VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 8/1/14)—How can the Church become more effective at making disciples? Historically, churches have employed educational programs to facilitate the spiritual growth of believers. In Fostering Faith: Teaching and Learning in the Christian Church, authors Denise Janssen, Diane Janssen Hemmen, and Sallie Verner challenge the Church to look far beyond the Sunday school hour or Wednesday evening study to engage in transformative life-long learning.
This practical resource provides thought-provoking concepts about the call of the gospel and the vocation of teaching. Janssen, Hemmen & Verner emphasize the importance of teacher recruitment and their ongoing care and support, in addition to the key concepts that:
- An invitation to teach is better than recruitment
- Answers are less the goal of education than discerning and exploring the questions
- Effective educational ministry is directed by church context
- Teaching and learning happens in everything we do in congregational life
Jack Seymour, professor of Religious Education at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and editor of Religious Education writes, “If you are an educator, a pastor, or a teacher and want to know how to improve your teaching ministry, this is the book for you. It provides concrete resources to assist us in organizing teaching, and it is the ONE book you need to enhance the faithfulness of your teaching ministry.”
The resource includes an educational ministry toolbox with adaptable resources for Christian education committees and teachers.
About the Authors
Denise Janssen, MDiv, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Christian Education at Virginia Union University in Richmond. An ordained American Baptist Churches, USA minister, Denise has served as pastor of a United Methodist congregation and several different Baptist churches.
Diane Janssen Hemmen, MDiv, DMin, has been involved with Christian education for all ages throughout her years in ministry. An ordained Presbyterian minister, Diane currently serves a small United Church of Christ congregation and a mid-sized Presbyterian Churches (USA) congregation in South Dakota.
Sallie Verner, MA, has served five different congregations during her forty-year career as a Certified Christian Educator in the Presbyterian Churches (USA). In retirement, she is a facilitator and trainer of Healthy Congregations and coauthor of Healthy Congregations Facilitator Training Materials.
Contact: Linda Johnson-LeBlanc, Marketing Director, Judson Press, 610-768-2458, marketing@judsonpress.com.
Founded in 1824, Judson Press is a publishing ministry of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, American Baptist Churches USA. It is committed to producing Christ-centered leadership resources for the transformation of individuals, congregations, communities, and cultures.
American Baptist Home Mission Societies—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA)—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community, and justice.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.