Standing in Formation

As we wrap up the end of the program year, Christian Educators are already looking towards the fall.  The start of the program year is invigorating. Everyone is excited and ready to beginagain after the leisurely pace of summer. But sustaining that joyful excitement and commitmentfrom Christian education volunteers is sometimes challenging. I use the three T’s: training, trustand thanksgiving.
Training equips volunteers for effective ministry. Both formal and informal training can behelpful. For formal training, I have contracted with Christian educators at other churches,ascribing to them specific challenges teachers in this parish will face. Teachers respond well tooutside trainers who can empathize with their challenges and describe ways in which they’vehandled the same challenges at their parish. Informal training comes through teacher meetingsin which the teachers talk among themselves about specific problems and make suggestions;often a teacher in lower grades will have dealt with the same children now in an older class.Ongoing informal training comes through visiting classrooms. I always believe that the teacheris the expert on that class and that a director of Christian Education’s or assistant rector’s job isto first discover the experts’ gifts and then to determine how to best support those gifts amid classroom challenges.
As I support volunteer teachers in their ministry, I trust that God will work through them,their gifts and the dynamics of the class to achieve God’s purposes. In general, the biggestmistakes I’ve made in supervising volunteer teachers have come from being afraid that God andthe volunteer can’t handle this ministry without my overzealous “advice.” God created and calledthese teachers and God will be continually present with them.
I thank God every week for the ways in which teachers are God-bearers to theirstudents. I thank the teachers regularly, too. In addition to the end of the program year,Thanksgiving is a great time for teacher appreciation gifts. Cards at birthdays or other specialoccasions also let a teacher know that their ministry is appreciated.

Sometimes in the world of Christian Education (and anywhere else for that matter) life has a way of placing us behind the eight ball. Here we are about to begin the season of Lent and I suddenly found myself with no plan for our Sunday School’s Lenten offering. After experiencing a mild panic attack, I turned to the Diocesan web page and found a wonderful program. Nickels for Nurses is the 2012 Lenten Program for the Diocese of Maryland. Not only is the cause worthy of attention, but an entire curriculum for ages Kindergarten through High School is available and the only cost is a little time, some paper and printer ink and the click of your computer mouse. It is a wonderful program – user friendly and enlightening. If you are like me, and find yourself scrambling in these last few hours before Ash Wednesday and Lent, scramble no more. Go back to the Diocese’s home page and read about Nickels for Nurses. It will be worth the few minutes’ investment.

Heather C. Costantino
Christian Education Coordinator
Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Bel Air, MD

The life of a Christian educator is always to be almost a full season ahead of the present moment.While other people are enjoying Christmas, the Christian educator has planned through Epiphany and is making considerations about Lent.

In the somewhat chaotic time between what happens now and what is up next, it can be very easy to overlook something important for every leader in the church: the job description. I have found it can be particularly helpful to update and review, or create, a job description in January,about half way through a programmatic year.

A job description can articulate what you actually are doing, not what you anticipate you will be doing (which happens if created in the summer). Sometimes more time is spent training, recruiting and supporting teachers than was expected. Sometimes it is finding supplies for that special craft, or modifying the lessons to better integrate with themes of the whole church. If you are not absolutely sure where the time goes, it can be helpful to keep a journal for two weeks and detail how you spend your time.

Revising a job description in January also provides an opportunity to look back on what has been accomplished so far in the program year, and focus the goals that remain.
Christian educators are always busy, but people not involved in the programs, pageants, crafts don’t always know what is happening or how to help. Taking an hour in January to adjust the description of the job to the reality you experience is valuable for the entire church. I recommend sharing the description with clergy, vestry and leaders. Sharing with others the successes and surprise challenges so far and inviting others to join in the goals that remain.

Since none of us know how and when the Spirit will blow, having an updated job description can also help supplement a resume, if the Spirit is nudging a change.
For examples of Christian educator job descriptions click here. If you would like to post a copy of a Christian educator job description please add it in the comments.

Posted by the Rev. Mary Eliot,
Rector of Christ the King in Baltimore, Maryland

My “Christmas” season starts about the same time as the department stores’.  About the end of October is when I start to pull out Advent resources and dust off the Christmas Pageant script.  My online list-serve of the National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors starts to buzz about new things that Episcopal churches are trying around the country.   So by the time Thanksgiving rolls around and everyone is in the Christmas Spirit, I am all Christmas-ed out!

Last year, I stopped listening to Christmas carols on the radio, did all my shopping online so I didn’t have to visit the stores, and felt downright Grinch-y.  And it was still a month before Christmas.

This year, while I still pulled out my Advent/Christmas folder before Halloween, I have made a conscious decision.  I will enjoy every ounce of Christmas preparation.  That is what Advent is for: the build up of anticipation and preparation for the arrival of Christ.  It is not about listening to “Mary’s Boy Child” so many times you want to pull your hair out.  It is about noticing the excited hum all around you.    It’s about stopping to notice how wonderful this season is.  Changing the thought from “I can’t believe I have been to 12 stores looking for this present” to “I love this person so much I want to find the perfect reflection of that.”  From “Rehearsals? Great— one more thing to add to the calendar.” to “My child gets to tell the story of Christmas.”

So when your child reminds you that you have to bake 4 dozen cookies for the holiday party the next day, it is important to remember that we are preparing for the arrival of Christ.  It is the joy that those children have at the party that counts.  It is the joy that Christ wants us to have.  So take a moment.  Remember the anticipation of the arrival of Christ.  And I guarantee that your Grinch-y moments will be few and far between.