About the Contributors
Holly
Catterton Allen, Ph.D., is associate professor of
Christian ministries and the director of the Children and Family Ministries
program in the Biblical Studies Division at
John
Brown
University
. She was Co-Director of the 2006 Children’s Spirituality Conference:
Christian Perspectives and was the guest editor for the Fall 2007 Christian Education Journal theme issue on children’s
spirituality, and she has written articles for CEJ
and other journals. Dr. Allen was also a chapter contributor for Children’s
Spirituality: Christian Perspective, Research, and Applications (Cascade,
2004, Don Ratcliff, editor); her scholarly interests are children’s
spirituality and intergenerational issues.
Michael
J. Anthony, Ph.D., Ph.D.,
is professor of Christian education
at Talbot School of Theology/Biola University and has been a consultant to and
served on numerous institutional boards. Dr. Anthony has authored/edited
numerous articles and twelve books. His academic preparation includes doctoral
degrees in Educational Administration from Southwestern Seminary and
Developmental Psychology from The Claremont Graduate School. He travels
throughout the world speaking at Christian Education conferences for churches,
camps, and parachurch organizations. He is the chaplain for the Irvine Police
Department which brought him to Ground Zero soon after the attack. He also
serves as a deputy sheriff in the reserve division of the Orange County Sheriff
Department.
Stacy
Berg, M.Ed., is an early
childhood educator and the director of
Northminster
Learning
Center
in
Peoria
,
Illinois
. In her current position, she develops faith-based, developmentally appropriate
programming for toddlers, preschoolers, and grade school children.
Professionally, she enjoys consulting with teachers and programs, and presenting
at conferences on supporting project work and faith-based education. Ms. Berg is
co-author of Teaching Your Child to Love
Learning (Teachers College Press, 2004) and Teaching
Parents to Do Projects at Home (Teachers College Press, 2005). She is an adjunct professor at
Bradley
University
.
Chris
J. Boyatzis, Ph.D., is a developmental psychologist
whose primary interest is religious and spiritual development. He is an
associate professor of psychology at
Bucknell
University
in
Lewisburg
,
Pennsylvania
, and coordinator of Bucknell’s Children’s Studies minor. Dr. Boyatzis has
edited special issues on child/adolescent spirituality in Applied
Developmental Science (with P. E. King, 2004), The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion (2006), and
Review of Religious Research (2003).
He has authored many handbook chapters on religious and spiritual development,
has organized since 2001 a preconference on the topic at the biennial meetings
of the Society for Research in Child Development, and teaches and consults on
religious education and family ministry models at a local and national level.
MaLesa
Breeding, Ed.D.,
is the dean of the
College
of
Education
and Human Services and associate professor of communication disorders at
Abilene
Christian
University
. Her interests are in the area of families of children with severe
communication disorders. For the last seven years, Dr. Breeding has worked with
a ministry support group called King David’s Kids, which is a family ministry
designed to provide support to families of children with disabilities. Dr.
Breeding is co-author of Let All the
Children Come to Me: A Practical Guide to Including Children with Disabilities
in Your Church’s Ministry (2006).
Marilyn
Brownlee,
M.A.C.E.,
recently completed her graduate work at Haggard School of Theology/Azusa Pacific
University. She is the youth ministry coordinator for Friendship Baptist Church
in
Yorba Linda
,
California
where is the responsible for developing, implementing and evaluating programs
for youth ministry and training potential teachers. She has written adult,
college, and youth Bible curriculum for church ministries. She is on staff at
Teaching
Like
Jesus
Ministries
in
Los Angeles
as a consultant on equipping and training leaders in the local church. She has
served on staff at Precept Ministry,
Chattanooga
,
Tennessee
as a student leader, teaching youth how to study the Bible inductively.
Linda
V. Callahan received her M.A. in marriage and family
therapy with a specialization in child and adolescent counseling from
Psychological Studies Institute,
Chattanooga
,
Tennessee
. She provides in-home counseling for children, adolescents, and families as a
therapeutic care manager with Family Menders of Chattanooga.
