APCE 2018: Boundless Hospitality

BY PAM FUSTING

The 2018 Annual APCE Event is now underway!  Christian educators and ministry professionals from all regions of the U.S. and beyond have gathered in Louisville to learn, grow, worship, and fellowship with one another. This year’s theme of Boundless Hospitality is guiding us to dwell on a love for God and neighbor that, in turn, produces a truly deep and wide sense of hospitality.

The Rev. Sandra Van Opstal dove into this theme during the opening worship session. Pointing to the beloved story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, she challenged us to consider anew how we show hospitality. Too often, we invite others to leave home to enter our church rather than invite ourselves to fellowship in their space. Jesus noticed Zacchaeus, called him down, and visited his house that day. In what ways do we notice, go, and visit others?

Similarly, the first set of Thursday workshop selections offered a wide array of tools and ideas for expanding hospitality within educational ministry. Dr. Karen Marie Yust led an extended workshop entitled Welcoming the Future: Reframing Christian Formation for an Adaptive Church. Here we worked collaboratively to identify ways in which to adapt new research in the field of psychological science to the reshaping of Christian formation practices. We considered the theories of selective social learning, narcissism, shame, connectedness and selective trust. We discussed pathways for learning by examining how cues such as an in-group bias, affection, confidence, competency, or parental over-evaluation all might impact the learner.

In short, research shows that these cues have implications for the way we engage in Christian formation. For example, there is scientific evidence that consistency in the young child’s classroom trumps rotating volunteers or a lack of routine. Research shows value in pairing youth with very different gifts together when working on a project or planning a worship service. Though we came away with several ideas, the conversation is far from over. All are encouraged to continue reading together and developing materials which adapt to current research. Interested in joining the discussion? Want to explore new ways to expand hospitality? Tune into the livestream sessions and check out the tweets and resources available online at www.apcenet.org as the event continues!

Pam Fusting is a M.A.C.E. student at Union Presbyterian Seminary. In the photo, she stands with (from left) students Archana Samuel, Richmond Campus Academic Dean and APCE President Ken McFayden, and student Jen Rowe.