ADVOCATE
Creativity as a Starting Place
By: Shawna Bowman When God began to create the heavens and the earth—the earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters—God said, “Let there be light.” And so light appeared. —Genesis 1:1-3 (Common English Bible)...
If Only I Knew…
By: Karen Horst So, one night I went to sleep, and the world changed around me. How could I ever have imagined that the landscape for Christian Education would be so dramatically different compared to when I first started working in the field? If only someone had...
The Changing Face of Adult Education
By: Michael Waschevski In this issue of the APCE Advocate we are exploring classic and innovative approaches for nurturing faith in adults as we focus on the theme of “The Changing Face of Adult Education.” As we move even more fully into postmodern ministry, it is...
Innovative Adult Discipleship
By: Scot Sherman The British missionary-theologian Lesslie Newbigin (1909-1998) is famous for his prophetic call to the churches of the West to rediscover their place in the mission of God. According to Newbigin, Western churches now lived in a post-Christian culture....
The Whys and Hows of Bilingual Worship
By: David Hoonjin Chai In today’s congregations, diversity has become—or should become—a staple. The number of immigrants in our nations continues to rise. And we need to minister to them and invite them into God’s church. But we cannot honestly invite others into the...
Spiritual Fueling Stations
By: Pamela S. Vande Voort As we travel along in our automobiles and come upon a gas station, we make a decision about whether to stop and refuel or pass by. In a similar way, we also make daily decisions about when and how to refuel ourselves spiritually. God’s Word...
Direction for Church Workers
By: Mary T. Van Andel As they settled into the old chair surrounded by shelves of books and the jungle of plants that filled my office, my parishioners told me about their kids and their jobs, their love affairs and loneliness, their losses and hopes. I listened...
Starting from Scratch
By: Beth Fellinger He walked in the door declaring he was hungry. Our church had just opened in downtown, storefront office space, and we’d already met a number of people who were curious about who we were. Their concept of church differed from what they were seeing...
From “Oh, no!” to “Ah-ha’s”
By: Linda L. Wold The Friendship Group at Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley, Minnesota, was born more than 15 years ago out of a desire to connect the three or four developmentally disabled adults in the congregation with the good news. The...
Resources for Adult Education
By: Mary E. Speedy Visions of Vocations Steve Garber. IP. 2014. Is it possible to know the world and still love the world? Of all the questions we ask about our calling, this is the most difficult. From marriages to international relations, the more we know, the...