All God's People: Faith Formation Through the Life Span, October 13-15, 2008, General Board of Discipleship, Nashville, Tennessee
Dear Colleague in Ministry,
You are invited to attend a first-time event: ALL GOD’S PEOPLE: FAITH FORMATION THROUGH THE LIFE SPAN, October 13-15, 2008 at the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Event participants, together with leaders from the Family, Life Span & Latino Ministries Team, will explore how faith is formed in people from birth through older adulthood and how we can be more effective in nurturing faith for people at all ages.
The format of this event will be different from other GBOD events you may have attended. This is not an event that features keynote speakers or a variety of workshops on specific age-level or ministry topics. The participants and the leaders will become a learning community, examining faith formation from a holistic perspective through the windows of:
• Growth and Development;
• Generations;
• Transitions and Cycles of Life;
• Culture;
• Settings;
• Traditions and Heritage.
These various lenses all play a unique role in understanding how faith is formed and nurtured throughout the life span. Together we will explore what leaders can do to strengthen faith for people of all ages.
Please consider attending ALL GOD’S PEOPLE as an important part of your continuing education for 2008. Enclosed with this letter is a registration packet. Feel free to pass this information along to others who you think would benefit from the event. Registration is limited to 120 participants, so we encourage you to register as soon as possible to ensure a place.
Sincerely,
Members of the Family, Life Span, & Latino Ministries Team
For further information click the web-address listed below:
http://www.gbod.org/allgodspeople/
When you reach this website there will be further links for schedule, leadership, details, accommodations, and registration (Including the possibility of on-line registration).
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Judith E. Smith elected editor of church school publications
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 29, 2008/GBOD/ -- Karen Greenwaldt, general secretary of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD), and Neil M. Alexander, president and publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH), announced the election of Judith E. Smith as editor of Church School Publications. The editor is elected by GBOD and confirmed by the Board of UMPH, where the office of the editor is located.
“Judy Smith is exceptionally gifted and will bring to this new post a marvelous depth and vast knowledge of Christian formation and the work of publishing” said Greenwaldt.
“The world of curriculum development for small group study and for Christian education experiences is rapidly changing. Judy brings a great commitment to test new models for delivery of study resources for deepening Christian faith linked with excellent application of educational processes. The Church is blessed to have Judy Smith leading the Church through this vital work of curriculum development,” Greenwaldt said.
Smith is an ordained elder in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference and has had an over thirty-year career in Christian education, publishing, and executive administration with the general church. She served at GBOD as founding editor of Pockets, a children’s magazine; executive director of Publishing with the Upper Room; interim executive of Discipleship Resources; associate general secretary for Interpretation at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry; and executive director of Publishing and later associate to the president at UMPH. She has served as interim editor of Church School Publications since July 2007.
As editor, Smith is responsible for general editorial policy, administering the work of the Curriculum Resources Committee and the editorial staff of Church School Publications, developing a coordinated publishing plan supported by UMPH, and assuring that the editorial content is consistent with the educational philosophy formulated by GBOD.
“Judy Smith has been giving God-centered, forward-leaning leadership to the UMC's publishing ministries for decades,” said Alexander. “She blends her obvious love for seeking, inviting, forming and sending out disciples of Jesus Christ with an uncommon and irrepressible passion for holy learning. People across the UMC will benefit from her wisdom and practical insights born of a faithful imagination of ‘what can be’ and deep compassion for teachers and learners everywhere.”
NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 29, 2008/GBOD/ -- Karen Greenwaldt, general secretary of the General Board of Discipleship (GBOD), and Neil M. Alexander, president and publisher of the United Methodist Publishing House (UMPH), announced the election of Judith E. Smith as editor of Church School Publications. The editor is elected by GBOD and confirmed by the Board of UMPH, where the office of the editor is located.
“Judy Smith is exceptionally gifted and will bring to this new post a marvelous depth and vast knowledge of Christian formation and the work of publishing” said Greenwaldt.
