Soul Cakes: A November Family Faith Activity

One ancient tradition is the Soul Cake. It is where the modern day term “Soul Food” originated.

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We have all experienced effective and non-effective learning groups. Why is it that some are effective and others are not? I would argue that learning experiences that provide more time for critical reflection and dialogue result in more effective learning. Peruse the Christian bookstores and take note of how many resources are now encouraging at least a ninety-minute time frame for group study. There’s a reason for that—learning takes time!

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One of those “Aha!” moments came to me twenty-some years ago while staring at the blank computer screen where Sunday’s sermon should have been making its appearance.  Unfortunately, my thoughts were elsewhere; I had been dealing with the parent of one of our confirmands-to-be, who was convinced that I was not doing enough to impress on his son the significance of the rite he would soon undergo.  Sometimes his critique seemed to be that I didn’t make these 6th and 7th graders suffer enough (they thought they suffered plenty) and sometimes it was clear that the father was actually expecting the confirmation process to fill all the spiritual gaps left in the child’s life by church and home.

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An educational staff person recently asked me about a problem often encountered in the Sunday School program. She had a class of (older) adults whose Sunday School class averaged around 3 persons (but not always the same three persons!). These kinds of classes bring up several administrative issues for those leading a Sunday School program, like (1) they occupy one whole classroom so arguably, not good stewardship of facility space, (2) they bring down the average Sunday School attendance figure (gasp!), (3) they tend to be a “closed” group and therefore are not good at welcoming or reaching out to new people, (4) this size group raises legitimate questions about educational effectiveness (What are they really doing in there? Are they teaching the curriculum?).

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Ryan Hamm, of Faithvisuals.com makes an insightful point about the use of media that educators would do well to consider when using media as participation, not just presentation.

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I’m a fan of late night infomercials. Given that I’m an insomniac that shouldn’t be a surprise. I got hooked when I saw the first Pocket Fisherman infomercial by Ronco, an early (and still popular) product from Ron Popeil (more, more). Since those early days Ron Popeil and company have shaped the infomercial phenomenon with a steady stream of products. Using a successful format for pitching products, which included the teaser, “But wait! There’s more!” Popeil has sold his inventions, from the Veg-O-Matic, Mr. Microphone, the Inside-the-Shell Egg Scrambler to the wildly successful Ronco Rotisserie Oven, that last due in no small part to Ron Popeil’s memorable pitch, “Set it and forget it!”

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At a recent consultation I ran into a scenario that has come to symbolize for me what is wrong with much of what passes for “education” in congregations. I was being given a tour of the educational facilities by the congregational staff member and the lay Sunday School Director. They were proud of their facilities, and rightly so. Modern, well-maintained, and attractive, the building and the classrooms showed how much they valued education. Looking around their Sunday School Office (spacious and outfitted with enough equipment that would be the envy of any small congregation struggling to maintain a church office) I spotted a large stack of papers—two and a half feet high (I’m not exaggerating). I knew immediately what that stack was.

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A regular reader of the GRACE Writes blog sent a question. She’d like some advice from readers of this blog to the situation she describes below. This person is in her first ministry position out of seminary and serves as a pastoral associate in education. The issue she describes is a common one. In fact, just this past week I was talking to another recent seminary graduate who was interviewing for a job in a church with a similar situation. Here is the question:

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My engineer son has a mantra: “Fix the problem.” As mantras go, it’s a pretty good one. Simple, memorable, intuitive, and to the point. The mantra refers to our tendency to go about addressing issues, problems, or stuck situations by doing a lot of things none of which will actually “fix the problem.” It’s an amazing phenomenon, all the more so for how common it is. Since my son’s brain is wired in the logical-pragmatic mode of the engineer he often is amused at the non-logical way people try to solve problems.

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The following is from the book Myths: Fact and Fiction about Teaching and Learning by Israel Galindo. How well do you know fact from fiction?

MYTH: Opossums “play dead” when they are threatened or endangered.

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