CGMC Conference

“It is better to be a fish in the ocean of God’s love than a theological whale beached upon the shore”Evelyn Underhill

Theology of children and families

Related to…

Ministerial formation

Three models

Focused theme weekFocused lecturesIntegrated throughout

Special focus week

Offering an intensive theme week when all issues related to cyp and families are explored..

Focused lecture in key themes

for example In homiletics, a lecture on preaching to

children and all ages In New Testament, a lecture about

children in Scripture In liturgy, a lecture about children and

sacraments In contextual theology, a lecture about

schools

Integrate cyp and families

Use examples from a wide range of contextso Refer to children and families in every

module eg o Mission and evangelism - children as

evangelists, child evangelismo Ethics – children as ethical thinkers;

ethical issues around childhood o Interfaith engagement – different

approaches to education and childhood

Independent study/research

Encourage students to be mindful of child/family dimension in research

Encourage research topics directly concerned with child/family theology

Develop centres of excellence

Not one but all..

Focus weeks for those with particular interest

Key lectures in particular topics eg preaching, pastoral pyschology

Cultivating a learning context where referencing children is normative

Fostering the validity of children and families ministry and theology for research