This collection of 52 children's sermons is designed to captivate and educate young children. Busy clergy are constantly searching for ready- to-use, interactive children's sermons that will stimulate the thinking and capture the interest of both youngsters and adults in the congregation. These messages are presented to challenge, nurture, teach, and enlighten children as they take their first steps of faith. They cover a wide variety of topics. Some are object lessons while others are story lessons, but all are lessons that will leave an impression on those who hear them.
Imagine the curious anticipation of the children and the congregation as the pastor/leader reaches into a plastic garbage bag and distributes empty pizza boxes, old newspapers, and soft drink cans to introduce "God, the Recycler," the one who can make everything new. Watch them readily grasp the concept as they observe a game of tug-of-war in which all the participants are on the same team, demonstrating how in the church we all pull together for a common purpose and no one struggles to pull anyone into the mud. These brief sketches are representative of the many well-loved children's sermons created, collected, and delivered during the years of this staff pastor's ministry.
Teresa L. Major is an ordained Baptist minister currently serving as Associate Pastor of Skipwith Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, a Master of Arts in Christian Education degree from the Presbyterian School of Christian Education, and a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary, Richmond.

Only a century ago, almost all state universities held compulsory chapel services, and some required Sunday church attendance as well. Today, however, the once pervasive influence of religion in the intellectual and cultural life of America's preeminent colleges and universities has all but vanished. In The Soul of the American University, George M. Marsden explores how, and why, these dramatic changes occurred.

Far from a lament for a lost golden age when mainline Protestants ruled American education, The Soul of the American University offers a penetrating critique of that era, surveying the role of Protestantism in higher education from the founding of Harvard in the 1630s through the collapse of the WASP establishment in the 1960s. Ranging from stories of many of our pace-setting universities at defining moments in their histories to an analysis of such poignant issues as the debates over Darwinism and the impact of changing student mores, Marsden argues persuasively that just as the academy has made room for feminist and multicultural perspectives, so should there be room once again for traditional religious viewpoints. A thoughtful blend of historical narrative and searching analysis, The Soul of the American University exemplifies what it advocates: that religious perspectives can provide a legitimate contribution to the highest level of scholarship.

A fresh look at scripture, a new presentation of the gospel, a deeper communication for God's truths -- this is what church drama has to offer.
"Sunday Morning Readers' Theater, C," offers 19 skits for use during the church year. Each skit's performance falls between five and 10 minutes with the exception of readings for major church days.
"What I hope to do is to help people see the gospels. Jesus and the other scripture passages with new vision. unclouded by familiarity," writes Pamela Urfer of these readings.
This series provides one more form of worship designed to unfold the meaning of selected readings, either as a replacement or a supplement to the sermon. The style varies from comic to tragic and the skits are set in both biblical and modern times.
Readings include the Sundays of Advent and Lent, Christmas Eve/Day, Martin Luther King Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week selections, Pentecost Sunday, and All Saints' Sunday.
This is volume two of a three-book series.
Pamela Urfer, Soquel, California, has written a number of plays for school and church productions. She taught classes in church drama at Bethany Bible College and Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center. She holds a master of arts degree in literature from the University of California.

Mortonson combines his engineering and theological background to reveal insights into Christian beliefs and teachings. These 52 lessons include a purpose, material needed, scriptural background, and times to use the illustrations in the home. Also included are topical and scriptural indexes.

This program involves children of all ages and one adult with a few participants or many. While the narrative dialogue is being read, a silent, active nativity scene is shown to illustrate the first Christmas present ever.

"On the Move with Jesus" is a book of epistle lessons come to life through the spoken word and the use of an easy-to-find object that means something to children. Wesley Runk, in the style that has made him famous and brought the gospel to many thousands of children, offers this volume of 52 object lessons from the Bible to help the pastor communicate with God's little ones.
Wesley T. Runk, owner of the CSS Publishing Company, Inc., is a pastor of the Lutheran Church in America. He has a special ability to communicate the good news of God's love to children through his children's object lessons from the Bible. Wesley Runk is a graduate of Wittenberg University and the Hamma School of Theology, Springfield, Ohio. He has served parishes in Englewood and Lima, Ohio, and is active in community organizations.

