Arrive early for our 30th Biennial Consultation and attend the Research Lunch session. Last year this was a well attended event. This is the first biennium that it will be a joint event of the newly constituted Research and Publications Committee. Come with your research and publication interests ready to share your area of passion. This lunch event is an opportunity to network with other ATFE members interested in research or writing projects. Wanting to celebrate the publications (books, book chapters, articles, reviews) of members since the last biennium I am asking that members forward to me the publication information. The goal is to distribute a list of publications by ATFE members during the lunch and for all Biennium attendees. Send publication information to: Joseph Tortorici, jtortorici@wesleyseminary.edu

Contact Person: Lee Carroll, Associate Professor of Supervised Ministry at Columbia Theological Seminary, PO Box 520, Decatur, GA 30031. Telephone (888) 601-8916. E-mail address: CarrollL@CTSnet.edu

Description: Presbyterian and Reformed Theological Field Educators(PRTFE) is an informal fellowship of theological field educators serving theological schools of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the Reformed Church of America, together with Presbyterian and Reformed field educators serving with other theological schools. The group is a collegium in which members explore best practices in theological field education. Papers such as “Guidelines for Theological Field Education,” “Assessment in Theological Field Education,” and “Legal Issues in Theological Field Education” have been prepared by the group in the past.

Meeting: PRTFE typically meets annually. On those years when ATFE Consultations are scheduled, caucus meetings are usually held immediately before or after the biennial consultation. Leadership is rotated from meeting to meeting, with different members serving as moderator, recorder and host. The next scheduled meeting of PRTFE will be Sunday, January 25-Monday, January 26, 2009, noon to noon, at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, Atlanta. Stephanie Croom of Western Theological Seminary will be the moderator of this meeting.

Dear ATFE Friends,

Thank you so very much for your outpouring of concern, cards, flowers, letters and phone calls throughout the summer when I underwent a cancer diagnosis and two surgeries. I cannot truly capture in words how much your outreach affected my spirit, and consequently, my ability to heal. Yet, I will try to communicate as best as I can my gratitude and that of my family.

ATFE has always been one of the ‘perks’ of my work and since my very first Biennial in Vancouver, I have considered myself truly fortunate to be a part of this fine organization. So many of you have been patient and went out of your way to not only welcome me to theological field education but to mentor me. Now I feel doubly blessed having received your generous and genuine pastoral care. I know how busy your lives are with students beckoning you every which way.

I am back to work – easing in. My colleagues at Perkins, Bill Bryan, Tom Spann and Barry Hughes, are generously giving me the time I need to rest and work. Recovery will take a year, my doctor says. I am grateful for life and look forward to seeing you all again at the next ATFE Biennial in Atlanta.

With much, much appreciation,

Isabel Noelia Docampo

Greetings!

I hope you are travelling well between semesters. It is now less than five months to our Conference.

Please find attached our registration form and our brochure which hopefully gives all the information necessary about the Conference, including program and costs. The registration form is also included in the brochure, but it is probably easier to use the separate form and keep the brochure intact.

We hope you will print out the registration form and send it with your cheque (payable to ANZATFE Conference) to our registrar, Mrs. Penny Carroll, whose details are on the form. Please note that we cannot invoice you for Conference costs since we have no ABN number.

Also, it would be helpful if you will forward this email on to people you know who may be interested, including theological students and ministry candidates, since there is a reduced rate for the first five of them. Thankyou!

You will note that you will be able to attend three workshops. So far, six workshops have been definitely lined up. We are hoping to have three more, allowing you to have a substantial choice. We will pass on further details by email when the workshop schedule is complete.

On a sad note, with our colleagues in VATFE, the Victorian incorporated body for theological field education, we acknowledge the passing of Rev Dr John Paver on 19 May. John was a keynote speaker at our 2002 Conference in Melbourne and he “contributed hugely to theological field education, clinical pastoral education and postgraduate ministry studies in Australia”. His seminal book, Theological Reflection and Education for Ministry, was published by Ashgate last November.

We look forward to your participation in the Conference. If you can’t make it and want to send greetings, please feel free to reply!

Shalom

Neil Sims

ANZATFE Brochure

ANZATFE REGO FORM

The committee reviewed, discussed and provided helpful feedback on the following submissions: Lisa Withrow (in absentia): Abstract of a paper on globalization and Wesley’s social ethics which she will present at the Oxford Institute this year; Herb Fain: “A Theologian’s Perspective on Globabilzation” (renamed during the meeting “A Pastor’s Perspective on Globablization”); Bill Kondrath: “Change Theory”, Chapter 6 of a book on contextual field education which will be published by the Alban Institute early in 2008; Don McCrabb: shared two articles, “Eleven Characteristics of Excellent Pastors” and “Pastoral Vision: A Characteristic of Pastoral Excellence” which he wrote and were published as part of the “Sustaining Pastoral Excellence Project”. They can be found at www.divinity.duke.edu/programs/spe/articles. Joe Tortorici: “Preparing to Minister in a Global Reality”, an article prepared for publication based on his recent research on immersion programs, and “Intercultural Immersion Education at ATS Seminaries: A Case Study of Pedagogical Best Practices”, a draft of a research proposal.

Don McCrabb reported on his research into finding a text which would be instructive for all ATFE members wanting to do research. The book highly recommended by social researchers is Earl Babbie’s The Practice of Social Research (11th Edition). It’s an expensive item. It was highly suggested that we recommend its purchase to our seminary libraries.

The committee discussed several other suggestions which have been forwarded to the Steering Committee for discussion and decision.

A message from the ATFE Chairperson:

ATFE is active group of professionals who combine scholarly interests in teaching ministerial leadership with practical concerns about building Christian communities.  We are actively engaged in research about teaching in diverse contexts, about mentoring, and about emerging models for worship and service to others. Small groups of field educators meet to compare research, engage in writing, and present models for how to engage students in international field education, field education for social change, etc.  Other meetings convene around caucus groups, such as the Evangelical Caucus and the Canadian caucus. I find this an exciting time to lead our association because of the many ways you are thinking creatively and imagining new ways to educate for leadership in faith communities.