Core Value 1: Learning

The core value that received the most votes on October 25 at the workshop day with Denise Van Eck was "learning."

The table/small group that worked on a definition came up with a long list of activities that involve learning (see below). However there was not a definition of learning that I could find on the paper they left. If someone has notes from the day that do show a definition, please share them.

Here are the ideas of that table:
Magnifikids
Christian Adult/Child Education
Bible Studies
Ongoing Professional Development/on
Movie Series
Worship-Sermons
Book Ends
Theater - Woodbrook Players
Bible Pres.
Bible School - Summer program primarily for children
Visitor Literature/Outreach
Weekday School
Speaker Series - appealing to universities
Educational w/s - diff.
Art Outreach Education
Contemplative Worship
Alternative Worship Styles
Educational Alternatives/TV
Vocation Fair - expertise congregation
Coffee House - Movies/Music/Poetry
Programming for Families with special needs children
Music Education

So, what is learning?

I think of it as more than acquiring knowledge or a set of facts. Learning for me has to do with formation. It will include relevant facts, or may result from knowing certain facts. But learning has to do with a habit of mind and heart that is always open to fresh understanding.

Learning happens in the interaction of pupils and teachers. Teachers who teach how to learn enter into the questions of their pupils, encourage questions, and learn from their pupils and their questions.

Learning happens when experience and reflection or cognition come together. I was a pupil as long as I read the books of the Bible for information about God. I began to learn when I realized those writings speak to my life, help me see myself in a new light. I began to learn when I understood that they offer not just direction (do this, behave that way), but insight into the way God sees me and the world.

Now what do you think?

The dialogue shifts... to on-line

So this is my first foray into blogging. My intent for now is to create a place for members of Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbtyerian Church to engage in conversation about our six core values.

The list on which we will work comes from the day-long workshop with Denise Van Eck of Deep Shift on October 25, 2008, when about 30 members of the church attended.

You who were there will recall that by the end of the day we had whittled a fairly long list down to six. Then we took a bit of a running start at defining them. My understanding is that we want to come up with definitions that are clear, and simple.

Ideally we could summarize our definitions in two or three words. So that we will be able to say, "When BMWPC says 'love,' we mean X, Y, and Z." That kind of shorthand will help us stay focused.

While anyone is welcome to comment on the values, that intitial group will be invited explicitly to do so and share their thinking as we work toward agreed definitions of the six core values. It will be their agreement that will determine the final definitions.

A word about process. Our own Tesserae Project is meeting on Sunday, Nov. 23 to try to pick a date or two after Jan. 1, 2009, for a follow-up meeting. It's hard for me to imagine a great deal of time or energy during the holidays for such a meeting.

The purpose of the meeting will be to come up with our definitions. These on-line discussions will, I hope, help us begn to think through what we mean, and make our face-to-face time more productive.

If there are questions about any of this, please raise them. You can email me directly, but unless they're personal, I hope you'll post them on-line for all to see both questions and answers.

Thus the venture into cyberspace takes another step....

Grace and peace,