Bob Winstead, current president of the CEF Board, and Debby Burns Fox, incoming president, make remarks at “Blessed to Be a Blessing,” a joint gathering of Christian educators and pastors meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 24-27, 2008.
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, November 2, 2008/GBOD/ -- Over 600 Christian educators and pastors attended the United Methodist Christian Educators Fellowship and Preaching from the Center conferences, held jointly for the first time ever to celebrate the organizations’ 40th and 60th anniversaries, respectively.
Organized around the theme “Blessed to Be a Blessing,” the joint celebration was held October 24-27, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF) began officially in 1968 under the leadership of the Rev. R. Hipps, the founding father of CEF. Hipps said that he discovered early on, in his visits with educators, that they felt “alienated from any of the real ministry of the church, and didn’t feel accepted as part of a real professional staff.”
“If there were to be budget cuts, they got the first cuts. That’s what gave me the idea that somehow we’ve got to get some better recognition of these folks,” Hipps said in a video presentation commemorating the 40th anniversary of the organization.
“Blessed to Be a Blessing” was an opportunity for Christian educators and clergy staff to come together and experience a conference looking at issues related to both Christian education and worship,” said the Rev. David Melton, chairperson of the design team, which included representatives from CEF and Preaching from the Center.
During the conference, participants could select from over a hundred workshops, Bible studies, educational tours, pre-conference sessions, plenaries and worship services.
“It was a great opportunity for folks to take workshops across disciplines. There were folk from Preaching from the Center who took Christian education classes and members of the Christian Education Fellowship who took classes from Preaching from the Center, so it was a great opportunity to be in dialogue with one another and to share experiences together with staff.”
Forty years of nurturing, supporting and advocating
“At the General Conference in Dallas in 1968, where Methodist churches [and the United Brethren] became The United Methodist Church, the Christian Educators Fellowship was recognized as the first official United Methodist organization,’ said the Rev. Robert Winstead, President of the CEF Board of Directors.
The purpose of the Christian Educators Fellowship is advocacy, support and education of the professional Christian educator in The United Methodist Church. A GBOD affiliate, the organization has expanded its work to include Pan-Methodists and other Methodist bodies.
“We have also worked to be influential in supporting those persons who may not be professionals, because we now find that so many who work in education in the church are part-time or unpaid staff members, but they are still doing the same work. So the organization has broadened its perspective,” says Winstead.
“We have (also) encouraged other denominations to be active in CEF and some of the local chapters in the annual (regional) conferences have persons from different denominations involved, because the commonalities among professional Christian educators are similar from Christian denominations to other Christian denominations.”
Next 40 years to focus on technology and young people
A CEF member since 1994 when he attended his first national conference in Orlando, Winstead says the next 40 years will be about the use of technology in education and young people.
“CEF is an organization that helps sharpen skills. It’s a training organization. Professionals need to continue to learn and re-tool. We need to advocate for one another on the annual conference level and also on the general church level that Christian Education is a gift to the life of the church.”
Because there are so many agendas before the church, one of CEF’s goals is to lift up the Christian educator’s role, as other groups do for evangelism and mission.
“Our goal is to lift up Christian education and spiritual formation — the things that affect people’s lives in the area of education. Christian education is spiritual formation, whether you are talking about children, youth, or adults. And Christian educators understand that among themselves. But we’re not convinced that the whole church always understands that. So we need to share that ‘yes,’ faith is a lifelong journey and is always a growing process — not only for the people we serve but for ourselves as well,” said Winstead.
Time of transition
This is a time of transition for this organization, according to the incoming president of the CEF Board, the Rev. Deborah “Debby” Burns Fox, pastor of Christian education and discipleship for First United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Georgia. “As the church is in a time of transition, so are those of us who work in the church,” she said in a recent interview.
“Many of the old ways of being Christian educators have new ways being lived out in the church. Our titles have changed. It’s not as obvious sometimes by what you call us what we actually do in the church, and certainly during dire economic times it is difficult to maintain staff,” said Fox, who also thinks that another piece for the future of CEF is to continue to maintain the collegiality, fellowship, nurturing and support that have been so intrinsic to its being.
“Part of the premise of its founding is to have the opportunity for people who were in like ministries to share their challenges and joys and successes and failures. And I think that is still an important part of why we exist. You can be kind of alone out there,” Fox said.
