When the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE) gathered for its annual conference at the Union Station Hotel in St. Louis in late January, conference co-chair Mich Phillips had one key partner in mind – Living Waters for the World (LWW), the global ministry of the PC(USA)’s Synod of Living Waters.
As Stephanie Fritz took the microphone last week to give the sold-out crowd at the APCE Networking and Resourcing Lunch a “fast and furious introduction” to the abundance of resources and initiatives offered by the PC(USA), Laura Sparks caught her breath.
Telling the Parable of the Good Samaritan from the perspective of the man who’d been beaten and left for dead, the Rev. Cedric Portis Sr. preached a rousing and thought-provoking sermon during opening worship Wednesday for the Annual Event of the Association of Partners in Christian Education, meeting in St. Louis and online through Saturday.
A spirit of playfulness — which found Christian educators romping around the room in a spirited game of Duck, Duck, Goose despite the early hour — filled the room at one of several pre-events being offered at the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE) 2024 Annual Event, “Come, all who are thirsty.”
“Come, all who are thirsty” to the Association for Partners in Christian Education’s 2024 annual gathering, to be held in St. Louis from Jan. 24-27 or via the Annual Event Online.
In my disability ministry work with congregational leaders, the question I have heard most often is not, “How can each person experience the love of God?” The question I hear most is, “How can we meet the needs of this family? We can’t start a disability ministry. We don’t even have the volunteers we need for our ‘regular kids.’”
Birmingham’s history of civil rights set the stage for the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE)’s Annual Event, held in the city Jan. 25–28, with pre- and post-event touring and learning opportunities around Birmingham and Alabama available to participants.
Last week as part of the Association of Partners in Christian Education’s annual event, it fell to the Rev. Elizabeth Boulware Landes to lead the workshop “The Language of Grace.”
“We never outgrow fear,” John Pavlovitz said in his second plenary at last week’s annual event of the Association of Partners in Christian Education. “As we get older, we just trade in our terror for more age-appropriate models.” Pavlovitz, a pastor, writer and activist from North Carolina, then described the two responses we have at any age to the storms that scare us: “We become frozen or frantic.”
Last week’s Association of Partners in Christian Education annual event included a helpful and important online workshop on the role churches play in mental health. The Rev. Talitha Arnold, pastor of the United Church of Santa Fe, New Mexico, led the workshop attended by about two dozen people.