail (celead@sbts.edu).
S H E M A!
a forum for listening
Gary A. Parrett, Communications Director
"Hey, hey, is anybody listening? Hey, hey, does anybody
care. . . ?"
Perhaps, like me, you remember these words from the old song. Is
anybody listening? Does anybody care? These are questions which,
today, I wish to humbly put to my NAPCE colleagues.
Having been a part of NAPCE for about six years now, I certainly
rejoice in the relationships that I have been able to develop with
fellow members. And from all my interactions, I am convinced that
NAPCE members are committed and caring professionals and servants
of the church. I am not, by any means, questioning these commitments.
But will you allow me to wonder about our commitment to one another
as an organization? Perhaps NAPCE is simply an annual gathering
and not truly a functioning organization. Certainly there are ‘pockets’
of relationships, or mini-networks, that exist throughout our membership,
and we rejoice in the collegial efforts that arise within these
spheres. And perhaps it is overly ambitious of us to ever hope for
more from such an organization as ours, in such a time as ours.
Still, I wonder if we could not take baby steps forward. Can we,
as a body of individuals who are engaged in a common work, speak
to and listen to one another? Can we challenge and spur one another
on toward love and good deeds? This was indeed my hope when I launched
the "Shema!" column in the last issue of the NAPCE Newsletter.
There were those who spoke to me in knowing tones when I shared
this idea with them many months ago. It was not so much a warning
as it was an indulgent smile (complete with twinkling eyes) toward
my apparent zeal and naivete. Cultures of institutions are not easily
changed. I sensed the genuineness and wisdom of their concern. Yet
I pressed on, and issued my first invitation for a conversation
or two to begin.
Six months later, no one has taken me up on the invitation. Not
a single idea or question–not the slightest peep–has come
my way. The silence, I believe, shouts at us all, not just at me.
Perhaps I should have offered a specific, rather than a general,
invitation for dialogue. Let me do so now: What keeps us, as
a body, from truly speaking to, and truly listening to, one another?
Of course, I want to hear from you, my colleagues, about why such
an exercise in group listening is so difficult to pull off. While
I await your thoughts, let me share my own preliminary ideas on
the matter. . . .
First, I think that our work tends to keep us focused on the tasks
at hand. We each have more than enough relational work to attend
to at home, at our schools, at our churches and in our communities.
And there are countless tasks to be achieved or at least attempted.
Put simply, we are all busy! Taking time for such an exercise
as this is probably a luxury that few can afford.
Second, few of us have learned how to truly carve out time for authentic
rest and reflection in our lives. We do not manage our busy-ness
well. I can still remember what seemed to me an audible sigh
from NAPCE members as Michael Medved described his personal and
family Sabbath traditions during his final session with us a few
years ago. I thought at the time that we, as a group of Christian
leaders, were being gently rebuked by the ongoing experience of
this observant Jewish man. Maybe it was just me.
Finally, listening is hard work. If there is ever to be a
stream of authentic interchange between NAPCE members it will prove
costly. Precious personal energy will be expended. Relationships
will be challenged. Old prejudices and preferences will be forced
to give way. Who is eager for such discomfort?
I grant all the above. Yet I remain convinced that we truly (perhaps
desperately) need to hear each other. Of course, the conference
itself should be the main forum for this. But here is one more opportunity
for a dynamic exchange of ideas, a sharing of hearts together. Is
anybody listening? Does anybody care?
If so, e-mail me your thoughts (gparrett@gcts.edu).
Planning Begins for Children's
Spiritual Development and Formation Conference
The Louisville Institute has provided a grant of $20,000 to assist
with the development and carrying out of a North American conference
on children's spiritual development and formation from a Christian
perspective. The next two years will be spent developing this conference
and it should be held sometime in 2003.
Last year, several NAPCE members met at the Toronto conference to
discuss the possibility of a gathering of people doing research
and writing on children's spiritual growth and formation from a
Christian confessional perspective. Other international gatherings
in recent years have approached children's spirituality in a non-confessional
way, seeing it as an innate human capacity that can be developed,
rather than seeing it
in relationship to the active work of the triune God. We expanded
our group and applied to the Louisville Institute for funding and
were delighted to receive it.
