Navigating Christian Education Today - CANCELED

Date: Sat., Sept. 24, 2016, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. - CANCELED

Location:  PTS, 616 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA Directions

  • What are some of the best practices to provide Christian education in today's world?
  • How do we make the stories come alive?
  • How do we share our excitement about the Good News?

This year we are taking new directions with the day formerly known as Teacher Training Workshop. While keeping some of the old, we are also adding a lot of new. 

Throughout the day, we will be providing you with opportunities to network with each other, learn about new techniques and resources, and take home materials to help you with your ministry.

Come with us on the journey. Take one day to explore new territory!

Schedule

8:00 a.m.               Registration / Coffee and Tea

8:30 a.m.               Gathering Music and Prayer with Mark A. D. Williams and friends

9:00 a.m.               Welcome

9:15 a.m.               Keynote Experience: "Change, Of Course!" with Paul Humphreys, Disciplemaking Program Director for Outreach, Crestfield Camp and Conference Center, Slippery Rock, Pa.

We will be thinking about some fundamentals to building good relationships with those we serve and serve alongside, and perhaps even importantly, with our neighbors. Using a broad definittion of neighbor, we will embark on a sensitive and fun, yet critical, journey to learn what good relationship means. Spend the day with us as we delve into what Diana Butler Bass meant when she said, "I'm really not trying to change the church; I'm only trying to make the church understand how the rest of the world has changed."

10:15 a.m.              CED (Christian Ed) Talks

11:30 a.m.              Progressive Lunch

12:30 p.m.              Exhibit Hall

1:30 p.m.                Afternoon Session (selection of various workshops to choose from)

3:00 p.m.                Closing Praise and Blessing

Afternoon Sessions

A. Teaching with Passion and Purpose ~ Barbara Gunn, Pastor, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church

This session will focus on the Bible's response to a diverse, constantly changing, and often violent culture. Join the group to learn how the teacher can serve as an agent of instruction and inspiration in troubled times.

B. O Taste and See: Multi-sensory Experience on Christian Education ~ Gail Ransom, Christian Education Director, First United Methodist Church

Enhance your students' faith through lived experiences of the God's creativity among us. This session will explore how students can embody the gospel more deeply through touch, taste, sight, sound, smell, and movement. Experience is the best teacher!

C. Bullying: No Longer Just on the Playground ~ Paul Humphreys, Disciplemaking Program Director for Outreach, Crestfield Camp and Conference Center

Bullying receives considerable attention today - most of it negative. However, the school playground now takes second place to the social media playground and often with devastating consequences. While not offering a magical solution there are numerous practices that we in faith communities can provide to victims for whom bullying does not end when they get home from school.

D. The Knowing Mat: Intergenerational Time with God ~ Carolyn Leah, Director of Christian Discipleship, Beulah Presbyterian Church

The Knowing Mat is a new tool with learning modules that help multi-generational groups, families, peer groups, Sunday School classes, retreat groups, and others know God, themselves, and others better through a multi-sensory Bible study and spiritual discipline approach. Hands-on and relational learning at its best!

E. The Teacher, the Text, and the Times ~ Nichelle Nelson, Associate Minister, Mt. Ararat Baptist Church and D.Min, Candidate, Drew University

Handling of the sacred scripture can be an awe inspiring task and opportunity for growth, both for the leader and the audience. We will explore best practices in leading Bible study as it relates to the teacher, the text, and historic and current contexts. The class will look at practical insights in developing a Bible study lesson.

F. Finding God in the Digital Space: A Practical Guide for e-Formation and Social Media Ministry ~ Lisa Brown, Director of Children's Ministry, St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Almost every aspect of our lives today has an online component, whether learning, working, shopping, flirting, or playing. How can we meet people where they are and help them to meet God in the digital space? This hands-on session will help you learn how to extend and enrich your existing ministries through the use of social media and other digital platforms.

