The Words of the Schanker Family

Training and Developing Your Educators and Ministry Leaders-National Conference October 5-7, 2007

Phillip Schanker
August 27, 2007

MEMORANDUM

TO: District Directors, State and Church Leaders, Educators
FROM: FFWPU- USA Education Department
DATE August 27, 2007
RE: Training and Developing Your Educators and Ministry Leaders-National Conference October 5-7, 2007

The 6th Annual Educators Conference for Unificationist educators will take place on October 5 -- 7, 2007 at the Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, NY. This year’s theme is "Expanding Educational Horizons." We are asking you to do 2 things NOW, in preparation for the conference and to benefit your church, state or district:

1) PROVIDE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR YOUR SUNDAY SCHOOL AND EDUCATION DIRECTORS-

A 1-day pre-conference has been organized to professionally train Education Directors for each district and, where possible, each state or large church. This program will help Sunday School administrators or head teachers, allowing them to gain new understanding, develop confidence, share experiences with other SS educators from across the nation, and gain continuing education credit toward a professional degree. You can utilize this "train the trainer" program to develop a state or district-level Education Director, who can implement teacher training on a local level.

Sponsored by the Center for Education at UTS, the conference will be led by Dr. Kathy Winings, Dean of the UTS Extension Center and President of Educare, and Rev. Brian Sabourin, Director of Youth Ministry, New Jerusalem (NJ) Family Church. The one day pre-conference takes place on Friday, October 5 ay UTS, so your SS leaders can combine it with the Educators Conference, which begins that same evening and finishes Sunday afternoon.

By coordinating among your district and sponsoring key Sunday School administrators and teachers for their professional development as educators, you can take advantage of the group discount for groups of 5 or more. Every district should be represented, and all of the larger and more complex Sunday School programs on a local or state level should send a representative to be trained. For additional information visit www.centerforeducation.net.

2) SEND A DISTRICT DELEGATION OF EDUCATORS, MINISTRY LEADERS AND YOUTH TO THE EDUCATOR’S CONFERENCE-

This year’s quality program has noted character educator Dr. Thomas Lickona as keynote speaker; successful models of ministry, youth education and Sunday School on display from throughout the country; 36 breakout sessions to choose from and growing participation from Second Generation ministry leaders nationwide. Your education and ministry leaders will grow and thrive in an environment of academic development, sharing "best practices," inspiration and fellowship.

Once again, act now, coordinate a delegation from your district and take advantage of the group discount for registration and lower advance airfares. You may wish to scholarship the registration fee of selected representatives, sponsor their airfare, or both. [For example, the church could scholarship the registration fee of participants who raise the airfare, or give a full scholarship as an educator’s award each year, etc.]

For conference and pre-conference details, visit www.centerforeducation.net. There you can check out the conference program and keynote speaker, see the breakout session titles and presenters, and review the pre-conference schedules (there are additional pre-conferences on Family and Marriage as well as UPF Character Education). The FFWPU Education Department will be contacting each District Director to find out whom you plan to send from your district, and who will serve as a point of communication and coordination. Rather than mandate participation and rely on the culture of obedience to gain representation from each state and district, we hope you will recognize the value of this identity-affirming and value-promoting educational experience for the hard-working volunteer educators and ministry leaders in your churches.

We look forward to seeing you and your education leaders at this year’s Educators Conference.

Sincerely,

Rev. Phillip Schanker
VP for Education and Public Affairs
FFWPU- USA

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