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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3227 notes).

Note 3225 by UMNS on Oct. 14, 1996 at 15:55 Eastern (5825 characters).

SEARCH: workshop, christian, education, fellowship,  spiritual
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CONTACT: Linda Green                             511(10-71B){3225}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Oct. 14, 1996

Educators explore new teaching 
techniques at San Antonio meeting

by Douglas Cannon*

     SAN ANTONIO (UMNS) -- The Rev. Mark Barden isn't afraid to
get his hands dirty when helping people learn about the Christian
faith.
     The United Methodist pastor from Winston-Salem, N.C., did
just that here Oct. 7-11 during the national conference of the
denomination's Christian Educators Fellowship. He got his hands
covered with clay in a workshop on making pottery to gain insights
into humanity's relationship with God.
     "You can learn something about yourself and God by working
with your hands," said Barden, pastor of Burkhead United Methodist
Church. "This workshop gave me tips on using clay to help others
connect with their spiritual selves.
     "What was new for me was the use of references to the potter
throughout the Bible as background for relating the scriptures to
people."
     The pottery workshop was one of more than 250
professional-development sessions offered during the five-day
national conference at Travis Park United Methodist Church.
     More than 800 United Methodist Christian educators from
across the United States spent each afternoon choosing from a
smorgasbord of 90-minute classes. 
     Instructors included pastors and Christian education
directors working in local congregations, staff members of
denominational agencies, seminary professors, and specialists such
as attorneys, performers and potters.
     But the conference schedule included more than
continuing-education workshops. Christian educators served the
community, studied the Bible, worshiped, partied and witnessed to
their faith.
     The fellowship raised more than $8,500 for the Woman at the
Well House, a local ministry founded by a United Methodist pastor.
It provides transitional housing, counseling, skill training and
faith nurture for women released from the county jail. The money
came from one offering and a special Oct. 10 benefit concert by
the San Antonio Symphony sponsored by the 6,200-member fellowship.
     "We didn't come here just to meet," said the Rev. Bradford L.
Motta of Pearl River, N.Y., 1995-96 president of the fellowship
board of directors. "We came to be part of the community and to
give something back."
     The Rev. John Holbert, associate professor of preaching at
Southern Methodist University, led Bible studies each morning
around the conference theme: "Singing God's Song in a New Land: To
Remember the Past, To Craft the Future, To Transform the Present."
     Participants then moved into small groups for dialogue and
reflection on what Holbert had said.
     "The Bible studies will be the thing I remember most about
this meeting," said Betty Cates, Christian education director at
St. James United Methodist Church, Montgomery, Ala. Holbert
"talked about how God is at work all around us. All we need to do
is join in that work," she said.
     Christian educators celebrated their faith in God each
evening with singing, liturgical dance, guest choirs and
instrumentalists, and video presentations.
     Preachers included Bishops Ann R. Sherer of Chesterfield,
Mo., and Joel Martinez of Lincoln, Neb.
     Conference participants made their presence known in downtown
San Antonio during the week. They packed the open-air Arneson
River Theater, a site on the city's famed River Walk, for an
evening worship service Oct. 9. They sang, prayed and listened to
the preaching of the Rev. Sheron Patterson, pastor of Jubilee
United Methodist Church in Duncanville, Texas, as barges filled
with tourists floated between the stage on one bank and
the audience on the other.
     Educators transformed Travis Park in the heart of the city
into a fiesta site twice on Oct. 11.
     In the morning conference participants gathered for an
outdoor Texas-style breakfast. Organizers from fellowship chapters
in Texas invited homeless people who often sleep in the park to
join in the meal and festivities.
     Besides eating, fellowship members heard music by the Son
Rise Band from Schertz, Texas; saw actors from University United
Methodist Church here dramatize scenes from early Texas history;
watched a blacksmith and quilter ply their crafts; posed for
caricatures by a local artist; and received balloons from King's
Klowns of Bethany United Methodist Church, Austin, Texas.
     In the evening a mariachi band again led Christian educators
into Travis Park. They flowed from Travis Park Church into the
park across the street along sidewalks lined with luminaries,
through an archway of colored lights and past banners and piatas.
In the park educators sang, danced and shared Mexican pastries
with passersby.
     These outdoor events "are witnesses to the community," said
Motta.  "They were an intentional part of the conference design.
You can't keep Christian education locked up in the classroom. You
have to go out into the community."
     Barden said the community involvement made the
San Antonio meeting special. "What a witness we made to those who
came by in the boats (at the river theater)," he said. "The looks
on their faces as they watched us singing, heard the preaching or
saw us holding hundreds of candles in the air showed that we sure
made an impression. That's a witness to our faith and who we
are as people of God."
                              #  #  #

     * Cannon is director of communications and editor for the
Southwest Texas Reporter.

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