Putting the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble

Posted on May 7, 2007 by Israel Galindo

I had a conversation a few weeks ago with a couple of church leaders who wanted to “mobilize” their church members into ministry. They wanted to turn around the situation in their church (common to many congregations) where 20% of the people do 80% of the work, where most members were “pew warmers” and where the underlying assumption is that ministry is the work of the clergy, not the work of the people.

As so often happens in these conversations the talk turned to “spiritual gifts.” The working assumption in these matters seems to be that if we can get people to discover their spiritual gifts they’ll get off the pew and do something more than just attend church and let others do most of the ministry in the congregation. So they’ll ask about a spiritual gifts inventory that’s “easy to use” and doesn’t take too much effort to administer. Continue reading →

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How’s your focus?

Posted on May 5, 2007 by Israel Galindo

How good are you at multiple object tracking? Here’s an interesting little vision test from the University of Guelph website. This is from Dr. Lana Trick, Associate Professor of Psychology at Applied Cognitive Science department. See how well you can do—and let me know by posting your results below.

I remember a study some years ago about eye movement and fighter pilots and race car drivers. The study came out shortly after eye-scanning technology became available. They found that while engaged in those high speed activities, drivers and pilots had LESS eye movements than non-professionals doing the same thing or engaged in simulations of the action. It seems the professional drivers and pilots were able to discern what to “focus” on and so didn’t waste time “scanning” around for things of little consequence. Continue reading →

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Critical?

Posted on May 4, 2007 by Israel Galindo

Someone asked me, “How do you know when you are being critical and when you are pointing out errors?” When I asked her to clarify what she was asking she thought for a moment and said, “I’m wondering about how I can tell when I’m being critical or disparaging and when I am raising valid issues?”

My first response was to be impressed that she asked the question related to herself—most people ask those kinds of questions about other people. I don’t think there’s an inconsistency between criticism (being critical) and pointing out errors. That is, I don’t think there’s a necessary choice between one over the other. If you’re pointing out errors you are engaging in criticism. But I don’t think that’s what this person was asking. She was concerned about “criticizing,” which may be a form of pursuit or a willful gesture, both of which are forms of reactivity. In other words, she was struggling to discern the difference between content and emotional process. Continue reading →

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On belonging and membership

Posted on May 3, 2007 by Israel Galindo

Recently some pastors were challenged by my description of how my former church handled membership. As a “covenant community” church there was no “voting” on membership. You became a member of the congregation by entering into covenant with the congregation and signing the “book of covenant”—the defining, living document and confession of the congregation. Specifically, the conversation was an attempt to help them get clear about their understanding (and assumptions) about membership, participation, and belonging. Continue reading →

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How to turn your thesis (dissertation, D.Min. project) into a book

Posted on May 2, 2007 by Israel Galindo

In the past two weeks I’ve had three conversations with people wanting to “learn how to write.” In a future blog I may compile some thoughts about that since the conversation comes up regularly (and the other day, a former student expressed appreciation for having learned “how to read” in my classes–but that’s another post, too). Often I get asked by students about turning their doctoral dissertations, theses, or D.Min., projects into a book. Below is what has become my standard response. Continue reading →

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The enduring concepts

Posted on May 1, 2007 by Israel Galindo

I recently had a conversation with a couple of professors from other seminaries about our Christian education (C.E.) curriculum at BTSR. One was in the midst of creating an M.A. program in religious education and the other was in the midst of curriculum review. I hate to admit it, but there are few things I enjoy more than talking theory and curriculum development with fellow educators. Sad, isn’t it? Maybe I should take up my son’s suggestion and take up rock climbing—although I suspect he suggested that for reasons other than my need to “get out more.”

Some time ago a group of the C.E. students jokingly started talking about their experience at “Galindo University.” I interpreted that as an intuitive awareness of the particular “way” the methodology and frame of reference their C.E. courses were beginning to shape their thinking. Their playful banter was gratifying because that is exactly what the C.E. curriculum is intended to do. (Besides, as student comments go, it sounds more positive than “Galindo Purgatory,” a possibility given that I’m the only full time C.E. professor they get). The first thing I mentioned to my colleagues is that our C.E. emphasis is not separate from the classic M.Div. core curriculum. This is philosophically intentional. The rationale being we believe that a congregational educator worth his or her salt can preach well, is a responsible Bible scholar, can practice effective pastoral care, knows the history of the church, understands a theology of worship, and can engage in critical theological thinking. Continue reading →

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Avoiding triviality

Posted on April 30, 2007 by Israel Galindo

In Toward a Theory of Instruction, Jerome Bruner insists that a theory of development must be linked both to a theory of knowledge and to a theory of instruction, “or be doomed to triviality.” (Bruner p. 21)

I’ve long felt that this is partly the reason so much of what passes for Christian education is at best benign, and that at worst, it has a tendency to trivialize faith. Being “interesting” may provide enough impetus to keep people coming back to participate in church religious education for a while, but ultimately, there are more “interesting” things in the world to capture and hold our attention if entertainment is our vehicle for retaining people’s participation in Christian education. An effective Christian education program (1) must give rigid attention to the developmental dynamics and processes of its subjects (learners), including motivation (which is based on “need” and not “interest”), (2) must hold to an epistemological philosophy of how learners learn (including an answer to the question, “how learners learn faith”), and, (3) must apply and practice a theory of learning related to how to teach, be it instruction, nurture, education, mentoring, etc. Continue reading →

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On plants and Sunday school

Posted on April 28, 2007 by Israel Galindo

I recently got a surprise evening phone call from a member at my former church. She had been in my Sunday school class and we had served together briefly on a church committee. Despite it having been over eight years since we last spoke, with little preamble she said, “I need to ask you a question.”

“O.k.,” I said, “What is it?” thinking to myself that conversations that start out this way often come to unfortunate ends. And her question did catch me by surprise, but not in the way I was beginning to anticipate. Continue reading →

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The myth of confidentiality and the binding triangle

Posted on April 27, 2007 by Israel Galindo

During a recent consultation I tried to help a minister work through some stuckness. He was stuck in what I call a “binding triangle” as a result of falling into the trap of the myth of confidentiality. A church member had come to the pastor to share some information. As typically happens, the reporting church member prefaced her comment with “Please keep this confidential.” To which the minister, falling into the trap of the myth of confidentiality, agreed.

What followed is that the church member (A) shared with the minister something that she heard church member (B) say about the minister. Hearing this, the minister knew enough to think, “Well, (B) should have come and talked to me about that.” But church member (A) ended the conversation by saying, “Please don’t tell (B) I told you. I don’t want him upset with me.” Continue reading →

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Basic rules for educational planning

Posted on April 26, 2007 by Israel Galindo

I’m currently working on a project on educational planning in the congregational setting. The project is in response to the many questions I get from church staff and lay leaders about planning the Christian education programs in their church. I’m not sure what’s going on, but it seems a lot of congregations seem to be at a loss about this fundamental and important aspect of education.

Here are some basic rules I always share with folks looking to get a handle on how to plan their church education program: Continue reading →

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