My season of being involved as a member at First Presbyterian Church in Fort Worth is drawing to a close. How it All Began In January 2018, my partner and I moved from Corinth (just outside of Denton, Texas) to downtown Fort Worth. At the time, I was engaged in a short-term ministry venture, which included preaching every Sunday. When that role concluded in March 2018, we started looking for a church home. This journey, which came to be known as our search for a church, lasted over a Read More …
teaching
Teaching Sunday School in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic (#1874)
I've taught dozens of adult Sunday school classes over the years, mostly during the twenty years I served in congregational ministry. Since joining First Presbyterian Church last May, I've taught a few adult Sunday School classes as a volunteer. All of these experiences were in a pre-COVID-19 world. And, all classes were taught in classrooms, libraries, sanctuaries, fellowship halls, or other physical spaces on the campus of a local congregation. Online Sunday School First Read More …
A Sunday School First (#1837)
I attended Sunday school class as a child and teenager then after graduating from college transitioned to teaching Sunday school and/or overseeing Sunday school and other discipleship opportunities for people of all ages. Not only have I spent quite a bit of time in Sunday school classrooms, I also wrote my doctoral dissertation on the topic. For the last 12 weeks, I had the pleasure of teaching a Sunday school class as a volunteer for the first time in my life. My students were also trying Read More …
What Students Think of Me (#1755)
A few weeks ago I shared some reflections on my life as an adjunct professor. Since writing that post, I've spent some time looking back over the last eight years. Student Evaluations In higher education, students are usually afforded the opportunity to evaluate their professors. In my case as an adjunct professor at Hodges University, my students were provided an opportunity to complete an optional online questionnaire near the end of the semester. These anonymous Read More …
Creativity in Learning (#1645)
Last week I attended a conference in San Diego, California. It was a wonderful opportunity to network with other learning leaders, share best practices, attend insightful sessions and workshops, and listen to challenging keynotes - including one by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (co-founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream) that introduced Stamp Stampede 2.0 focused on getting money out and voters in to American politics. The experience inspired and challenged me; it also Read More …
Topical Tuesdays (#1588)
Last Tuesday I facilitated the final session of an educational event I called "Topical Tuesdays." When I started my current transitional (interim) ministry I learned that the previous pastor conducted a mid-week Bible study using the Sunday lectionary texts from which he would develop his sermon. Since I opted to preach more topically, I substituted a topical conversation for Bible study. This year's sermon series included: Fruitful Practices (inspired by Five Practices Read More …
Summer Shifts (#1449)
Summer has always been one of my favorite seasons of the year. It is also a time when many people temporarily shift their normal routine. I will be making shifts in several areas for the summer, including: Blogging I have published one blog post a day for the last 10 months, and a total of 1,450 since launching this blog in 2009. This will be my last daily post for the summer. I will continue to post on occasion rather than taking a month off as I did last year (a much Read More …
Teaching = Learning? (#0852)
Roger Olson is an evangelical scholar who serves as Professor of Theology at George W. Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University. Recently he blogged about several unhelpful continuing education experiences in his thirty-one years teaching in higher education. One workshop, focused on communication and teaching, unsettled Olson: . . . the over riding message left me dazed and confused: “If they have not learned, you have not taught.” Huh? No amount of Read More …
Teach Better (#0641)
Whether the classroom is a university lecture hall, a business conference room, or a church library most people assume the subject matter expert will convey information in such a manner as to aid would be students in the learning process. The expectations relative to the teaching-learning experience rise proportional to the formality and expectations of the environment. Near the high expectation end of this continuum are credit courses at Ivy League universities. Dan Berrett's Read More …
Review of The Truth Shall Make You Odd (#0316)
Frank G. Honeycutt. The Truth Shall Make You Odd: Speaking with Pastoral Integrity in Awkward Situations. Brazos Press, 2011. ISBN: 9781587432637. Meet the Author Frank G. Honeycutt is an ordained Lutheran (ELCA) pastor with twenty-five years of parish ministry experience who currently serves as Senior Pastor of the nearly 900 member Ebenezer Lutheran Church in Columbia, South Carolina. He is the author of six books including Marry a Pregnant Virgin: Unusual Bible Read More …