wfn.org | ELCA Task Force on Education Organizes Study Materials

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ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 27, 2004

ELCA Task Force on Education Organizes Study Materials
04-110-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- A task force developing a social statement
on "a Lutheran vision of education for our time" for the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) continued work on a
draft study document and discussed the content of such supporting
materials as the church's Web site.  The ELCA Task Force on
Education also met with specialists in children's education when
it met here May 21-23.
     The 16-member task force of the ELCA Division for Church in
Society worked on sections of a document designed to help the
church's 10,721 congregations study basic principles and values
of education.  The task force plans to publish the study document
before the end of 2004.
     "The challenge of the meeting was to define the scope and
content of the study document further," said Dr. Paul J. Dovre,
interim president, Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn., and task
force co-chair.
     "We had some excellent material to work with, and this
served as a useful springboard for our discussion.  A number of
helpful suggestions emerged regarding the structure, tone and
content of the study as well as a work plan for the coming
months," Dovre said.
     "We reviewed the early draft materials with an awareness of
the breadth of our connections in education," said Christi Lines,
principal, St. Paul's Lutheran School, Waverly, Iowa, and task
force co-chair.  "We were challenged to continue to focus the
study to stimulate discussion and response from the church in a
coherent, substantive way for a variety of audiences," she said.
     The Rev. Jerome Berryman, an Episcopal priest and director
of the Center for the Theology of Childhood, Houston, Texas,
presented "Children and Mature Spirituality."  He spoke with the
task force about education equipping children to become adults
with childlike faith.
     Dr. Denise E. Shiver, educational psychologist, Houston,
Texas, presented "Faith and Education: Some Thoughts."	She said
faith education for children must build interpersonal
relationships; parents must be involved, and it must be fun.
     Dr. Beth Venzke, associate professor of psychology,
Concordia University, River Forest, Ill., presented "Educating
All Children."	She said the way children are taught and the
people who teach them can determine if racism will continue or be
dismantled in the United States.
     The task force engaged Berryman, Shiver and Venzke in a
panel discussion.
     The 2001 Churchwide Assembly of the ELCA called for the
development of a social statement on education.  DCS is
responsible for conducting studies and developing the church's
social statements for consideration by a churchwide assembly.
     The DCS board defined the four purposes of the possible
social statement:
 + present a Lutheran vision of education for our time;
 + address issues of education and schooling for children and
young people in our society, with attention to purpose and
quality, equity and access for all, responsibilities, and
religion's role in public schooling;
 + set forth an understanding of our church's own educational
institutions (preschool, primary and secondary schools, and
colleges and universities); and
 + consider our church's ministries in relation to public schools
and universities and the vocation of Christians involved in
education in different roles.
     The task force will develop three documents for the church:
study materials for use in 2005, the first draft of a proposed
social statement in 2006 and the proposed social statement on
education for the ELCA Churchwide Assembly to consider in 2007.
     The next meeting of the task force will be here Sept. 10-12.
-- -- --
     Information about the work of the task force is at
http://www.elca.org/dcs/studies/education/ on the ELCA Web site.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or news@elca.org
http://www.elca.org/news