Creating a vision for educational ministries

An excellent process for evaluating and visioning educational ministry is explored in Embracing the Future: A Guide for Reshaping Your Church's Teaching Ministry, edited by Linda R. Isham through Judson Press. Although printed in 1999, the biblical discernment and reproducible tools in this resource remain relevant. This classic may be available for check-out at your presbytery resource center or in your church library, as well as at online retailers.

Your church may be starting a ministry from scratch and discovering the basics of organization. Thanks to the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area, Witherspoon Press and the authors of Help! We Need to Organize the Education Program, chapters of the out-of-print text are available on this site.

• Chapter 1: Organizing the Responsible Committee.
• Chapter 2: The Five Major Tasks
• Chapter 3: Environment, Equipment, Supplies
• Chapter 4: Using the Connectional System: Where to Get Help
• Appendices: Help! We Need to Organize the Education Program

Get ideas

Few books are available today that specifically address the organization of Christian education in congregations. The reasons for few books on the subject are complex. Instead of building programs, churches are seeking ways to encounter God across generations in all settings. This makes ongoing evaluation of when and how learning takes place even more important.

The LOGOS Ministry, a holistic, midweek ministry with children, youth and teens for more than 45 years, has an innovative new tool for evaluating children’s ministry in congregations, the Children’s Ministry Effectiveness Model. Download this free resource. Web training is also available or contact Logos to schedule the “From Urgency to Action” event in your area.

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