As work begins on this effort, please contact one of the planning
group members with your suggestions, ideas for issues to be addressed,
speakers and research presenters, etc. We're looking to bring together
biblical and theological scholars along with social science researchers
to address issues of children's spirituality and the church's response
in ministry. We will keep NAPCE membership informed of the plans
as they develop. Our first planning session is just before the Fall
2001 conference in Chicago, so we should be able to share an update
there.
Planning Group Members include:
Jerome Berryman, Director of the Center for the Theology
of Childhood
Ronald Cram, Columbia Theological Seminary
Kevin Lawson, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University,
Project Director
Scottie May, Wheaton College
Marcia Granger McQuitty, Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary
Shirley Morgenthaler, Concordia University, River Forest,
IL
Donald Ratcliff, Biola University
Catherine Stonehouse, Asbury Theological Seminary
"Christian Educators
of the 20th Century" Project Receives Funding from Lilly
Kevin Lawson
At the NAPCE conference in Toronto last year a writing project for
a web-based database was introduced during one of the research presentation
sessions. This project will provide information on influential leaders
in the field of Christian education during the 20th century. Entries
will include biographical essays, photographs, complete bibliographies
of their works and of writings about them, excerpts of their major
writings, and assessment of their influence in the field. There
is an editorial board of ten people overseeing this effort and NAPCE
members have been invited to participate in writing for the project.
This spring a grant application was sent to the Lilly Endowment
to help provide funding for the meetings of the editorial board,
stipends for writers and reviewers, and the development and maintenance
of the website. Lilly approved a grant of $63,000 over the next
three years to make this project possible. We are very thankful
for this support and what it will enable us to do.
We will be providing an update on the project and recruiting writers
at the NAPCE conference in Chicago this fall. If you have any questions
about the project or suggestions for people to include in it, please
contact any of the members of the editorial board. We are currently
in Phase I of the project, focusing on those who are retired or
deceased.
Editorial Board Members include:
Warren Benson, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (emeritus),
Southern Baptist Seminary and Talbot School of Theology
Harold Burgess, Asbury Theological Seminary (retired)
Mari Gonlag, Southern Wesleyan University
Kevin Lawson, Talbot School of Theology, Project Director
Mary Elizabeth Moore, Candler School of Theology
Robert Pazmi–o, Andover Newton Theological School
Ronnie Prevost, Logsdon School of Theology, Hardon Simmons
University
Jack Seymour, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Eileen Starr, Alaska Bible College
D. Campbell Wyckoff, Princeton Theological Seminary, (emeritus),
Senior Advisor
In Memoriam: Bill O'Byrne,
Jonathan Thigpen
Bill O'Byrne, who passed away on December 21, 2000, was
Professor of Educational Ministries at Houghton College in New York
State since 1983 and a long-time member of NAPCE. An ordained minister,
Bill was a graduate of Wheaton College, Wheaton School of Theology
and New York University. He pastored for 14 years in Long Island,
and earlier pastoral work included ministries in Philadelphia, Detroit
and New York City. He is survived by his wife, Betty; three sons–William,
Bruce and Bryan; daughter-in-law, Joy, and five grandchildren. The
William L. O'Byrne Scholarship, helping students entering full-time
ministry, has been established at Houghton College in Bill’s
honor.
Jonathan N. Thigpen was president of the Evangelical Training
Association (ETA) in Wheaton, from 1992 until May of this year.
He died on May 20th, in his home, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
(ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 49-years-old.
He is survived by his wife, Yvonne; his daughter, Jessica; his parents,
and three sisters.
Born in Nashville, Jonathan graduated from Free Will Baptist Bible
College and earned advance degrees from Tennessee Temple Baptist
Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. As
President of ETA, Jonathan was an innovator who helped modernize
the delivery of Christian adult educational materials. During his
tenure, the association grew from four employees to 20. Before joining
the association, he had been an editorial manager, a professor at
Free Will Baptist, a pastor and an advertising manager for Christianity
Today.
NAPCE members who were present at the annual conference in October
of 2000 will remember Jonathan’s stirring words of exhortation
during the final plenary session. Yvonne noted that Jonathan accepted
his condition and "used it as an opportunity to make every
day count."
