Educational Systems Development Continues
Diocesan Press Service. August 8, 1973 [73193]
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The implications of developing a new set of Educational Systems for the local church turned out to be an item of recurring urgency on the agenda of the Executive Committee of the Joint Educational Development (JED) partnership, meeting in Washington, D. C., July 26-27, 1973.
The Episcopal Church is one of the six members of JED.
Several denominations, not now members of the JED partnership, have expressed an interest in participating in the planning and design of at least certain parts of the new resources for church education. In order to facilitate such participation from the wider ecumenical fellowship, it was decided to establish an Educational Systems Administrative Committee, which will normally meet in conjunction with the JED Executive Committee meeting, and which will include one or two representatives from each denomination involved in the project.
These non-JED churches are interested in having some form of relationship to this project: the United Methodist Church, the Church of the Brethren, the Moravian Church in America and the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
The question of choosing personnel for the various teams developing the new educational resources received major attention. The JED style of a flexible partnership approach through the sharing of personnel and other resources is being severely tested because of the declining income, reduced staffs, and denominational restructures. These realities so prevalent on the present ecclesiastical scene seem to reinforce the determination of the members of the Executive Committee to work cooperatively, rather than each denomination trying to develop its own church school curriculum, as was done in the past.
The 1973 budgets were reviewed and funding needs for 1974 ongoing JED projects were analyzed. A three-year extension of the quarterly paper SHARE was voted as a JED project. This paper, which serves as a forum and resource tool for church educators, has proved to be financially self-supporting.
The Program Council meeting, scheduled for September 12-14, 1973, will review JED goals and objectives in the light of recent developments in the churches and society.