Reflecting on how I have been formed as a religious educator has confirmed what the southern author Eudora Welty (1909-2001) once wrote: “Wherever you go, you meet part of your story.” Consistent with Horace Bushnell’s maxim, my upbringing in a devout Christian (Baptist) home, I never knew myself to be other than – by some […]
The Religious Education Association is proud to announce the third book in our Horizons in Religious Education series: The Grace of Playing. Courtney Goto’s book explores the reality that believers and teachers of faith regularly know the in-breaking of God’s Spirit in their midst, when revelatory experiencing unexpectedly shifts habits of thinking, feeling, and doing
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Speaking of the influence religious actors and institutions are currently playing in every region of the world and on nearly every issue central to U.S. foreign policy, John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State recently declared: “I often say that if I headed back to college today, I would major in comparative religions rather than political
DEADLINE: MARCH 31ST Meridian International Center and the Pluralism Project are now accepting submissions for a crowd-sourced exhibition on Indian faiths and religious traditions in the United States. Funded by U.S. Embassy New Delhi and implemented by Meridian International Center, this project is designed to capture the diversity of the Indian American community and represent
This is the fifth and final plenary session of the Religious Education Association’s 2015 annual meeting, held in Atlanta, Georgia. Program chair and incoming president Harold “Bud” Horell focused on the imagery of religious education and continuing the conversation as the association moves forward into the future.
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The passion that moved me into religious education – The words “church,” “education” and “public” are at the heart of Christian religious education. These words came together for me into a vocation in the midst of seminary and graduate school, yet were born much earlier. First, an evangelical Methodist “church” was a formative in my
There are several significant sources behind my becoming a religious educator. I grew up in the church. My mother played piano and organ at a variety of congregations in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) so my brother (also an ordained minister in this denomination) and I grew up being in worship and in both
My formation initially began at home with my parents. More formal religious education was nurtured at Lutheran Church of the Epiphany in Brooklyn, New York. I can remember a number of my Sunday school teachers, although not formally trained, were dedicated to the task of passing on the faith tradition to us youngsters. While in
I became inspired to pursue Religious Education while a seminary student. Kieran Scott was the faculty person teaching my first RE course and I became inspired through his enthusiasm for the discipline. The more I studied, the more inspired I became. I had come to the seminary after having taught a couple of classes in
The fourth plenary at our recent annual meeting was focussed on the questions of religious education in public life, and specifically on caring for creation. Jennifer Ayres, Kyle Kramer and Timothy Van Meter all addressed these issues, and there was robust discussion following their presentations.
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