“The world of curriculum development for small group study and for Christian education experiences is rapidly changing. Judy brings a great commitment to test new models for delivery of study resources for deepening Christian faith linked with excellent application of educational processes. The Church is blessed to have Judy Smith leading the Church through this vital work of curriculum development,” Greenwaldt said.
Smith is an ordained elder in the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference and has had an over thirty-year career in Christian education, publishing, and executive administration with the general church. She served at GBOD as founding editor of Pockets, a children’s magazine; executive director of Publishing with the Upper Room; interim executive of Discipleship Resources; associate general secretary for Interpretation at the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry; and executive director of Publishing and later associate to the president at UMPH. She has served as interim editor of Church School Publications since July 2007.
As editor, Smith is responsible for general editorial policy, administering the work of the Curriculum Resources Committee and the editorial staff of Church School Publications, developing a coordinated publishing plan supported by UMPH, and assuring that the editorial content is consistent with the educational philosophy formulated by GBOD.
“Judy Smith has been giving God-centered, forward-leaning leadership to the UMC's publishing ministries for decades,” said Alexander. “She blends her obvious love for seeking, inviting, forming and sending out disciples of Jesus Christ with an uncommon and irrepressible passion for holy learning. People across the UMC will benefit from her wisdom and practical insights born of a faithful imagination of ‘what can be’ and deep compassion for teachers and learners everywhere.”
Children s Israel-Palestine Study Is A Road to Peacemaking
by YVETTE MOORE*
New York City, May 29--Children will get a taste of Palestinian and Israeli cultures along with a new respect for the human dignity of both peoples in United Methodist Women Schools of Christian Mission convening around the country this summer.
This year marks the second and final year of the Israel-Palestine geographic study offered in Schools of Christian Mission attended by more than 25,000 women, men, youth and children each year. I Believe in Jesus is the focus of the 2008 spiritual growth study, and Giving Our Hearts Away: Native American Survival is the 2008-2009 mission issue study theme.
Mary Davies, a retired United Methodist missionary to Palestine and Cyprus, wrote From Palestine to Seattle: Becoming Neighbors and Friends, the storybook-style text for the children s geographic mission study.
My point in my little book is that Palestinian children are human just like American children, just like Jewish children, Ms. Davies said. It s trying to get away from the propaganda that says all Arabs are terrorists.
The story revolves around Seattle siblings, Allison and Matt, who, upon their clergyman father s return from a trip to the region, become e-mail-pals with a Palestinian boy, Tarek, and an Israeli girl, Miriam. E-mails about favorite foods, TV, school, and playing soccer and basketball when there is no trouble fly between the youth. The U.S. children are puzzled by their new friends e-mail references to passes needed to travel to another city and fear of a bomb going off in the neighborhood. Their father explains there s conflict between the peoples in the region and that Tarek, Miriam and their families are part of a group of Palestinians and Israelis working non-violently for peace. The U.S. children travel to Palestine to meet their new friends and participate in a children s march for peace.
A teacher s guide that accompanies the children s storybook text is filled with Bible studies, songs, dances, recipes, examples of Muslim, Arab Christian and Jewish holidays, and other activities that enable students to walk alongside families who call the Holy Land home and to participate in building bridges by praying and working for peace, wrote guide author Faye Wilson, Ed.D.
From there, study leaders imaginations take over.
Our thought was to immerse the children into the cultures, said Barbara King, lead teacher of the 24 4-11-year-old participants in the 2007 South Indiana Conference School of Christian Mission s children study.
A big pop-up tent one with a ceiling and no sides took up quite a bit of classroom space, but it s message was clear: this study is about the people of Abraham, Ms. King said. The children learned Bible stories, heard the story text, cooked, ate and did activities in their classroom-tent, and took a field trip to a local synagogue. Ms. King and the other teachers also painted sheets of wall insulation brownish-beige and used them as Jerusalem s famous Wailing Wall one day and as the wall separating Palestinians and Israelis the next.
