Dear Colleagues,
The Liberal Religious Educators' Association (LREDA) and representatives of the UUA staff have been working diligently in recent months to articulate professional standards for religious educators and to refine our programs for the credentialing of lay professionals. Since the early 1990s, the Leadership Landscape Options Plan has been our Association's program for recognizing the myriad training paths of congregational leadership in programs of religious education. It includes the now widely known Renaissance Recognition Program, certificates of continuing education, and the Credentialed Religious Education Option. (Go to www.uua.org/re/landscp.html for details on these options.)
Since its founding more than 50 years ago, LREDA has continually worked to clarify professional standards for its members. Over the years, this resulted in the Religious Education Certification program, the Independent Study Program, and the Ministry of Religious Education. In June 2001, the LREDA membership affirmed a three-tier program for professional development. This spring, there will be further conversation about the implementation of the LREDA standards in concert with the existing Landscape Options.
This work is being led by Rev. Makanah Morris, president-elect of LREDA and co-minister in Cheyenne, WY. Members of the task force are Judith Frediani (acting Director of the Religious Education Department), Pat Ellenwood (DRE, Wellesley Hills, MA and current LREDA President), Rev. Laurel Amabile (Thomas Jefferson District Program Consultant for Training and Education), Rev. Betty Jo Middleton (Acting MRE in Bethesda, MD), Rev. Ellen Brandenburg (Director of Ministerial Education), and myself (Director of the Office of Professional Development in the Religious Education Department).
We are continuing to encourage individuals interested in pursuing the Leadership Landscape Options Plan to do so, recognizing that many folks already have (or are in process toward) earning certificates for Renaissance; or continuing education, as well as the UUA credentialed status. Those recognitions will be reflected in our revised program standards. Through the changes ahead, we are looking forward to promoting a lasting program for lay professionals that includes the best of what has been learned from the past and a sustainable vision for the future.
In the year ahead, we look forward to further collaborative work to get the word out to congregations about standards for Professional Religious Educators. We hope that our joint efforts will continue to support the individual religious educators and our congregations. To that end, we will be working to provide quality mentoring and training programs and search and settlement services and to promoting equitable compensation and evaluation expectations.
In the meantime, we are eager to hear your questions, comments, hopes, and concerns.
Peace,
Rev. Michelle Favreault
mfavreault@uua.org
Director of the Office of Professional Development, Religious Education Department, UUA
(please see the "Scholarships and Grants" in the Resource section)
Dear Colleagues,
I am writing this letter to you to encourage your participation in the Credentialed Religious Educator Option in Professional Religious Education Leadership. This credential is presented to those who qualify according to the Unitarian Universalist Association Religious Education Department. I received my credential in January of 2001 and hold it with a great deal of honor and humility. I have found that having the credential has been a plus for me personally and professionally.
I am currently in the process of transferring my ordination credentials to the UUA on the parish ministry track. Through this process, I have rediscovered my love for Religious Education. I had not identified myself as a minister in an institutional setting for almost 10 years when an ad in a local newspaper caught my eye. The ad for a Director of Religious Education at a Universalist Church reopened a world that I had dearly missed. I ended up with the honor of serving as the Director of Religious Education at The First Universalist Church of Yarmouth, ME for two years.
With the support of the Yarmouth church, I received recognition as a Credentialed Religious Educator. My calling to the ministry and commitment to religious education were affirmed by this recognition. The credential is a leadership option for religious educators within the UUA, but it is also much more than that. I feel that it acknowledges all of the hard work and dedication that I have invested over the years in religious education programs. It is also a professional credential that shows potential employers a dedication to religious education.
While I am very proud and honored to have received this credential, I am also humbled by it. I in no way feel that this credential states that I know everything there is to know about religious education. Actually, I feel that it is a statement indicating that I have committed myself to the ongoing learning and promotion of religious education. It is a reflection of many values that I hold near and dear to my heart--connection, community and continued spiritual growth. It symbolizes my heartfelt commitment to the ministry of religious education. I am honored, affirmed, humbled, and challenged by it.
As part of ongoing learning, I would like to encourage you to explore this professional leadership option.
My actual certificate hangs above my altar at home. I see it everyday and it symbolizes a part of my ongoing journey as a religious educator, minister, and person of faith.
Blessed Be,
Rev. Barry Horn
Director of Religious Education,
The Universalist Church of Westbrook, Westbrook, ME