Sharing the history, growth, and ministry of Peachtree Road UMC… one story at a time.

A LEGACY PROJECT OF PEACTHREE ROAD
404.266.2373
[email protected]
prumc.org
a personal reflection by margaret ann crain
In 1992, a search committee was formed to find a director of Christian education. Palacia Seaman asked Dr. Charles R. Foster, Professor of Religion and Education at Candler School of Theology, for his recommendation. The search committee was intent on finding someone who could move the education program of PRUMC to higher levels and was willing to do a national search. Foster suggested me. I was a diaconal minister on the staff of a church in Columbia, Missouri. In early December Palacia Seaman contacted me and invited me to come for an interview. She was impressive, intelligent, hospitable, and deeply committed to Christian education. After some persuasion, I agreed to fly to Atlanta to meet with the search committee.
Conversation with the committee was stimulating. They were clear that the congregation was ready to be challenged to a higher level of learning. They described the massive building project that was in the planning stages and assured me that the spaces for Christian Education would be completed before a new sanctuary. That seemed exciting! A congregation that really valued Christian education! They described the fine preschool, children’s ministries, youth program, Disciple Bible Study groups coordinated by the Rev. John Cromartie, and many adult Sunday School classes with faithful members and leaders.
I shared my commitment to religious education that allows space for questions and doubt. In addition, I described my approach which would include careful listening and theological analysis of the learning contexts in place so that we could build on the strengths already there. My doctoral research was ethnographic, and I would bring that skill set to my work as director.
But I knew little about Atlanta and was quite uncertain about whether I could fit into that culture. After I returned home, John Cromartie called, and we talked for hours as he reassured me that there was space for growth in Christian education and for theological diversity. Long story short, I moved into my Atlanta apartment in early March 1993, just in time for the storm of the century blizzard that shut down the city. On my first day of work, Monday March 10, I drove to PRUMC and found my way into the building. Don Harp and I were the only two who made it that day!
Palacia Seaman, Mary Janet Harden, and John Cromartie were particularly important guides as I found my way. Susan Marshall was ready to jump in and support our plans. I began to figure out how to improve adult education so that transformative learning could take place. I met gifted teachers like Durward Fincher, Diana Ellison, and Dot Addison who faithfully prepared for Sunday School week after week. A great deal of effort and commitment were present in the adult Sunday School but there was little coordination or connection to the congregation as a whole. These classes were little congregations by themselves, sometimes with mission projects and endowment funds. I began to seek a way to connect them and to resource their curriculum choices.
In addition, I realized that we would be more effective if we built community among those leading other age level ministries. We had two people in children’s ministries (Sandy Lundy and Martha Christopher), one doing youth, a coordinator for young adult ministries, and an associate pastor with responsibility for senior adults. The Christian education staff began to meet weekly and to read books together that helped us find common values in our work. Over the six years I was there, that staff changed several times and included Rev. Debby Fox and Rev. Mace Hall. Those staff meetings were a time of affirming the exciting programs in each area, finding ways to support and resource each other, and shaping them where possible into my vision for religious education that was genuine learning and growth in faith, not just rote learning or entertainment. The theory that emerged was connecting and reinforcing learning throughout all aspects of the church’s life—worship, mission, community, and education linked for a comprehensive and reinforcing program. We began to find ways to create intergenerational curriculum. We designed curriculum for Advent and Lent that included weekly Scripture texts and themes. Individual learning was encouraged by publishing devotional books with daily readings and questions for reflection. These coordinated with the topics for all ages on Sunday morning. We found that this kind of coordination created excitement and prioritized learning.
Plans for the new and renovated spaces for education were complete and construction began. Most of the adult Sunday School classes met in spaces that would be renovated. They would need to move out for weeks or months. Many of those classes had their own art, furniture, and had occupied the space for many years. They felt like they owned the space. Moving was disruptive. Where could they go? How would they be able to hold the class together? We searched for an image that would describe the disruptions theologically. “Wandering in the wilderness” spoke powerfully to all of us; our prayer was that, like the Israelites, each class would come out of that time with stronger and more clearly defined identity. It happened! It was a strengthening time for classes that had to find their way to unfamiliar spaces. We weathered the renovation of all the classrooms and the construction of a huge new addition and only lost one adult class out of 27.
One of the key changes that enabled this vigor and deeper commitment in adult education was the shifting of elections of class officers so that all newly elected presidents would begin at the same time. I had discovered early on that my influence was strongest when officers were first elected. After we coordinated those elections, I could meet with the new presidents and help them to see the value of connecting what their classes were doing with the larger life of the congregation. Particularly in Advent and Lent, this was important. I also began to gain their trust so that I could suggest teachers who I knew would enable critical thinking and participation by learners. We were moving toward the goals that the search committee had endorsed. At times, with help of all the age-level ministries, we even wrote curriculum and trained teachers who were dispersed to most of the adult Sunday School classes. Adult education was going deeper and wider. Critical thinking and transformative education were happening.
The Disciple Bible Study groups which the Rev. John Cromartie shepherded had deeply influenced the congregation across all generations. Participants had learned how to read the Bible more critically and were hungry for deeper learning; that was a huge influence in the larger Sunday School too. The ground was prepared for a new group called Reading Women, a powerful experience for those who dared to try it. I invited women to read feminist and progressive authors and considered that some of “what we always thought” might need to be reconsidered. The Reading Women courageously encountered new ideas; most found some that made sense. We recruited Professor Manfred Hoffmann as theologian in residence. Dr. Thomas E. Frank and Dr. Jack L. Seymour taught often in the adult Sunday School and other special events. Adult learning expanded with all these offerings.
I was on the staff from 1993 to 1998. The church was blessed with a gifted and creative staff in all areas.
We grew in faith and numbers.
Margaret Ann Crain, Ed.D.
Professor Emerita of Christian Education and Deacon Studies
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Deacon, Northern Illinois Conference, UMC
Sharing the history, growth, and ministry of Peachtree Road UMC… one story at a time.
A LEGACY PROJECT OF PEACTHREE ROAD
404.266.2373
[email protected]
prumc.org