Navigating Christian Education Today - CANCELED

Date: Sat., Sept. 24, 2016, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. - CANCELED

Location:  PTS, 616 N. Highland Ave., Pittsburgh, PA Directions

  • What are some of the best practices to provide Christian education in today's world?
  • How do we make the stories come alive?
  • How do we share our excitement about the Good News?

This year we are taking new directions with the day formerly known as Teacher Training Workshop. While keeping some of the old, we are also adding a lot of new. 

Throughout the day, we will be providing you with opportunities to network with each other, learn about new techniques and resources, and take home materials to help you with your ministry.

Come with us on the journey. Take one day to explore new territory!

Schedule

8:00 a.m.               Registration / Coffee and Tea

8:30 a.m.               Gathering Music and Prayer with Mark A. D. Williams and friends

9:00 a.m.               Welcome

9:15 a.m.               Keynote Experience: "Change, Of Course!" with Paul Humphreys, Disciplemaking Program Director for Outreach, Crestfield Camp and Conference Center, Slippery Rock, Pa.

We will be thinking about some fundamentals to building good relationships with those we serve and serve alongside, and perhaps even importantly, with our neighbors. Using a broad definittion of neighbor, we will embark on a sensitive and fun, yet critical, journey to learn what good relationship means. Spend the day with us as we delve into what Diana Butler Bass meant when she said, "I'm really not trying to change the church; I'm only trying to make the church understand how the rest of the world has changed."

10:15 a.m.              CED (Christian Ed) Talks

11:30 a.m.              Progressive Lunch

12:30 p.m.              Exhibit Hall

1:30 p.m.                Afternoon Session (selection of various workshops to choose from)

3:00 p.m.                Closing Praise and Blessing

Afternoon Sessions

A. Teaching with Passion and Purpose ~ Barbara Gunn, Pastor, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church

This session will focus on the Bible's response to a diverse, constantly changing, and often violent culture. Join the group to learn how the teacher can serve as an agent of instruction and inspiration in troubled times.

B. O Taste and See: Multi-sensory Experience on Christian Education ~ Gail Ransom, Christian Education Director, First United Methodist Church

Enhance your students' faith through lived experiences of the God's creativity among us. This session will explore how students can embody the gospel more deeply through touch, taste, sight, sound, smell, and movement. Experience is the best teacher!

C. Bullying: No Longer Just on the Playground ~ Paul Humphreys, Disciplemaking Program Director for Outreach, Crestfield Camp and Conference Center

Bullying receives considerable attention today - most of it negative. However, the school playground now takes second place to the social media playground and often with devastating consequences. While not offering a magical solution there are numerous practices that we in faith communities can provide to victims for whom bullying does not end when they get home from school.

D. The Knowing Mat: Intergenerational Time with God ~ Carolyn Leah, Director of Christian Discipleship, Beulah Presbyterian Church

The Knowing Mat is a new tool with learning modules that help multi-generational groups, families, peer groups, Sunday School classes, retreat groups, and others know God, themselves, and others better through a multi-sensory Bible study and spiritual discipline approach. Hands-on and relational learning at its best!

E. The Teacher, the Text, and the Times ~ Nichelle Nelson, Associate Minister, Mt. Ararat Baptist Church and D.Min, Candidate, Drew University

Handling of the sacred scripture can be an awe inspiring task and opportunity for growth, both for the leader and the audience. We will explore best practices in leading Bible study as it relates to the teacher, the text, and historic and current contexts. The class will look at practical insights in developing a Bible study lesson.

F. Finding God in the Digital Space: A Practical Guide for e-Formation and Social Media Ministry ~ Lisa Brown, Director of Children's Ministry, St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Almost every aspect of our lives today has an online component, whether learning, working, shopping, flirting, or playing. How can we meet people where they are and help them to meet God in the digital space? This hands-on session will help you learn how to extend and enrich your existing ministries through the use of social media and other digital platforms.