This forum essay offers reflections on the theme of the 2021 annual meeting of the Religious Education Association--"Gender, Sexuality, and Wholeness: Religious Education for Confrontation and Healing." Pondering the melancholy of violence inflicted upon racialized, sexualized, and queer bodies in the United States, the author invites…

Those who are oppressed often find themselves internalizing voices that limit their ability. This article focuses on a population that falls on the non-hegemonic side of the intersection of race, class, gender, and age: Black girls from poor and working-class backgrounds. From my work with youth, I have noticed that internalizing these limiting…

The author believes that a deep sense of spirituality together with effective Christian education can be a powerful resource for equipping individuals and communities to play an active role in transforming their lives as well as oppressive systems that have impacted their communities. In her discussion of spirituality, womanist ethicist Emilie…

The author discusses reading "The Bridge to Terebithia" to a third-grade class prior to release of the film version. Reading of the final chapter followed by two days the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech University, just seventy miles from the classroom. Although none of the college students from the author's town died, everyone…

This article sets Dorothy Bass' Christian practices movement in critical dialogue with U.S. Latina/o popular religion in order to explore ways that these distinctive sets of practices could enrich one another. Then, it focuses on "shaping communities" as a Christian practice and correlates it with the U.S. Latina/o popular religious…

The author observes that now many religious educators are grappling with the realization that forming persons in faith today necessitates teaching them "to be religious interreligiously." Yet, there is one inter-religious relationship that is absolutely fundamental to Christianity: its relationship with Judaism in both the past and present. The…

In his highly regarded book on moral philosophy, "After Virtue" (1984), Alasdair MacIntyre offered a concept of tradition that explained both the past's claim upon the present and the present's availability for change, though he had not yet recognized and developed the theological implications of his work. A living tradition, in his terms, is a…

There are enduring features to the human condition and to Christian faith, and thus to the challenge of integrating these two. In this article, the author shares learned wisdom with beginning religious educators. He emphasizes seven important aspects of religious education: (1) Attending to one's own growth toward holiness of life; (2) Being clear…

This article focuses on the influence of Wilfred Cantwell Smith's presentation of the nature of faith on James W. Fowler's faith-development paradigm. Smith contended that, in the pre-modern era, terms translated by the English words "faith" and "believe" denoted a personal allegiance that did not require assent to any objective assertions. Two…

The Enlightenment rejection of the Cartesian mechanistic understanding of animals was accompanied by a (re)new(ed) anti-cruelty sentiment. Compassion, however, fell victim to the triumph of reason leading Western culture toward an era of cruelty to animals on an unprecedented scale. What was absent in Enlightenment thought, even among proponents…

In this article, the author looks back on her journey of teaching, framing it as a privileged fulfillment of the call as a means of inviting others' reflection on the meanings of the teaching vocation. She builds on this framework with personal stories focused on two aspects of teaching from which she has learned much: the pivotal role of…

How should Christians address our often ambiguous and increasingly postmodern world? The article explores some of the ways cultural postmodernity is affecting Christian communities. The tendency to trivialize understandings of meaning and value is highlighted as one of the greatest challenges posed by the negative aspects of postmodernity. It is…

Argues that spirituality is often poorly handled in religious education because traditional descriptions of it fail to touch all people. Examines the nature of Christian spirituality found among feminists and Latin Americas' poor. Discusses how these views of spirituality can be used to encourage the integration of critical reflection,…

The 100th anniversary of any organization's founding is an occasion for celebration. At the least, one can celebrate the organization's longevity in surviving for a whole century. The organization has to be doing something right to exist that long. The Religious Education Association (REA) has done many good things in its 100 years of existence.…

It is tempting to respond to the question of what research is needed in religious education by saying, "Everything!" Although religious education as an academic discipline can be viewed as over one hundred years old, and much research has been done on a variety of issues, there is still so much that is not understood. In this paper, the author…