Education Coordinators Look at Goals for '80s
Episcopal News Service. November 1, 1979 [79326]
NEW YORK -- Adult education and faith building were seen as key goals as Episcopal Christian education specialists looked into the coming decade.
Sixteen Regional Religious Education Coordinators met in late October at the Mercy Center in Cincinnati for a semi-annual meeting from which emerged hints of new strengths and directions for the group. The coordinators -- there are usually two to each of the Episcopal Church's internal provinces -- serve on a contract basis as linkage and development people for diocesan and provincial Christian education programs.
The group met with the Rev. David Perry and the Rev. Fred Howard of the Office of Christian Education of the Episcopal Church Center to discuss General Convention actions on Christian education, the development of the network and their hopes for the coming three years. The gathering was also a time to thank three former coordinators and to welcome two new ones into the network.
The Rev. Douglas Cooke of Connecticut, Mrs. Frieda Carnell of Albany and the Rev. William Baxter of South Carolina have left the network to be replaced by the Rev. William Kirkpatrick, of Rochester in Province II and the Rev. Robert Cook, of Southeast Florida in Province IV. No replacement has yet been chosen in Province I for Fr. Cooke who has been with the network since it began in 1974.
In that time, Fr. Howard noted, the network has strongly established itself. "The system is there and it works," he said. "It is well-supported and the coordinators want to turn to new, innovative programs with the dioceses and provinces. We hope to have a full corps (18 coordinators) by mid-1980 and work up a system of regular contact -- weekly contact -- from our office to the coordinators, from them to the dioceses and from the diocesan people to the parishes. That's the ideal and the potential is really there to do it."
He said that the prescribed contractual time was being raised from 14 days a year to 21 and "I think we're going to find that 21 days isn't enough. "
With that expanded time, the coordinators will continue to work on leadership development as the primary focus of the network, but will also help coordinate and communicate programs in adult education and faith development throughout their regions as well as serving as intermediaries for conferences and area programs.
Other coordinators are:
- in Province I, Ms. Sylvan Heath of Providence, R.I.
- in Province II, the Rev. Richard Bower of Princeton, N.J.
- in Province III, Mrs. Dorothy Watt of Bethel Park, Penn.
- in Province IV, the Rev. Kenneth Asel of Pinewood, La.
- in Province V, Mrs. Nancy Redfield of Indianapolis and the Rev. Ted Blumenstein of Vandalia, Ohio
- in Province VI, the Rev. Thomas McElligott, II, of Alexandria, Minn.
- in Province VII, Ms. LaDonna Wind of Overland Park, Kansas and Mrs. Norma Marrs of Midland, Texas
- in Province VIII, Mrs. Betty Ann High of Los Angeles, Calif., and the Rev. Jack Hilyard of Lake Oswego, Ore.
- and in Province IX, the Rev. James Ottley, Balboa, Republic of Panama.
Further information about the coordinators can be obtained from the Office of Christian Education, 815 Second Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017.