Summary

Eighteen professors of religious education met at Wabash College from October 30-November 1, 1998, to reflect on their contributions to the conversation on teaching in theological education in their own institutions and more generally.  The participants represented “mainstream” perspectives in Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant Christian Traditions.

The consultation design was intentionally open-ended.  It began with sessions identifying evidence of the emerging interest in the theory and practices of teaching in higher education, and continued with a brainstorming session which identified a range of contributions academic religion educators might make to these discussions on teaching. The topics of subsequent sessions followed the course of discussion in the group in both formal gatherings and informal conversation. Attention was given to identifying possible strategies for implementing these contributions in their exploration of the “passion” undergirding the conversation and practices of the teaching of participants, and the development of explicit long-range strategies for strengthening the teaching in planning among Chicago area religious educators for a project on critical reflection on teaching among their schools.

Worship for the weekend included a call to Shabbat on Friday evening led by Hanan Alexander, and a morning prayer celebrating the communion of saints on Sunday morning led by Anne Wimberly.