Solidarity in the Field of Religious Education

Abstract

This article argues that the field of religious education can have a clearer sense of identity if religious educators recognize the threads of historical continuity in the field and forge bonds of greater unity in our professional guild by adopting a shared commitment to explore various modes of religious learning as expressions of the universal human quest for meaning, value, and understanding. To provide a vision for and direction within the field, we recommend religious educators adopt the guiding image of standing in solidarity with one another at the crossroads of religion and education and research and practice.

Keywords:

• Religious education research
• religious education practice
• religious education identity
• conceptualizing religious education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Harold D. (Bud) Horell

Harold D. (Bud) Horell earned an interdisciplinary doctorate in Theology and Education at the Boston College Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry. He is an Associate Professor of Religious Education at the Fordham University Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. Email: [email protected]

Jeniffer Fresy Porielly Wowor

Jeniffer Fresy Porielly Wowor holds an MA from Presbyterian University and Theological Seminary, Seoul. She is a member of the Faculty of Theology, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, Indonesia, and a reverend in Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat (The Protestant Church in the Western Part of Indonesia). Jeniffer is a PhD Candidate in the Fordham University Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education in New York City.

Eric Olaf Olsen

Eric Olaf Olsen an MDiv degree from General Theological Seminary in New York. He is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) who serves as pastor of Faith Lutheran Church in Sarasota, FL.

Shaina E. Turner Franklin

Shaina E. Turner Franklin holds an MA in Teaching from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, and an MDIV from Emory University, Atlanta, GA. She teaches at St. Peter’s Prep High School in Jersey City, NJ, and is a PhD Candidate in the Fordham University Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education.