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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 3226 by UMNS on Oct. 14, 1996 at 15:56 Eastern (2980 characters).

SEARCH: christian, educators, ministry, worship, fellowship
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CONTACT: Linda Green                             512(10-71B){3226}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470             Oct. 14, 1996

The following article may be a sidebar to UMNS #511 {3225}.

Christian educators seek broader 
understanding of teaching ministry

by Douglas Cannon*

     SAN ANTONIO (UMNS) -- Christian education involves more than
Sunday school, a leader of United Methodist Christian educators
said here.
     Consequently, the Christian Educators Fellowship of the
United Methodist Church (CEF) is working to foster a fuller
understanding of the teaching ministry, said the Rev. Bradford L.
Motta. 
     The pastor of the United Methodist Church of Pearl River,
N.Y., is 1995-96 president of the 6,200-member organization's
board of directors. The fellowship's national conference here met
Oct. 7-11. 
     "Christian education is the ministry of the church," Motta
said. "In worship, meetings, fellowship hours between services,
visitation, the way we put worship bulletins together and select
hymns -- everything we do teaches about God, nurtures people in
the faith and shows that Christians care for one another."
     People confuse Christian education with secular school
instruction, Motta said. They expect Sunday schools to teach
students all they need to know about the faith in one hour a week.
     But true Christian education involves a lifelong process of
learning about God "in which seeds are always being planted and
things are always growing," he said. That learning takes place
inside and outside the Sunday school.
     "Christian educators have known all along that what happens
in the Sunday school just strengthens what happens during the
daily journey of faith," Motta said.
     Consequently, he said, the fellowship's greatest influence on
the denomination is helping keep Christian educators from falling
into the pattern of "just doing Sunday school."
     "CEF is trying to provide access to resources and the latest
thinking in the field to help Christian educators grow in their
work and ministry and help the church meet the challenges of
ministry in today's world," Motta said. "The goal of the
organization is that no Christian educator stand out there alone."
     The fellowship sends members various publications, sponsors
continuing-education training at regional and national meetings,
and provides scholarships for professional development.
     The organization's next national conference is scheduled for
Feb. 2-6, 1999, in Chicago. The meeting theme is to be "God's
People Transformed for the 21st Century."
                              #  #  #

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

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