Leading conversations about difficult topics such as race can be a little scary, but anyone who approaches this work with a loving heart and an open mind can facilitate a conversation. You don’t need to be an expert; you don’t …
Faith Language with Children
We often begin speaking to children while they are still in the womb and immediately after a child is born we begin engaging with children verbally. Infants and toddlers are sponges for information and particularly attentive to language. Before 9 …
The Methodist Way of Making Disciples: 3-5-5-1
A visitor appears in your congregation and is attracted to something that causes him or her to return. The port of entry varies. It might be a friendship or the worship environment or the message or the lived wisdom of …
Speaking Without Words in the Classroom
Have you ever felt yourself thinking, “The students do not listen to me”? I repeat myself over and over again, and they still do not get the directions. So how might you speak without speaking? How might you give directions …
The earth has put its hope in us.
The next generation in our family rarely attends church but they grew up in the church, not only attending the usual activities in a local church but also annual conference. At critical times over the years as they have become …
Mothering Day: A Day for All Who Mother
It’s about a little problem I have with that day carved out of the calendar, held up as Mother’s Day. Far as I can tell, there’s a missing syllable. I would like to make the day not plain old Mother’s …
Is It Time for a Curriculum Change?
It’s fun to try new things. Modern curricula offer many bells and whistles in the form of graphics, online resources, and music. It’s tempting to move to the next best thing. But how do you really know when it’s time …
