Advocate | Winter 2015
Experimenting Our Ways into New Ways
Rethinking Summer Mission Activity: The Mission Un-Trip
by Brittany Porch Upon canceling our summer mission trips due to Covid-19, the church Session committed to an alternative mission experience for our youth that was safe and offered a meaningful service experience. To pull this off, I had quite the task set before me....
Lessons Learned from Virtual VBS
As churches have made adjustments to their regular Christian education programming since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Advocate blog (and APCE leaders) have offered suggestions for program adjustments. We thought we’d follow up with one congregation who...
Leaning Out, Letting Go
By Kathy L. Dawson As educators, we know that there are certain times in the liturgical year that are busier than others. The cycle of Lent to Holy Week to Easter to Pentecost tends to be one of those periods of intense activity and for good reason, as this is the...
Puzzle Centers
By: Priscilla Andre-Colton Last summer I was working on organizing the curriculum and support materials for our two youngest Sunday school classes. The curriculum recommended setting up a puzzle center. So I started looking for puzzles that coordinated with the topics...
Looking Ahead . . . Lent
By: Sandy Safford Looking for some new ideas for the coming church season? This edition of Looking Ahead to includes ideas you can use or adapt to create a program for Holy Week. WALKING WITH JESUS “Walking with Jesus” is a stations-of-the-cross program designed for...
Resources for Renewal and Change
By: Mary E. Speedy The authors in this issue will challenge you to think outside of the box, to try new things, to open yourself up to the Spirit moving in amazing ways. The resources below have a similar flavor and will help you explore new and exciting ideas for...
Improvise
By: Many years ago I worked for an interfaith organization in some of the toughest neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. Our goal was to help congregations connect with their communities. One of the congregations we partnered with overlooked a building that had been...
Finding Space for New Ministries
By: When I began working as a youth director in the church 14 years ago, I had a list of things I thought all youth should know about God. I found curriculum and experiences that helped me check off this rigid list, congratulating myself on graduated seniors that...
Thin Places in Digital Spaces
By: Kimberly Knight Imagine the scene at our church on any given Wednesday. As people begin to arrive, prelude music is playing softly while candles flicker and float in a pool of water. This group has been worshipping together for over a year now, and their joy...
Learning by Letting Go
By: Cynthia Campbell Kids and parents arrive for a new and exciting Advent Workshop that’s been promoted and advertised. But what they find is not so exciting—only a couple of tables with craft projects set on them. Along the walls of the room are boxes full of other...