Jane Carr
, Ph.D., is associate professor of Christian education and the program director
of the Masters of Arts in Christian Education program at Talbot School of
Theology in
La Mirada
,
California
. In addition, she has served for nineteen years on the pastoral staff at
Yorba Linda
Friends
Church
in
Southern California
where her primary focus has been children’s ministry and leadership
development. She is the founder of CMPros, an online egroup that networks
children’s ministry professionals around the world. Her doctoral research
(2000, Talbot School of Theology) explored issues related to job satisfaction
among children’s ministry professionals. She speaks and provides consultation
to churches both nationally and internationally.
Mara Lief Crabtree,
D.Min., Wesley Theological Seminary, M.P.S., Loyola University of New
Orleans, DASD, San Francisco Theological Seminary,
M.A. Regent
University
, is associate professor of spiritual formation and
women’s studies at Regent University School of Divinity in
Virginia Beach
,
Virginia
. Ordained with the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches, she serves as a
chaplain in the International Order of St. Luke.
Karen Crozier, Ph.D., is an
adjunct professor at Claremont School of Theology in the religious education
department. She is a former assistant professor of practical theology at
Azusa
Pacific
University
in the Haggard School of Theology, and early childhood educator for
Fresno
Unified
School District
. Rev. Dr. Crozier is ordained with the
Church
of
God
,
Anderson
,
Indiana
, and National Baptist Convention, Inc., and she serves as an associate minister
at
New Hope
Missionary
Baptist
Church
in
San Bernardino
,
California
.
James Riley Estep, Jr., Ph.D.,
Trinity
Evangelical
Divinity
School
, D.Min., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, is professor of Christian
education at Lincoln Christian Seminary in
Lincoln
,
Illinois
. He is the chairperson of the Christian Education Study Group for the
Stone-Campbell Journal Conference, and has published or presented over forty pieces
on Christian education and related fields.
Jeffrey
Feinberg, Ph.D., is leader of Etz Chaim Congregation
in
Lincolnshire
,
Illinois
. He is also executive secretary for the Union of Messianic Jewish
Congregations, an international body of Messianic Jewish congregations. His
publications include several Messianic
Jewish devotional commentaries including Walk
with Genesis, Walk with Exodus,
etc. published by Lederer/Messianic
Jewish Publishers. Dr. Feinberg and his wife, Pat Feinberg, have authored
Messianic Jewish curriculum materials for all age levels. Through FLAME
Foundation, they post a reading calendar, which integrates Torah Readings (“Parashiot”)
with New Testament selections.
Stephanie
Goins, M.A. in psychology, wrote her master’s thesis
on forgiveness. She practiced counseling for a period of time before going into
missions full time. She, along with her husband J., joined Youth With a Mission
(YWAM) in 1989 and have spent several years in Africa and
Europe
. She is currently working on her Ph.D. thesis through Oxford Centre for Mission
Studies/University of
Wales
. Her contribution for this book is taken from her field research.
Judy
Harris Helm,
Ed.D.
,
West Virginia
University, assists early childhood
and elementary schools in integrating research and new methods through her
consulting and training company, Best Practices, Inc. Dr. Helm is past state
president of the Illinois Association for the Education of Young Children. Her
latest of seven books, Building Support for Your School: Using Children’s
Work to Show Learning was released in August, 2006. The Chicago Children’s
Museum developed an exhibit based on her work, The Power of Documentation:
Children’s Learning Revealed which is now touring the country. Her work
has been translated into five languages and she provides consultation and
training throughout the country and internationally.
