Dates and Times:
Class will meet in-person at the Wyndham Grand in downtown Pittsburgh, PA
Monday, January 19: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Tuesday, January 20: 900 am – noon and 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Wednesday, January 21: 9:00 am – noon
Cost: $300 (Registration for this course closes on Nov 30. This is an extension of the previous Nov. 19 deadline.)
Course name: Religious Education Theory and Practice
Course Description: This course looks at the foundations of educational ministry in Scripture and church history. It emphasizes the relationship between theory and practice in the way we teach in faith communities today and asks participants to craft their own theology of educational ministry for their contexts. This course also develops skills such as curriculum evaluation and lesson planning that will aid educators in their pursuit of educator certification and in their ministries.
Learning Outcomes of the Course:
Given the class sessions, readings, and assignments, by the end of the course, the learner will:
- Understand the theories and decision-making practices that are implicit in the writing of lesson plans for particular age groups
- Understand what education in the church is called to be through the writings of Hymans, Brueggemann, Kim-Cragg, Seymour, Nodding, Osmer, Lee, Griggs, and others.
- Integrate previous experience and course readings into developing an emerging theology of Christian education for ministry
- Develop Christian education skills such as: analyzing resources, writing a lesson plan, and leading a discussion.
Course Schedule:
This course begins in early December with online readings done individually by participants. This is self-paced reading with instructor prompts for each reading to aid in notetaking. A pre-course paper (3-5 pages) on the participant’s experience in educational ministry as both a learner and leader will be due a week before the in-person class begins.
There will be a recorded Zoom Meeting in early January to discuss the paper and the coming in-person class.
Class will meet in-person
Monday, January 19: 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Tuesday, January 20: 900 am – noon and 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Wednesday, January 21: 9:00 am – noon
There will be a final educational design paper due one month after the course ends on February 21, 2026.
Complete Syllabus, click here.
Required Text:
Seymour, Jack L. Teaching Biblical Faith: Leading Small Group Bible Studies. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015.
Required Online Reader: Each required item has been scanned or linked to the pre-course reading repository. No more than one chapter or article has been used from any given source to stay within copyright fair use practices.
Instructor: Kathy Dawson serves on the faculty of Columbia Theological Seminary as Benton Family Associate Professor of Christian Education. She also directs the Lilly Endowment funded grant, Wonder of Worship that focuses on nurturing children in their worship lives through intergenerational engagement. She is both ordained and a certified educator in the PC(USA).
Email: dawsonk@ctsnet.edu
For questions or further information: Contact APCE Certification Course Coordinator JoAnne Sharp at jsjasharp@gmail.com