wfn.org | Covenant People to be "retooled"

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #6946 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

14-November-2001
01427

Covenant People to be "retooled" 

Simpler version to be made available for 2003-'04 school year 

by Evan Silverstein
              
DECATUR, GA  Congregational Ministries Publishing (CMP) is devising a
business plan that includes a "retooling" of the suspended denominational
curriculum, Covenant People.

The development of Covenant People, which was introduced last year as CMP's
flagship curriculum line, was suspended in August because of lagging sales
and growing deficits. Officials hope to have the tuned-up version ready in
time for the 2003-2004 school year.

Gregg Neel, a CMP subcommittee member and church elder from Munster, IN,
said the curriculum will be "rewritten."

"It's not going to be just reconstituted," Neel said. "It's going to be all
new stuff, based on what weve learned from mistakes, as well as what people
really like about Covenant People. People really liked the content; it was
just too hard for some people to use."

The Congregational Ministries Division (CMD) Committee approved the CMP
proposal during a meeting at Columbia Theological Seminary Nov. 7-10.

The Covenant People curriculum will also be renamed. We Believe is an
option. CMP also plans to enhance its other two curricula, the ecumenically
developed Bible Quest and The Present Word, with a more "Presbyterian
dimension" - through supplements that could be ordered from the publisher
and perhaps offered free at the denomination's Internet Web site -
www.pcusa.org.

"It gives curriculum a Presbyterian substance," Neel said, referring to the
planned supplementary material, "and it educates about the denominations
broader mission. ... The supplement would have stories about such things as
Presbyterian mission or how we do the One Great Hour of Sharing (Offering)."

The business plan is to be presented to CMD and the General Assembly Council
(GAC) for approval in January. CMP hopes to have a preview of the new-look
curriculum available in June during the Presbyterian Church (USA)'s 214th
General Assembly in Columbus, OH.

"The business plan includes the budget and how we would accomplish the task
in terms of staff needed, budget needed, distribution, everything," said
Sandra Moak Sorem, the CMP publisher. "The business plan would be how we're
going to do it and how much it's going to cost."

Sorem said she doesn't believe the reformulated curriculum and supplements
would involve excessive development costs.

Neel, who outlined the proposal with a PowerPoint presentation, said he
hopes CMP will explore the option of developing partnerships with ecumenical
publishers and other denominations. Sorem said the PC(USA) and its partner
churches could join together to develop new curriculum.

Two years' worth of Covenant People materials already have been produced,
covering the 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 school years. The production halt
ordered in August killed the third year. However, the existing curriculum is
still available, and third-year lesson plans are to be available in
February.

Only about 10 percent of the PC(USA)'s 11,300 congregations are using
Covenant People, Sorem said, and sales this year are well behind last year's
pace. By contrast, she said, Bible Quest and The Present Word are selling
well.

Slow sales of Covenant People have been blamed on its complexity. Officials
said churches with trained Christian educators had a much easier time with
it.

Officials said the next product will be simplified for small churches
without trained Christian educators and for churches that use a
multiple-grade-level model.

"It's responding to what congregations said they wanted for their teachers,"
Neel said.

In other business, CMDC also: 
 
Approved a continuing dialogue with the National Association of Presbyterian
Scouters (NAPS). That action was a response to a Sept. 17 letter from the
National Presbyterian Youth Ministry Council asking CMDC to "encourage NAPS
to be a voice of inclusion for all young people."

*  Heard from the Rev. Donald Campbell, the CMD director, that cuts will be
necessary in the division's $22.9 million budget for 2002 because a weak
economy and conflicts within the PC(USA) may bring about a revenue shortfall
of $2.5 million or more. Campbell didn't yet know how much CMD would be
asked to shave from its budget.

*  Turned down a suggestion that it appoint a task force to conduct an
extensive review of how congregational curriculum is developed and why
Covenant People was not supported by PC(USA) churches, pointing out that CMP
and CMD officials are already examining those questions.

*  Approved covenant agreements with the Association of Retired Ministers
Spouses and Survivors (ARMSS); the National Presbyterian Mariners;
Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Associates (PCCCA); and Presbyterian
Men.

*  Introduced the Rev. William F. Owens, CMP's new coordinator of curriculum
development.

*  Toured Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary in Atlanta.
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org