In many ways my native language has always been dance.  I moved stories before I told them in words, heard music most clearly when it flowed through my body and out again into the waiting space.  In secret my deepest prayers were danced before God.   Perhaps that is why I am drawn to those who, writing about religion, note that we are creatures with bodies.  Christians have some trouble with this reality.  Often, if they affirm their bodily state at all, it is to triumph over it, to deny its power, to dismiss its claims on us.   Rarely do they celebrate the body and own the sheer joy of abandoning oneself to the dance.

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During a hallway conversation with a former minister who recently took a job in educational administration the topic of the newbie learning curve came up. He unburdened about how, after a year on the job, he was still on a learning curve. I shared with him that I tell seminarians that it takes about three years to become competent at a new job. He laughed and recalled how he had to learn that lesson the hard way in his early pastorates. Now, he says, he tells starting clergy to not do anything for about two years, and then, to “only take baby steps” when trying to bring about change.

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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: The glue in postage stamps used in the U.S. are flavored. This increases sales and makes correspondence a more pleasurable experience.

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My son’s pretty excited about the new Beowulf movie coming out soon. He’s been a fan since reading the myth in high school. You don’t know how good it feels to actually be able to say that my son read something worthwhile by way of literature in high school given some of the other things I’ve seen come home as assigned reading. But, I rant. The movie looks like it will be slick and a feast for the eyes, but I’m hoping that they stick with the story, something Hollywood seems to have difficulty with.

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Church program leaders will put on a great event for parents or families, get great feedback, and then oddly, never offer that event again. They seem to think that “once is enough.” Or perhaps they imagine that people will say, “Are they offering that again? Didn’t we do that program already?” But effective programming for family life education will give attention to the family cycle in the church curriculum.

If you offer a program for families with children in grade school you can count on two things:

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It seems despite voices of woe in the industry the number of books put out by publishers, in any number of fields, will not be abetting anytime soon. Whether or not that is a good thing may be a matter of debate. Some subjects are worth discussing at length, because, trawling for deeper meanings or drawing out the nuances of the matter, yield more insight and expand our understanding with each new layer of data—whether by contrasting it against the hard edge of another discipline or by the overlay of the veneer of a new metaphor. But some subjects, once having been examined, leave one with the impression that “everything that needs to be said has been said.”

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Ever wish you could send your church leaders to seminary? Now you can. The Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (BTSR) offers an excellent lay leadership development program through their School of Christian Ministry. Under the direction of Dr. Kim Siegenthaler, program director, and Dr. Jim Peak, the Dean of Continuing Education, the program offers a Congregational Leadership Certificate Program in six areas of concentration:

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I’m finding many interesting instances of “misunderstanding” in this year’s fall tour of educational workshops and seminars. Mostly they arise from audiences of lay and volunteer teachers, sincere and passionate people who step up to engage in the noble and important work of teaching others. But I still find many tenacious misunderstandings about teaching and learning even among experienced and professional teachers. One misunderstanding I’ve addressed twice in recent workshops is the idea that learning is an outcome of teaching.

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