Invites us to engage in the creative process, live creative, authentic, playful lives. Berryman invites the reader into a creative process that explores what it means to be spiritually mature, starting with Jesus' injunction to "become like a child." What does this mean at the literal level? the figurative level? the mystical level? the ethical level? The structure of the process parallels the book's organization and the structure of Christian worship, as well as the arc of life itself. The steps on this journey begin when we enter, and the world of childlike maturity opens to us as we respond with inarticulate wonder and gratitude. Berryman includes stories and examples from his long career working with children, which adds warmth and appeal to the book. He has described this volume as his "summary, theological statement."

Susanne Krogull entwickelt basierend auf rekonstruierten Orientierungen junger Menschen, die an internationalen Begegnungen in Bolivien, Ruanda und Deutschland teilgenommen haben, drei Typen des Verstandnisses von Weltgesellschaft und zeigt, wie weltgesellschaftliches Lernen organisational beeinflusst wird. Wahrend sich alle Typen an Differenzen orientieren, differieren die Typen abhangig von ihrer Organisationszugehoerigkeit hinsichtlich der Fragen, wo Differenzen lokalisiert werden und wie sie zur Herstellung von Ordnung und fur Lernprozesse genutzt werden. Die Autorin liefert nicht nur einen empirischen Beitrag zu weltgesellschaftlichem Lernen in Begegnungsreisen, sondern gibt zahlreiche theoretische wie praxisbezogene Anregungen fur Lernprozesse im Kontext von Globalisierung.

Das Buch leistet auf empirischer Ebene einen Beitrag zur Debatte uber die Bedeutsamkeit unterschiedlicher religioeser Lernorte - insbesondere von Religionsunterricht und Katechese. Mit Hilfe von zwoelf leitfadengestutzten Interviews werden an biografischen Schnittstellen erste Kriterien und Parameter von Nachhaltigkeit und Wirksamkeit religioeser Lernprozesse gewonnen.

Das Ideal ist plausibel: Jugendliche koennen bei interreligioes relevanten Fragen und Situationen eigenstandig und konstruktiv als Akteurinnen und Akteure handeln. Infrage steht, auf welchen Ebenen und mit welchen Ansatzen dies gefoerdert werden kann. Dazu arbeitet Karlo Meyer mit seinem Werk zum interreligioesen Lernen Grundlagen auf. Geklart wird: Welche inhaltlichen und formalen Differenzierungen, welche Herangehensweisen sollten Religionslehrkrafte im Blick haben, um interreligioeses Lernen sachgerecht zu reflektieren und Wege fur eine schulerorientierte unterrichtliche Praxis zu finden? Aus 15 Jahren praktischer Erfahrung in der Aus- und Fortbildung zieht Karlo Meyer eine persoenliche Bilanz aus der aktuellen Forschung, bietet fundierte didaktische Orientierungshilfen und wichtige Hinweise fur die Zukunft des interreligioesen Lernens.

This book is unique in its focus and coverage, because no titles have been published on the subject in recent years, despite the increased interest in questions of religious truth as witnessed by the increasing number of articles in relevant journals. It analyzes liberal religious education in multi-cultural societies and suggests ways in which religious education can help young people learn to take responsibility for their beliefs and life-styles in an informed, intelligent and responsible manner. Traditional religious education in Europe and America and its transmission of Christian beliefs has been transformed by the emergence of multi-cultural societies into a process whereby children were informed about different religious traditions. The primary task of this new liberal religious education was often seen to be the moral one of nurturing the twin liberal principles of freedom and tolerance. Critics of liberal religious education argue that this ignores questions of ultimate truth that are at the core of religious belief: this book seeks to reconcile the often contradictory accounts offered by different religions and secular traditions.

Religious diversity, religious enthusiasm, and religious misunderstanding remain at the heart of so much social, economic and political conflict in the world today. Never before has religious education been so important. In this climate, religious educators have become increasingly aware of the significance of listening to the religious perceptions of adolescents, using the best research techniques pioneered by the empirical social sciences, including sociology, psychology, and anthropology. This collection of innovative and pioneering empirical studies, sponsored by the International Seminar of Religious Education and Values, draws together Christian, Islamic, and Jewish perspectives from England, Germany, Israel, Norway, Turkey and Wales.