Research Presentations
Opportunities at the 2001 Conference
If you are interested in making a seminar presentation of your ongoing
or recently completed research in the field of Christian education
at the NAPCE conference in Chicago this October, 2001, please contact
Kevin Lawson (kevin_lawson@peter.biola.edu)
with a paragraph description of your work and who might benefit
from your presentation (faculty teaching and researching in what
areas). Research presentations related to the conference theme are
encouraged, but this is not necessary. Details on the presentation
sessions can be obtained from Kevin Lawson. If you have been conducting
empirical, historical, theological, or philosophical research related
to the teaching and practice of Christian education, please consider
sharing with your peers at the conference. It is a great way to
"stir one another up to good works." We are eager to hear
from you.
Book Reviews
James Davies, Book Review Editor
Missions in a New Millennium: Change and Challenges in World Missions
by W. Edward Glenny and William H. Smallman (Grand Rapids: Kregel
Publications, 2000). Reviewed by David K. Strong, Simpson College.
Offered as a Festschrift for C. Raymond Buck, Missions in a New
Millennium provides a stimulating repast for all interested
in world evangelization. Its articles run the gamut from biblical
and theological foundations for mission to strategic considerations,
such as evangelistic methods, contextualization, ecumenism, Marian
devotion, ancestral rituals, women in ministry, missionary children
and local church involvement.
As with most collections, some articles are of greater value than
others. Michael Grisanti offers perceptive exegetical insights into
Genesis 12 and Exodus 19 as Old Testament foundations for mission.
In an equally stimulating article, Kevin Bauder challenges Richard
Niebuhr’s Christ and Culture models by utilizing T.S.
Eliot’s organic theory of culture. David Ronan grapples with
conversion in light of Japanese ancestral practices both anthropologically
and theologically. Although the book reflects the perspectives of
very conservative, separatist Baptists who view the state of the
modern North American church quite pessimistically, the book’s
great strength lies in its scriptural grounding. The authors quite
eschew the use of proof-texts in favor of sound exegetical and theological
arguments, and the study questions at the end of each chapter are
most helpful.
As a supplementary text for upper-division undergraduate and seminary
courses on contemporary missionary issues, the book will serve to
guide students and teachers alike to new levels of theoretical and
practical discussion.
* * *
The following are reviews of Faculty Development/ Distance Education
books. Reviewed by James A. Davies, Simpson College.
Leading Academic Change: Essential Roles for Departmental Chairs
by Ann F. Lucas and Associates (Jossey-Bass, 2000).
This book addresses how to manage change at the department level
while facilitating a cohesive team. It focuses on a team-work approach
with a collaborative model of involvement. Topics addressed include:
handling resistance to change, transforming departments into productive
learning communities, promotion, tenure and post-tenure reviews,
innovating change in curriculum and teaching, monitoring and improving
educational quality, and leading in curriculum review. This reviewer
found the materials on "service learning and the engaged
department" and "giving faculty ownership of technological
change in the department" to be particularly useful. The
book is good, clear and comprehensive, integrating the latest research
with readable examples of the best practices.
Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University
Leaders by A.W. Bates (Jossey-Bass, 2000).
Bates maintains that implementing new technology requires more than
simply buying new computers and building a web site. In his view,
it demands major changes in both teaching and organizational structure.
Bates provides a wide range of strategies to ensure the successful
use of technology: the technology infrastructure, student access,
planning courses and programs, organizing for the management of
educational technologies, funding strategies and collaboration.
The chapter on "Supporting Faculty" has several valuable
subsections. Helpful treatments are given on faculty training and
development (where seven strategies are outlined from the best practice
institutions), overcoming faculty fear of technology, and creating
and using copyrighted material. Perhaps the best chapter is on "Calculating
the Costs of Teaching with Technology." It includes multifaceted
budgeting elements, as well as the topics of start up, first time,
and calculating total costs over the life of a course. The discussion
of in-house on-line courses or outsourcing is quite valuable for
small and medium-sized colleges and universities.
