Doing God talk? Last week saw the final offering of the LEA Ministry Conference in Victoria. A high level of positive involvement and feedback at all three regional conferences, I believe points towards our passion for engaging our communities in relevant and accessible ways of doing God talk. Stuart Traegar, LESNW’s Spiritual & Cultural Leader has written this summary of the potential place and work of Theological Action Research (the approach to doing God talk presented by Professor Wendy Mayer & Rev Dr Stephen Haar) in our communities .
CONNECT was also launched at the conference, participants engaging with an experience of the accreditation program’s approach and resources. There are several significant shifts with the new program which I will be speaking to over the coming weeks in Leadership Updates. Today I would like to highlight two important considerations as schools begin planning for 2020:
- The complete Connect program is the equivalent of three days, the first two days of which are to be facilitated by trained school staff. The recent ministry conference was designed to act as training. If however staff in your community still require this training, there will be a second training opportunity on September 13. Follow up training will also occur in 2020, when and where needs are identified.
- Connect has been designed so that school based facilitators are able consider their own context and plan sessions accordingly. The course has an inquiry approach, enabling participants to consider concepts which inform the way we do education. Mirroring our contemporary learning approaches with young people, Connect facilitators are encouraged to take a team approach (within or beyond their own learning communities) to planning and facilitating the sessions. To support this process, several planning workshops will be offered. Details and registration links will be emailed.
Supporting the implementation of Connect in your context is crucial. Please do not hesitate to request support beyond the planned opportunities, as we work together to nurture our staff in their vocations within Lutheran Education.
May God bless and strengthen our commitment to this privileged endeavor.
Stephanie Maher