We poked holes in the insulation so the children could put their prayers in it when it was the Wailing Wall, Ms. King said. When it was the dividing wall, the children each got a pass to see who could go through the wall and who had to stay on the other side. We tried to compare that experience to things that happen at school, getting blamed for something you didn t do. We tried to show both sides and keep it to feelings: How would you feel if you were treated this way?
West Ohio Conference children s study with 10 5-13 year olds featured worship, story time, crafts, Israeli folk dancing and water play in the facility s swimming pool, said study leader Barb Brooks. Older children helped the younger ones with the craft projects. The group also saw a documentary-style video about Palestinian and Israeli children getting together to talk about their lives, likes, dislikes, schools and to play.
We talked about comparisons between Muslims, Jewish and Christian religions and ways they are the same, Ms. Brooks said. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you can be found in all three religions.
The 23 first through sixth graders in Red Bird Missionary Conference s children study played games and made crafts, but also spent a lot of time talking about the conflict in Palestine/Israel, said study leader Lucinda Schneider. The group saw excerpts of a video about a Palestinian refugee family who visits land that belonged to their grandfather. The young people talked about the refugees who had no other place to live. They talked about second and third generation Israelis who also had no other place to live. And, they talked about the many Palestinians and Israelis working non-violently for peace in that land, Ms. Schneider said.
I think if there were easy solutions, it would have been reconciled long ago, Ms. Schneider said. The whole story was based on making friends with both peoples and understanding both situations. At the children's level, what you want them to come away with is that the situation of the Palestinians is unbearable, and it s increasingly fearful for the Israelis.
Study planners hope that knowledge will help make the difficult work of peacemaking in that region an imperative for all.
This wonderful mission study is part of our United Methodist Women outreach to help our church family understand some of the ways God-loving and God-fearing people are trying to make peace in Palestine/Israel, Ms. Wilson said. One approach of the storybook and leader s guide is: Let s expand the information about Palestine and Israel with information that is not readily available in the media. Let s show people who believe there should be greater efforts for peace in the region.
I pray United Methodist Women members will continue to want to know more than what they see on the front page of a newspaper or hear in a television report, Ms. Wilson said. I pray that United Methodist children will be able to examine life experiences from various angles. Might does not equal right that s biblical.
The Women s Division is the national policymaking arm of United Methodist Women, a nearly 800,000-member organization whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. United Methodist Women members raise nearly $20 million each year for programs and projects that improve the lives of women, children and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world. The Women s Division is part of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
*Yvette Moore is an executive secretary for communications with the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
by YVETTE MOORE*
New York City, May 29--Children will get a taste of Palestinian and Israeli cultures along with a new respect for the human dignity of both peoples in United Methodist Women Schools of Christian Mission convening around the country this summer.
This year marks the second and final year of the Israel-Palestine geographic study offered in Schools of Christian Mission attended by more than 25,000 women, men, youth and children each year. I Believe in Jesus is the focus of the 2008 spiritual growth study, and Giving Our Hearts Away: Native American Survival is the 2008-2009 mission issue study theme.
Mary Davies, a retired United Methodist missionary to Palestine and Cyprus, wrote From Palestine to Seattle: Becoming Neighbors and Friends, the storybook-style text for the children s geographic mission study.
My point in my little book is that Palestinian children are human just like American children, just like Jewish children, Ms. Davies said. It s trying to get away from the propaganda that says all Arabs are terrorists.
The story revolves around Seattle siblings, Allison and Matt, who, upon their clergyman father s return from a trip to the region, become e-mail-pals with a Palestinian boy, Tarek, and an Israeli girl, Miriam. E-mails about favorite foods, TV, school, and playing soccer and basketball when there is no trouble fly between the youth. The U.S. children are puzzled by their new friends e-mail references to passes needed to travel to another city and fear of a bomb going off in the neighborhood. Their father explains there s conflict between the peoples in the region and that Tarek, Miriam and their families are part of a group of Palestinians and Israelis working non-violently for peace. The U.S. children travel to Palestine to meet their new friends and participate in a children s march for peace.