Teaching Alone, Teaching Together: Transforming the Structure
of Teams for Teaching by James L. Bess and Associates (Jossey-Bass,
2000).
Bess and a select group of scholars propose a radical rethinking
of teaching and academic work. They suggest a unique team-based
academic organization that matches the different talents of faculty
members with the distinct, differentiated tasks of teaching. Seven
different teacher sub-roles (researcher, pedagogue, lecturer, discussion
leader, integrator, assessor and mentor) are presented, along with
various contrasting tasks, talents and temperaments. Each sub-role
forms a self-contained chapter. It is claimed that no one person
can accomplish each element successfully. By blending the unique
talents of several faculty ("integrating autonomous professionals"
a more "positive overall instruction" can occur.
The summative section argues for the teaching team, selecting faculty
based on team-based competencies, and presents a matrix alternative
for academic administration. It suggests the complexity of education
(expanding technology, on-line course work, ethnic, gender, age,
and learning style differences) can be best informed through the
professional faculty team. Not all will agree with the conclusions
of this scholarly volume. It will stimulate debate and discussion.
The seven sub-roles will help instructors at any stage of their
career better comprehend the scope involved in being a professor.
Learning that Lasts: Integrating Learning, Development and Performance
in College and Beyond by Marcia Mentkowski and Associates (Jossey-Bass,
2000).
Drawing on two decades of longitudinal studies of student learning
in the highly acclaimed curriculum at Alverno College and on leading
educational theories, the author sets forth a theory of deep and
durable learning. The aim is to help colleges and universities develop
curricula and programs that will teach students how to handle life’s
unexpected events. "Rethinking Inquiry that Improves Teaching
and Learning," and "Transforming the College Culture toward
Learning that Lasts," are two of the more stimulating chapters
of the book. This complex, comprehensive work provides an exemplar
of how to analyze and study the impact of a college on student thinking,
development and lifelong learning. This book is worth the read.
Multimedia-Based Instructional Design by William Lee and Diana
Owens (Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2000).
This instructional design process book is intended to work with
any content or course one wishes to design for computer-based, web-based
or distance-based training. The focus is on affecting human performance
through learning. It is a structure step/action text that presents
activities and steps required for developing a successful project
or course.
The multimedia theme is organized into four predictable parts: needs
assessment and analysis, instructional design, development and implementation,
and evaluation. Each section contains an easy to follow circular
or linear flow process. Theoretical segments ("Why we do what
we do") are included, as are practical highlights from the
authors’ sixty years of training and development experience
("Pitfalls We’ve Experienced" and "Successes
to Replicate"). These elements add good balance.
The authors examine the major types of media that are popular for
delivery systems today, showing the benefits and drawbacks of each.
Other valuable topics include overall project management, cycle
time reduction, media analysis, objective writing, test preparation,
and web security issues. The book includes a CD-ROM containing customizable
job aids, forms and tools. A thoughtful, yet practical resource,
this text can apply to college instructors or local church educators
who desire to become involved in web-based education.
Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace: Effective Strategies
for the Online Classroom by Rena Palloff and Keith Pratt (Jossey-Bass,
1999).
Palloff and Pratt present a thorough overview of the online course
process, including course selection, design and evaluation. The
book addresses many of the technical issues that affect the entire
process. Two of the best chapters are:
"Making the Conversion from Classroom to Cyberspace" and
"Promoting Collaborative Learning." The latter excels
in practical strategies for building a virtual classroom environment
that helps students academically, while fostering a sense of community.
This is a must read for instructors and administrators.
In Brief:
Dr. LeRoy Ford's book Design for Teaching and Training may
be ordered from Lifeway Bookstore, 4540 James Avenue, Fort Worth,
TX 76122, or from Cockrell Printing, Attn. Ken Gaskins, 218 W. Broadway,
Fort Worth, TX 76102, phone 817 336 0571, fax 817 654 3719, or email
kgaskins@cockrellprinting.com
If you have any news you would like to share with NAPCE members–book
notices, changes in work situation, etc. please e-mail the editor
at gparrett@gcts.edu, or
send to:
Gary Parrett / G.C.T.S.
130 Essex Street
S. Hamilton, MA 01984
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