“We hear that from clergy, we hear that from staff folk and occasionally from volunteers —‘what’s happening here can’t be happening any where else.’ There is some comfort in knowing it does happen. It’s not just you. You are not alone.’ ”
Youth movement is needed
“It’s important that we continue to make significant strides toward a youth movement in this organization,” says Fox.
“When we celebrated our 40th birthday, with the idea that there would be 40 more years to come, we had to ask, ‘who will be moving into this organization in leadership roles, as participants, and what will they look like? How do we do that? How do we reach generations who are perhaps not going to have the same kind of educational seminary track and yet will be fulfilling those duties in local congregations? How do you involve them in a professional organization for their own support, nurture and education so what happens here really does move into local church ministry?’ ”
Fox says it’s important for CEF to continue to be a place of nurture and support — “regardless of whether you have professional credentials or clergy status, or you are the Sunday school superintendent, or a Sunday school teacher with a heart for children — there’s a place for you in this organization.”
She also said that it’s important for participants to find ways to take what happens here and use that to offer leadership in new and vital ways, both to their congregations and to the organization. “We depend on volunteers,” she said.
Among the worship, plenary and Preaching from the Center speakers were: the Rev. Ronald Allen, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and professor of preaching and New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indiana; the Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards, GBOD director of Worship Resources with the General Board of Discipleship; the Rev. Safiyah Fosua, D. Min., GBOD director of Invitational Preaching Ministries; the Rev. Stephanie Moore Hand, Christian education consultant for the Western North Carolina Conference and minister of Christian education at Mouzon United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dean B. McIntyre, GBOD director of music resources; Bill McKibben, author and scholar in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont; Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, Ph.D., professor Emerita, Claremont School of Theology; the Rev. Marjorie Thompson, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA, and director of Pathways for Congregational Spirituality at The Upper Room based in Nashville, Tenn.; Osvaldo Vena, Th. D., associate professor of New Testament at Garrett Theological Seminary; and the Rev. Bob Winstead, senior pastor of Haygood Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta and president of the CEF Board of Directors.
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico, November 2, 2008/GBOD/ -- Over 600 Christian educators and pastors attended the United Methodist Christian Educators Fellowship and Preaching from the Center conferences, held jointly for the first time ever to celebrate the organizations’ 40th and 60th anniversaries, respectively.
Organized around the theme “Blessed to Be a Blessing,” the joint celebration was held October 24-27, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Christian Educators Fellowship (CEF) began officially in 1968 under the leadership of the Rev. R. Hipps, the founding father of CEF. Hipps said that he discovered early on, in his visits with educators, that they felt “alienated from any of the real ministry of the church, and didn’t feel accepted as part of a real professional staff.”
“If there were to be budget cuts, they got the first cuts. That’s what gave me the idea that somehow we’ve got to get some better recognition of these folks,” Hipps said in a video presentation commemorating the 40th anniversary of the organization.
“Blessed to Be a Blessing” was an opportunity for Christian educators and clergy staff to come together and experience a conference looking at issues related to both Christian education and worship,” said the Rev. David Melton, chairperson of the design team, which included representatives from CEF and Preaching from the Center.
During the conference, participants could select from over a hundred workshops, Bible studies, educational tours, pre-conference sessions, plenaries and worship services.
“It was a great opportunity for folks to take workshops across disciplines. There were folk from Preaching from the Center who took Christian education classes and members of the Christian Education Fellowship who took classes from Preaching from the Center, so it was a great opportunity to be in dialogue with one another and to share experiences together with staff.”
Forty years of nurturing, supporting and advocating
“At the General Conference in Dallas in 1968, where Methodist churches [and the United Brethren] became The United Methodist Church, the Christian Educators Fellowship was recognized as the first official United Methodist organization,’ said the Rev. Robert Winstead, President of the CEF Board of Directors.
The purpose of the Christian Educators Fellowship is advocacy, support and education of the professional Christian educator in The United Methodist Church. A GBOD affiliate, the organization has expanded its work to include Pan-Methodists and other Methodist bodies.
“We have also worked to be influential in supporting those persons who may not be professionals, because we now find that so many who work in education in the church are part-time or unpaid staff members, but they are still doing the same work. So the organization has broadened its perspective,” says Winstead.
