wfn.org | APCE Conference Attracts Nearly 1,000 Participants

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

13-February-1998 
98046 
 
    APCE Conference Attracts Nearly 1,000 Participants 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
BOSTON-Gathering nearly 1,000 strong here Feb. 3-7, the Association of 
Presbyterian Church Educators (APCE) annual event offered Christian 
educators, clergy and lay Christian education volunteers an opportunity to 
celebrate their ministry through worship, conversation and an array of 
learning, growth and fellowship experiences. 
 
    Affiliated with three Presbyterian and Reformed denominations: the 
Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the 
Reformed Church in America, APCE members also approved a goal to increase 
APCE's racial/ethnic membership over the upcoming years. 
 
    "I feel privileged and honored to serve APCE," said Marion Barclay of 
Toronto, Canada, APCE Governing Cabinet president.  "I don't think I've 
ever met a group of more dedicated, hardworking people." 
 
    Conference leaders Dr. Thomas H. Groome and the Rev. Amitiyah Elayne 
Hyman, along with a complement of workshop leaders, led the 985 registered 
participants in focusing on this year's conference theme, "Claimed by God, 
Remembering the Covenant, Living the Promise." 
 
    A Presbyterian minister in the Washington, D.C., area for 17 years, 
Hyman led spirited worship that included innovative liturgy, sermon and 
songs. During worship on Feb. 5, for example, Hyman asked worshipers to 
remove their shoes in the ballroom of Boston's Marriott Copley Place Hotel, 
calling space used for the worship of God "holy ground." 
 
    True to her passions - the earth itself and indigenous cultures, 
including her own Woodland Indian and West African cultural heritages - 
Hyman then began a series of relaxation techniques designed to help 
worshipers concentrate on alleviating stress and obtaining a higher level 
of spiritual awareness. Hyman's creativity also extended to her liturgy - 
taken from 1 Peter 2:10 - which culminated in a fluid, harmonic chant by 
the people. 
 
     "Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people," Hyman 
said, encouraging her audience to sway rhythmically to the soothing tones 
of her voice. "Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received 
mercy." 
 
    Hyman has been featured on "The Protestant Hour," on which five of her 
sermons where broadcast in 1994. She has also spoken at PC(USA) gatherings 
for Women of Color, African-American Advisory Committee, and regional 
meetings in New York, Pennsylvania and Georgia. 
 
    Groome, professor of theology and religious education at Boston College 
in Chestnut Hill, Mass., engaged the audience in a series of stimulating 
Bible conversations, making the central point that all Christians are 
called to be "apprentices" (disciples) to Jesus. But, he said, Christian 
educators are also "apprentices" to Jesus as teacher. 
 
    As the church prepares to enter the new millennium, Groome said, 
Christian educators must commit themselves to "total Christian education" - 
that is, to "inform, form, and transform communities and persons in lived 
and living, whole and wholesome Christian faith for the reign of God." 
 
    Groome is the author of "Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our 
Story and Vision" and more than 60 published articles that have appeared in 
scholarly collections and journals of religious education, pastoral 
ministry and theology. 
 
    In between worship and plenaries, participants had many scheduled 
activities from which to choose, including participating in more than 60 
workshops, visiting a Cokesbury-managed bookstore, buying handcrafted 
international gifts, and perusing displays featuring information, resources 
and other tools of the trade for those involved in educational ministry. 
 
    One best-selling item was the new APCE promotional video, which is 
designed to help people better understand the role of APCE in supporting 
and enriching educational ministry in the PC(USA), Reformed Church in 
America, and the Presbyterian Church in Canada. 
 
    "The APCE Cabinet feels that there are many ways this video can be 
used," said Patte Henderson of Charleston, W.Va., president-elect of  APCE. 
"Some of these ways are to help develop a network among other persons 
serving in educational ministry, to promote membership in APCE and to 
encourage support of educators by the larger church." 
 
    During a special visit to the Children's Museum and Computer Museum in 
Boston, APCE members took an interactive journey through the gigantic "Walk 
Through Computer 2000." Lights flashed, disks spun and data whirled as 
visitors operated what is billed as the biggest desktop computer in the 
world. 
 
               Increasing APCE's racial/ethnic membership 
 
    During APCE's corporate meeting, members approved two steps designed to 
increase the organization's racial/ethnic membership. 
 
    In October 1996, APCE's 13-member Governing Cabinet decided that is was 
time to take steps to be more inclusive and representative of the church 
and church educators in APCE's life and work. Of particular concern was the 
lack of representation by racial/ethnic educators in APCE's membership at 
large as well as on the governing cabinet. This concern was presented to 
APCE members at the 1997 gathering, at which time four racial/ethnic 
representatives were elected to the cabinet for one-year terms. 
 
    The racial/ethnic representatives are Anne Yee Hibbs, Asian-American 
representative of the Presbyterian Church in Canada; Jesus R. 
Sanchez-Reyes, Hispanic representative of the PC(USA); Betty Jacob, Native 
American representative of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church; and Lester 
Staton, African-American representative of the PC(USA). 
 
    With the new representatives at the 1997 fall Governing Cabinet 
meeting, a more inclusive dialogue occurred to develop a process that 
ensured continued racial/ethnic representation in APCE's decision-making 
functions. However, according to Stephen Kolderup of Elkhart, Ind., APCE's 
Coordinating and Planning Committee chair, more time and consideration 
needs to be given to the establishment of a member data base that would be 
useful in facilitating elections by racial/ethnic communities and other 
related issues. 
 
    In light of these considerations, APCE members approved the following: 
 
    *  That the four persons appointed for the 1997-98 term be reappointed 
       for two more years, the appointments ending in February 2000, with 
       permission for the cabinet to make new appointments in the event of 
       vacancies. 
    *  That the cabinet present a plan for racial/ethnic representation on 
       the APCE Cabinet to the 1999 business meeting. 
 
    The 1999 annual event, the APCE Dimension, will be held Feb. 3-6 in 
Chicago. 

------------
For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 
  mailed from World Faith News <wfn-news@wfn.org>  

--