A teacher s guide that accompanies the children s storybook text is filled with Bible studies, songs, dances, recipes, examples of Muslim, Arab Christian and Jewish holidays, and other activities that enable students to walk alongside families who call the Holy Land home and to participate in building bridges by praying and working for peace, wrote guide author Faye Wilson, Ed.D.
From there, study leaders imaginations take over.
Our thought was to immerse the children into the cultures, said Barbara King, lead teacher of the 24 4-11-year-old participants in the 2007 South Indiana Conference School of Christian Mission s children study.
A big pop-up tent one with a ceiling and no sides took up quite a bit of classroom space, but it s message was clear: this study is about the people of Abraham, Ms. King said. The children learned Bible stories, heard the story text, cooked, ate and did activities in their classroom-tent, and took a field trip to a local synagogue. Ms. King and the other teachers also painted sheets of wall insulation brownish-beige and used them as Jerusalem s famous Wailing Wall one day and as the wall separating Palestinians and Israelis the next.
We poked holes in the insulation so the children could put their prayers in it when it was the Wailing Wall, Ms. King said. When it was the dividing wall, the children each got a pass to see who could go through the wall and who had to stay on the other side. We tried to compare that experience to things that happen at school, getting blamed for something you didn t do. We tried to show both sides and keep it to feelings: How would you feel if you were treated this way?
West Ohio Conference children s study with 10 5-13 year olds featured worship, story time, crafts, Israeli folk dancing and water play in the facility s swimming pool, said study leader Barb Brooks. Older children helped the younger ones with the craft projects. The group also saw a documentary-style video about Palestinian and Israeli children getting together to talk about their lives, likes, dislikes, schools and to play.
We talked about comparisons between Muslims, Jewish and Christian religions and ways they are the same, Ms. Brooks said. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you can be found in all three religions.
The 23 first through sixth graders in Red Bird Missionary Conference s children study played games and made crafts, but also spent a lot of time talking about the conflict in Palestine/Israel, said study leader Lucinda Schneider. The group saw excerpts of a video about a Palestinian refugee family who visits land that belonged to their grandfather. The young people talked about the refugees who had no other place to live. They talked about second and third generation Israelis who also had no other place to live. And, they talked about the many Palestinians and Israelis working non-violently for peace in that land, Ms. Schneider said.
I think if there were easy solutions, it would have been reconciled long ago, Ms. Schneider said. The whole story was based on making friends with both peoples and understanding both situations. At the children's level, what you want them to come away with is that the situation of the Palestinians is unbearable, and it s increasingly fearful for the Israelis.
Study planners hope that knowledge will help make the difficult work of peacemaking in that region an imperative for all.
This wonderful mission study is part of our United Methodist Women outreach to help our church family understand some of the ways God-loving and God-fearing people are trying to make peace in Palestine/Israel, Ms. Wilson said. One approach of the storybook and leader s guide is: Let s expand the information about Palestine and Israel with information that is not readily available in the media. Let s show people who believe there should be greater efforts for peace in the region.
I pray United Methodist Women members will continue to want to know more than what they see on the front page of a newspaper or hear in a television report, Ms. Wilson said. I pray that United Methodist children will be able to examine life experiences from various angles. Might does not equal right that s biblical.
The Women s Division is the national policymaking arm of United Methodist Women, a nearly 800,000-member organization whose purpose is to foster spiritual growth, develop leaders and advocate for justice. United Methodist Women members raise nearly $20 million each year for programs and projects that improve the lives of women, children and youth in the United States and in more than 100 countries around the world. The Women s Division is part of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
*Yvette Moore is an executive secretary for communications with the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.
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