October 12, 2007 == MEDIA ADVISORY
Summary: A new book from an education professor at Calvin College is aimed at
helping the church nurture the spiritual development of children.
Full story see http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2007-08/keeley-book.htm
A new book from an education professor at Calvin College is aimed at helping
the church nurture the spiritual development of children.
"Helping Our Children Grow in Faith: Nurturing the Spiritual Development of
Kids" will be released in January 2008 by Baker Books, a Grand Rapids based
publisher of books for pastors, church leaders and lay Christians.
It is written by Robert J. Keeley, a Calvin professor whose area of expertise
is the spiritual development of children. He also is co-director, with his
wife, Laura, of children's ministries at Fourteenth Street Christian Reformed
Church in Holland, Michigan.
Keeley said he's long wanted to write this book.
"Through my training in educational psychology and my years of working with
kids in churches and schools," he said, "I became convinced that studying how
kids learn and how their faith develops can have a positive impact on the way
ministry is done. I thought that having a good grounding in both scripture and
ed psych was a valuable thing for people working with children and I wanted to
write a book to help people without that background understand it better."
The book is designed for children's ministry and worship leaders, Sunday
school teachers, and pastors, but also for parents. It examines such areas as
integrating children into congregational worship, teaching them the Bible but
leaving room for the mystery of God, and distinguishing the differences between
faith development and moral development.
There's a critical difference, Keeley said, between faith and moral
development.
"Faith development is about helping children come to know and trust God as the
Lord of their lives," he said. "Moral development is about helping children
learn how to behave. They’re both important but they're not the same. I have
noticed that in working with kids, well-meaning people sometimes substitute
moral development for faith development and I think that’s a shame."
Contact Keeley at 616-526-6816
-end-
Received on Fri Oct 12 16:26:50 2007
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