Ready To Resource You!

by Rev. Jennifer A. Johnson

In my hometown there is a beauty salon called the "Curl N Dye." Their motto, proudly painted on the glass door is, "We Curl up and Dye for You." I laugh when I see it, but the message is really about effort and commitment. Clever! It came to my mind as I think about hard-working resource centers in our Synod. We aren't into curling and dyeing, but we are into reading, resourcing, and helping! We're here for you. No matter what God is calling you to do, we have resources which can help. Susan Smith, director of the Holston Area Resource Center writes, "requested resources can be mailed or waiting for pick up at the center." Does it get any more convenient than that? In the Presbytery of East Tennessee, Connie Umbach says, "The resource center is a lending library for your use. RESOURCES EQUIP FOR MINISTRY BY: engaging in mission; developing skills; fostering growth; stimulating creativity. A lending library of new materials, old classics, helpful guides, curriculum, equipment, and just plain fun stuff!"

Your Resource Center has sample curriculum available to check out and examine before deciding which program suits your congregation. Directors are part of the POINT network organized by Congregational Ministries. In addition to WeBelieve, Bible Quest, and The Present Word, we have other material from a reformed perspective that will meet the needs of many congregations.

Here are some specific resources we are excited about. Erica Durham, from Sheppards and Lapsley Resource Center calls the "Living Waters for the World" Bible School Curriculum "Fabulous!" It would be good not only for VBS, but for earth day or a youth series. Holston Areas Resource Center has two new videos featuring Dewitt Jones: "Focus Your Vision" and "Celebrate What's Right with the World." Presbyterians Being Reformed: Reflections on What the Church Needs Today is a new book which "presents various viewpoints, values, and commitments found throughout the denomination" according to Connie Umbach. This book has study questions at the end of each chapter which works well in group studies.

In addition to resources to borrow, the Resource Center in St. Andrew Presbytery also has items for sale: Books of Order, Books of Confession, Presbyterian Calendars, the PUP report, Mission Yearbooks, and two books I'm particularly proud of because they are by ministers in the Presbytery: Thy Dwellings Fair, a pictorial history of the churches in our Presbytery, by Milton Winter and Your Word is a Lamp, an awesome little catechism book by Don Wilson.

Here are the Presbyteries who have resource centers at your service: East Tennessee, Holston, Mid- Kentucky, Mid-South, Middle Tennessee, Mississippi, Sheppards and Lapsley, South Alabama, and St. Andrew. Some have their resources on line so you can actually see what they have without leaving your desk chair. See how much we want to help? Living Waters Association of Resource Centers joins directors to promote our ministry to pastors, Christian educators and lay leaders of congregations in the synod. We’re ready to resource you!

New Resources JUST NEIGHBORS TOOLKIT--Summit NJ : Family Promise, 2005. Facilitator's Guide/2 videos/ad-lib cards/situation cards/Decision Points Activity Booklets/cardboard blocks. A 9-session, multi-media program to guide communities of faith in helping people in need. For more go to familypromige.org JUST PREACHING: PROPHETIC VOICES FOR ECONOMIC JUSTICE -Resner, Andre, Jr., ed. A collection of sermons and essays on matters of poverty and economic justice by the likes of Walter Brueggemann, Walter Burghardt, William Sloane Coffin, Marian Wright Edelman, James Forbes, Barbara Brown Taylor, and more than 20 others.

  

Posted: 11-Jun-2006 8:42 PM