“We have (also) encouraged other denominations to be active in CEF and some of the local chapters in the annual (regional) conferences have persons from different denominations involved, because the commonalities among professional Christian educators are similar from Christian denominations to other Christian denominations.”
Next 40 years to focus on technology and young people
A CEF member since 1994 when he attended his first national conference in Orlando, Winstead says the next 40 years will be about the use of technology in education and young people.
“CEF is an organization that helps sharpen skills. It’s a training organization. Professionals need to continue to learn and re-tool. We need to advocate for one another on the annual conference level and also on the general church level that Christian Education is a gift to the life of the church.”
Because there are so many agendas before the church, one of CEF’s goals is to lift up the Christian educator’s role, as other groups do for evangelism and mission.
“Our goal is to lift up Christian education and spiritual formation — the things that affect people’s lives in the area of education. Christian education is spiritual formation, whether you are talking about children, youth, or adults. And Christian educators understand that among themselves. But we’re not convinced that the whole church always understands that. So we need to share that ‘yes,’ faith is a lifelong journey and is always a growing process — not only for the people we serve but for ourselves as well,” said Winstead.
Time of transition
This is a time of transition for this organization, according to the incoming president of the CEF Board, the Rev. Deborah “Debby” Burns Fox, pastor of Christian education and discipleship for First United Methodist Church in Gainesville, Georgia. “As the church is in a time of transition, so are those of us who work in the church,” she said in a recent interview.
“Many of the old ways of being Christian educators have new ways being lived out in the church. Our titles have changed. It’s not as obvious sometimes by what you call us what we actually do in the church, and certainly during dire economic times it is difficult to maintain staff,” said Fox, who also thinks that another piece for the future of CEF is to continue to maintain the collegiality, fellowship, nurturing and support that have been so intrinsic to its being.
“Part of the premise of its founding is to have the opportunity for people who were in like ministries to share their challenges and joys and successes and failures. And I think that is still an important part of why we exist. You can be kind of alone out there,” Fox said.
“We hear that from clergy, we hear that from staff folk and occasionally from volunteers —‘what’s happening here can’t be happening any where else.’ There is some comfort in knowing it does happen. It’s not just you. You are not alone.’ ”
Youth movement is needed
“It’s important that we continue to make significant strides toward a youth movement in this organization,” says Fox.
“When we celebrated our 40th birthday, with the idea that there would be 40 more years to come, we had to ask, ‘who will be moving into this organization in leadership roles, as participants, and what will they look like? How do we do that? How do we reach generations who are perhaps not going to have the same kind of educational seminary track and yet will be fulfilling those duties in local congregations? How do you involve them in a professional organization for their own support, nurture and education so what happens here really does move into local church ministry?’ ”
Fox says it’s important for CEF to continue to be a place of nurture and support — “regardless of whether you have professional credentials or clergy status, or you are the Sunday school superintendent, or a Sunday school teacher with a heart for children — there’s a place for you in this organization.”
She also said that it’s important for participants to find ways to take what happens here and use that to offer leadership in new and vital ways, both to their congregations and to the organization. “We depend on volunteers,” she said.
Among the worship, plenary and Preaching from the Center speakers were: the Rev. Ronald Allen, an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and professor of preaching and New Testament at Christian Theological Seminary in Indiana; the Rev. Taylor Burton-Edwards, GBOD director of Worship Resources with the General Board of Discipleship; the Rev. Safiyah Fosua, D. Min., GBOD director of Invitational Preaching Ministries; the Rev. Stephanie Moore Hand, Christian education consultant for the Western North Carolina Conference and minister of Christian education at Mouzon United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina; Dean B. McIntyre, GBOD director of music resources; Bill McKibben, author and scholar in residence at Middlebury College in Vermont; Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, Ph.D., professor Emerita, Claremont School of Theology; the Rev. Marjorie Thompson, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, USA, and director of Pathways for Congregational Spirituality at The Upper Room based in Nashville, Tenn.; Osvaldo Vena, Th. D., associate professor of New Testament at Garrett Theological Seminary; and the Rev. Bob Winstead, senior pastor of Haygood Memorial United Methodist Church in Atlanta and president of the CEF Board of Directors.
No comments:
Post a Comment