Dana
Kennamer Hood, Ph.D., is chair of the Department of
Curriculum and Instruction at
Abilene
Christian
University
. She teaches courses in early childhood and elementary education. Dr. Hood has
presented papers at numerous regional, national, and international conferences
on topics related to children’s spiritual development and nurture. She is
co-author of the book, Let All the Children Come to Me: A
Practical Guide Including Children with Disabilities Is Your Church's Ministry (Cook, 2006). She serves on the
children’s ministry leadership team of her church where she has taught Sunday
School for over twenty years. Her Sunday School class includes children with
various disabilities including autism and Down Syndrome. Dr. Hood’s doctoral
dissertation (2001,
University
of
Texas
at
Austin
) explored children’s perceptions of God from a contextualist perspective.
Sungwon
Kim
is currently a doctoral candidate in Christian education at Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary, where she has already received a master’s degree in
Christian education. She has also earned an M.Div. from
Chongshin
University
,
Seoul
,
Korea
as well as an M.A. in early childhood education. She has served in Korean
churches as a preschool minister for eleven years and has had previous
experience as a kindergarten teacher.
Kevin
Lawson, Ed.D., serves as
professor of Christian education and director of the Ph.D. and Ed.D. programs in
Educational Studies at Talbot School of Theology,
Biola
University
. He also serves as editor for the Christian
Education Journal, published by Talbot in cooperation with the North
American Professors of Christian Education. He serves as chair of the
Children’s Spirituality Conference planning team. He is the author of How
to Thrive in Associate Staff Ministry (Alban, 2000), and has contributed to
a number of edited books on Christian education and children’s ministry as
well as publishing articles in a number of journals in the field of Christian
education.
Scottie
May, Ph.D., is assistant professor of in the
department of Christian Formation and Ministry at
Wheaton
College
. She earned her master’s degree from
Wheaton
College
and doctoral degree from
Trinity
Evangelical
Divinity
School
. She co-authored Children Matter: Celebrating their Place in the Church, Family and
Community (Eerdmanns, 2005) with Catherine Stonehouse, Beth Posterski,
and Linda Cannell. She also wrote “A Contemplative Model of Children’s
Ministry,” a chapter in Perspectives on
Children’s Spiritual Formation: Four Views (Broadman & Holman, 2006,
Michael Anthony, editor), and a chapter with Don Ratcliff entitled “Brain
Development and the Numinous Experiences of Children,” in Children’s Spirituality: Christian Perspective, Research, and
Applications (Cascade, 2004, Ratcliff, editor).
Marcia
McQuitty, Ph.D., is associate professor of childhood
and parent education studies in the Human Growth and Development Division in the
School of Education Ministries at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She
also serves as faculty liaison/advisor for the Naylor Children’s Center, a lab
school for persons pursing a career in preschool ministries in the local church. She
has written curriculum materials and training manuals and has led church, state,
and national conferences for the Southern Baptist Convention.
Heidi
Schulz Oschwald graduated with her bachelor's degree
in Children and Family Ministries from
John
Brown
University
in 2007. She currently teaches children at the Lollipop Learning Tree in
Salem
,
Oregon
. Her research paper for the course, “Children’s Spiritual Development”
with Dr. Allen contributed to the chapter in this book.
Don
Ratcliff, Ph.D.,
is the Price-LeBar Professor of Christian Education in the
Formation and Ministry Department at
Wheaton
College
in
Wheaton
,
Illinois
. He has studied children’s religious and spiritual development for
more than twenty-five years, and has edited several books related to this topic
including Children’s Spirituality:
Christian Perspectives, Research, and Applications (Cascade, 2004), and five
books for Religious Education Press. He has developed extensive web pages
related to children’s spirituality (http://childspirituality.org/don/) as well
as qualitative research (http://don.ratcliffs.net/qual). He is a charter member
of the planning team for the Children’s Spirituality Conference: Christian
Perspectives, and is a academic supervisor for the Search Institute’s Center
for Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence, as well as a research
consultant for the Oxford Centre for Missions Studies.
