Customer Reviews

Fashion Me a People: Curriculum in the Church

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book provides an especially excellent overview of the differnet concepts of curricula, including a history of different definitions and the recent history of the broadening concept of what it is. Harris' vision of teaching encompasses a wide scope of the church. She helps you to see curricula for education not just in books, but in people, worship, group interaction, meetings, and in fact, any aspect of church life. She identifies the present state of education in the church as an in between time, on the edge of a new, holistic view of education in the Church.

Fashioning is challenging. It is awakening. And it is a life-long process to education. Fashion Me a People is for the church community that is willing to explore what education can truly be for itself and for the greater community and world.

This book presents a thoughtful educational plan for our church community, recognizing our churches offer different strengths and each have the need to develop their shortcomings. As a part of a community, one body in Christ, striving to do the work to which we are called, how do we become a community of communities, a worshipping community, a teaching community, a proclaiming community and a community of service?

Each of these areas of education and service is described in Ms. Harris' book. In her description of these five different forms we are inspired to see the possibilities within our church community. There are thoughtful and challenging questions and engaging activities included to assist in further practicing and implementing the themes of each chapter.

This is a valuable resource to have AND to use.

A wonderful book and a valuable tool for all leaders of the church. Harris points out to us in her book that the church curriculum is never ending; education is a lifelong process and found in all forms of ministry. If this is truly the case, then we need to be aware of how we are educating people and how we can improve upon that education in all areas of ministry. Harris' book helps us to do just that.

I found this book to contain many practical ideas and ways of building or improving a church curriculum. There are many sound suggestions that any church could use and useful tools are supplied to help you determine how to best use those suggestions to meet the needs of your church.

I found three things to be especially helpful and important in this book. First, Harris begins with a scripture verse that guides her theories and the foundation of that scripture is apparent throughout the book. Secondly, Harris places simple exercises at the end of each chapter to help readers go deeper into the ideas presented in each chapter and to discern how they can best apply the ideas to their programs. Finally, Harris separates the book into three sections and then chapters, which makes the book very organized, focused, and understandable.

Calls for one to look at curriculum in a whole new light. Curriculum is more than the printed page. The entire experience of 'Church' in Harris' view is curriculum. She includes a discussion of the multiple meanings of curriculum and curricular challenges.

Maria Harris' book Fashion Me A People was a very insightful read for me. I particularly enjoyed the second section of the book, where she mentioned the five different curriculums used within the church. The five curriculums are as follows: Koinonia, which is Community, Leiturgia, which is Prayer, Didache, which is Teaching, Kerygma, which is Proclamation, and Diakonia, which is Service. I also liked how Harris really pushed the idea that learning and education in the church is a long-term commitment and not just present. In other words, the people of the church will always be learning.

Maria Harris has written an awesome book on how the church should revamp it's image on teaching our people God's word. This is a must read for all teachers in the church (everyone).

Maria Harris did a very good job of laying out the fundamental "curriculum" aspects of a church. It was most helpful to have the exericses after each chapter for the reader(s) to put what have been learned into practice. As the author herself mentioned, "the direction of education is shifting." She laid out the ground work and it is up to the educator(s) to utilize what she has written accordindly to a learning evironment.

"Insightful, and practical." There are times when one would read a very good book and then ask the question, "How do you use this in the church?" Maria Harris did that. It is up to the reader(s) to apply what he/she has learned into his/her specific situation--whether that is a Sunday school class, Bible study, or in a classroom.

This book shows is a good general introduction to the idea of Church Curriculum. What is most interesting is that her best chapters are about non-traditional ways of looking at how the church teaches. For example, teaching in worship, service and other areas.
However, this book is highly dependent on Thomas Groome's Christian Religious Education. So I would see this book as a a first step in order to understand and better appreciate his book.

This book "Fashion Me a People" talks about education, especially curriculum in the church. The author Harris says there are five curriculum in it: Koinonia(Community), Leiturgia(Prayer), Didache(Teaching), Kerygma(Proclamation), and Diakonia(Service). If I criticize this book with rubric for the six facets of understanding of Grant Wiggins and Jay Mctighe, it is in-depth, revealing, skilled, thorough, sensitive, and circumspect.

The three things that I have learned from this book are like below. First, Harris tries to find the first step toward the solution of each question from various sources such as origin of word, Bible, other educators' theories, and history. Second, Harris places simple exercises at the end of each chapter to help readers go deeper into the ideas presented in each chapter and to discern how they can best apply the ideas to their programs. Third, whenever she explains each curriculum, Harris tries to connect it with three elements of traditional form: prophetic, priestly, and political. That is to say that she has good connection these curricula as vocation with these elements as vocation.

Harris knows our present address of educational curriculum and challenges us in order to be changed. This is how she invites us into this practice ourselves and teaches it to us. Sometimes the information dose not seem completely new to us. Nevertheless, the power of Harris is that she knows how to apply what we have already known to education. While we read this book, we can feel that our scattered information is gathered into one.

Harris' main point in this book was that education exists within everything that the Church does, not just in Sunday School, Adult Bible Study, and Confirmation class. Her point is a good one, and needs to be heard by all Christian educators, pastors, and Church members. However, what the reader is to do with that point is not as clear.

Harris divides the book into three parts. The first explains who the people of the Church are: a people with a pastoral vocation. Then she explains that the Church needs to design their education program around that definition: "What meaning of education will serve best in realizing that vocation" (p.42) She concludes that section by stating that the whole Church needs to be a part of the education and the corresponding curriculum.

The second part of the book describes these different elements of the Church that need to be including when designing a curriculum. The final part discuses how this is to be done by putting forth questions that, when answered by pastors, Church members, and educators, can help define the curriculum for that congregation.

Do not use this book to understand how people learn. Do not use this book to get a history of Christian education. Do not use this book if you are looking for specific education ideas. This book would best be useful for pastors or educators trying to figure out what to do about education in their Church. While it won;t tell you what to do, it does provide good questions to think about, and will keep the reader remembering that education can and should happen beyond the Church classroom. It should happen in everything the Church does.

It is a simple thesis, which Harris explains well, but instead of giving specific examples of how Churches have educated in different aspects of the Church's life, she further describes an already understood point. While reading much of the book I felt "Haven't I heard this. I would rather hear how this has worked."