The last two amendments involve providing the opportunity for current Certified Christian Educators who feel a call to ordination to be allowed to do so, a process which seems to underscore authority and validation issues.
A look at the first three amendments:
02-A.1 deals with the restoration of the role of teacher within the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament. Teaching is indeed a form of proclamation, as is worship education. The enactment of the sacraments in worship is enriched through teaching about them, as people of all ages struggle with these mysteries of God’s grace: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
02-A.2 seeks to establish standards and requirements for competency in educational ministry within the office of Minister of Word and Sacrament for those persons seeking a call to educational ministry. Some of our seminaries would need to add courses in Christian education to their offerings if this were to pass.
02-A.3 would add teaching a lesson plan as an option for a candidate as a way to proclaim the gospel when being examined before presbytery.
In reflecting upon these three amendments, several realities about education in the church come to mind:
• Throughout its history, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has emphasized the education of God’s people as a primary ministry of the church and as essential to the shaping of disciples.
• Teaching is a command from God (Deuteronomy 6:4-7).
• Teaching is a call from Christ (Matthew 28:16-20).
• The church is experiencing growing demands for faithful Reformed education, given that 40% of our congregations come from other denominations.
The current practice in the PC(USA) for seminary students in a Master of Divinity program is to take one course in Christian education. Congregations that call a pastor or associate pastor to have responsibility over Christian education typically are calling an individual with little preparation for the task of oversight to its educational ministry.
It is time to raise the educational standards for those who desire to be ordained with a special calling to education. The church needs pastors and associate pastors who are going to have a primary responsibility for Christian education to be prepared and equipped to recommend and select curriculum that reflects Reformed theology, to train teachers with instruction in learning styles and age-appropriate methods, to offer educational resources, to create lesson plans, to lead Confirmation Classes, to teach parents to be Christian educators in the home, etc. One elective course in Christian education is pitiful preparation.
A look at the last two amendments:
02-A.4 provides an option for a limited time for a Presbytery (by 3/4 vote), and under the care and direction of the Committee on Preparation for Ministry, to ordain a Certified Christian Educator (by 12/31/03) with 5 years of full time employment (by 12/31/07).
02-A.5 would allow, under the same time constraints as A.4., eligibility to serve as an associate pastor within the same congregation for a Certified Christian Educator who is approved for ordination. The congregation, which has supported prayerfully and likely financially a Certified Educator through his or her certification process, would not be calling the educator to a different function through ordination, but to an enriched and expanded ministry.
There are realities regarding authority and validation existent within in the PC(USA):
• Currently, many effective Certified Educators provide essential leadership in the denomination, but often experience minimal validation of their call and function.
• Many in our denomination are unaware of the process to become a Certified Christian Educator.
Certification is a rigorous process that requires a high degree of proficiency and integrity:
• It requires a Master’s degree in Christian Education or Master of Divinity degree from an accredited seminary or prior certification as a Certified Associate Christian Educator.
• Graduate level course work is required in seven areas: biblical interpretation, Faith and human development, Reformed theology, Religious education theory and practice, Polity, PC(USA) program and mission, and Worship and sacraments.
Following the course work is the successful completion of a reference group process and a written exam that includes:
• Demonstration of sound exegetical method.
• Application of the biblical texts to the educator’s particular context for education ministry as well as application of the texts to the larger church.
• Development, implementation and evaluation of an original educational design.
• Integration of the seven knowledge and skills areas in response to case studies.
• Certification is granted only after the exam is read by two readers on the GA Educator Certification Council and one seminary professor, and passed by two of the three.
There is a difference between the ability to act (power) and the recognition of that ability to act (authority). Certified Educators have power within their congregations by virtue of the fact that they have responsibility for the process of nurturing the faith of God’s people from cradle to grave. It is time to allow these qualified people who choose to do so, to become members of presbytery, with the authority, support, and accountability that brings. It is time to offer them the opportunity to choose to expand their call to validated educational ministry through ordination. It is time to allow them to serve their congregations in even more significant ways.
Grace Presbytery has 20 Certified Christian Educators, 12 of whom are either retired or already ordained. Of the 8 remaining CCE’s who would be eligible to be a part of A.4. and A.5., two graduated with a Master of Religious Education from Perkins School of Theology, four graduated with a Master of Arts in Christian Education from Presbyterian School of Christian Education, and two have come through the certification process by completing the Certified Associate Educator requirements, then the full Certification requirements.
To quote a member of the General Assembly Task Force that presented these amendments to the 2002 General Assembly: “If not this, …what? If not now, …when?”
Jann Treadwell is a Certified Educator, NorthPark, Church, Dallas.