Pam Scranton,
M.Ed., is an adjunct professor at
Bradley
University
and is the curriculum coordinator at
Northminster
Learning
Center
. Ms. Scranton is in her eighteenth year as an early childhood educator. She
taught at
Valeska
Hinton
Early
Childhood
Education
Center
and in the Woodford County Special Education Bright Beginnings program, before
coming to the
Northminster
Learning
Center
to teach the Discovery Preschool program. She is a frequent presenter in school
districts on topics such as engaging children in project work, authentic
assessment, and developmentally appropriate practice. She is a contributing
author of The Power of Projects (Teachers
College Press, 2003) and
co-author of Teaching Your Child to Love Learning (Teachers College Press, 2004)
and Teaching Parents to Do Projects at
Home (Teachers College Press, 2005).
Timothy
A. Sisemore, Ph.D., Fuller
Theological Seminary, is clinical professor of counseling and psychology at the
Psychological Studies Institute (PSI) in
Chattanooga
,
Tennessee
and directs PSI's
Chattanooga
Bible
Institute
Counseling
Center
. His practice and teaching focus on children and
adolescents. Dr. Sisemore has written four books, two of which focus on biblical
views of children. His most recent, World-Proof Your Kids:
Raising Children Unstained by the World (Christian
Focus, 2007), critiques current culture
as it conflicts with promoting the fruit of the Spirit in the lives of
children.
Catherine
Stonehouse, Ph.D., is Orlean Bullard Beeson Professor
of Christian Discipleship and dean of the
School
of
Practical Theology
at Asbury Theological Seminary. Her research focuses on the spirituality of
children and she is the author of Joining
Children on the Spiritual Journey: Nurturing a Life of Faith (Baker, 1998),
co-author of Children Matter: Celebrating
their Place in the Church, Family, and Community (Eerdmanns, 2005), and has
contributed chapters in several books. In the classroom she addresses the
discipling ministries of the church with special attention to the spiritual
nurture of children and their families.
La Verne
Tolbert, Ph.D., Talbot School of Theology, is adjunct professor at Haggard
School of Theology and
Biola
University
. Dr. Tolbert is founder of Teaching Like Jesus Ministries, a consultation and
teacher-training ministry dedicated to equipping volunteers in the local church
utilizing the principles from her book, Teaching
Like Jesus: A Practical Guide to Christian Education in Your Church (Zondervan,
2000 ) and its Spanish version Enseñemos Como Jesus
(Vida, 2004). She writes
curriculum for children’s church/Sunday school and is the director of Christian education ministries at
Crenshaw
Christian
Center
in
Los Angeles
. Her latest book, Keeping Your Kids
Sexually Pure: A How-To Guide for Parents, Pastors, Youth Workers and Teachers
(Xlibris, 2007)
highlights
her dissertation research on school-based clinics. Dr. Tolbert is a
planning team member for the Children's Spirituality Conference.
Thomas
Wyatt Watkins, M. Div., Christian Theological
Seminary,
Indianapolis
, also holds a bachelor of violin performance from
Indiana
University
. He is pastor of
Cumberland
First
Baptist
Church
in
Indianapolis
, and a charter member of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Watkins’s titles
include Gospel, Grits, and Grace: Encountering
the Holy in the Ridiculous, Sublime, and Unexpected (Judson Press, 1999), How
Sweet the Sound: Stories Inspired by the Hymns We Love (Judson Press, 2001),
The Promise Restored:
Rediscovering the Ten Commandments in an Uncertain World (New World Library,
2001), What Our Kids Teach Us About
Prayer, (The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2005), and Praying
the Parables (Talkpoints Publications, 2000).
John
Westerhoff, III, retired professor of theology and
Christian nurture at Duke University, and most recently a visiting professor of
Christian Ethics and Moral Theology at General Theological Seminary in New York,
is the author of the classic Will our Children Have Faith? (Morehouse,
2000/Seabury 1976) as well as many other books, articles, and chapters on
Christian formation. He currently serves as a priest associate and theologian at
St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in
Atlanta
.
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