FORGING A BETTER RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
FORGING A BETTER RELIGIOUS
EDUCATION
IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM
edited by James Michael Lee
Summary: This volume is an especially noteworthy achievement because of its prophetic thrust and remarkable inclusivity. It offers stimulating and action-oriented chapters on how religious education can be made more effective in the third millennium. And it provides an exceptionally inclusive representation of the most important religious education experts from the whole spectrum of major Christian faith groups.
Spirit of the
Book:
The spirit of this book is that of the
religious education as a dynamic proactive change agent in the
first part of the third millennium. The book shows why and how one of the most
basic missions of the religious educator is to renew the face of the world on a
Christlike axis.
What this Book Gives You: This book gives you the basis and impetus for enacting two of the most basic ingredients in all of religious education, namely vision and prophecy. Each eye-opening chapter begins with a statement of the present condition. Each chapter then goes on to present a vision of what religious education ministry ought to be. Finally, each chapter candidly presents the prophetic task on how the vision can be accomplished in practice.
Distinctiveness: Why this Book is Special:
The distinctiveness of this book, compared to other books in religious education, is its inclusiveness. No other volume contains such a variety of in-depth chapters written by experts from the whole gamut of Christian faith perspectives, thus providing the reader with the whole panorama of religious education possibilities and what each of us can do in order to drastically improve religious education in first decades of the third millennium.
Major Features:This book’s amazing inclusiveness extends not only to global substantive content coverage, but also to the enormous range of top-flight experts who are its chapter authors. No other book ever published has included such a broad range of first-class religious education experts from such a wide range of Christian faith groups, including Catholic, Mainline Protestant, and Evangelical Protestant.
Chapters
1. Sacramental Teaching: Mediating the Holy
2. Issues and Ironies of the New Millennium
3. Surviving or Thriving in the Third Millennium?
4. Why Don’t They Remember?: Reflections on the Future of Congregational Education
5. Candles in the Darkness
6. Building on the Past
7. A Black Christian Pedagogy of Hope: Religious Education in a Black Perspective
8. A New Clue for Religious Education in the Third Millennium: Cross Disciplinary Thinking
9. Practical Theology and Transformational Learning: Partnership for Religious Education
10. Religious Education as an Agent of Forging the Third Millennium
11. Vision, Prophecy, and Forging the Future
Contibrutors:
Catholic chapter
authors are Gabriel Moran, Barbara Fleischer, and James Michael Lee. Mainline
Protestant authors are Mary Elisabeth Moore, Charles Foster, Richard Robert
Osmer, Anne Streaty Wimberly, and Norma Cook Everist. Evangelical Protestant
contributors are Kenneth Gangel, Robert Pazmińo, and Ronnie Prevost
Praise for this
Book:
There has been widespread praise for this book.
A review in LIVING LIGHT states that the chapters in this volume “are wide-ranging and offer a diverse intellectual banquet on the critical issues facing the field at the turn of the millennium. It shows how forging a future for religious education requires genuine religious pluralism”.
MARGARET A. KRYCH of Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and author of “Teaching the Gospel Today” writes: “This book contains the vison of prophetic giants in the field of religious education. It gives a wealth of theological insights, historical information, and practical guidelines—and it calls us all to higher standards and more serious involvement in religious education in the decades to come”.
KIERAN SCOTT of Fordham University and editor of “Perspectives on Marriage” states: “Here is an orchestration of voices ushering in a hymn to the third millennium and a shining hope for religious education. This splendid book sparks interest, demands attention, and initiates the type of conversation ungently needed at this turning point in the field.”
SONDRA MATTHEI of Sl. Paul School of Theology and author of “Faith Matters” says that this book “offers a variety of fresh proposals for renewing religious education so as to be an agent of transformation in the world. It is a rich, diverse, and provocative resource.”
RON HABERMAS of John Brown University (Ark.) and senior author of “Teaching for Reconciliation” says: “An all-star line-up of seasoned representatives of virtually all major faith groups offer a necessary and provocative blend of history, theology, theory, and practice, in order to significantly transform religious education in the third millennium”.
LEONA M. ENGLISH of St. Francis Xavier University (Canada) ana author of ‘Mentoring in Religious Education” states: “The prophetic voices in this book whisper, herald, proclaim, and sometimes shout complementary prophetic visions for the third millennium. A major feature is the inclusivity of so many basically different perspectives, which itself represents a major hope for the 21st century.”
C. ELLIS NELSON of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and author of “Where Faith Begins” writes; “This is a remarkable book. Distinguished, well-known, thoughtful, and experienced religious education experts identify what can and should be done in order for Christianity to become the dynamic element in shaping the future of our society “
Price and Such: 298 pages. Price: $24.95 ISBN 0-89135-113-2