Tim Atkins

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So far Tim Atkins has created 18 entries.

A foundational question for your UU Religious Education program you probably haven’t asked

What is the point of your Unitarian Universalist Religious Education program?
At the Think Orange conference, it was assumed that most everyone, in the end, had the same goal for their religious education program – to grow young hearts for Jesus. We don’t have that same kind of unifying goal among congregations. Sure you could […]

By |May 9th, 2017|Categories: REThinking RE||0 Comments

22 Quotes on Leadership from Think Orange 2017

After attending the past three Think Orange Tours in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was finally able to attend the main Think Orange Conference in Atlanta in April 2017. The conference was fantastic, re-inspired me as a religious educator, and I hope to be a regular attendee.  You’ll be seeing plenty of posts this year that reflect back […]

By |May 3rd, 2017|Categories: Leadership||0 Comments

12 Quotes on Ministry & Family Ministry from Think Orange 2017

After attending the past three Think Orange Tours in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I was finally able to attend the main Think Orange Conference in Atlanta in April 2017. The conference was fantastic, re-inspired me as a religious educator, and I hope to be a regular attendee.  You’ll be seeing plenty of posts this year that […]

By |May 3rd, 2017|Categories: REThinking RE||0 Comments

Three Words to Guide your Religious Education Ministry in 2016

New Year’s is a time to reflect on how you want to change for the upcoming year. As a religious educator where the church year is tied to the school year, it’s easy for us to think the new year really kicking off in August or September. But we never should put off innovating […]

By |January 14th, 2016|Categories: REThinking RE||0 Comments

The worst thing we can do is go numb.

The shooting at the Planned Parenthood Clinic, as many of you heard Sunday, affected me on a deep level as a volunteer abortion clinic escort. The shooting in San Bernardino just destroyed me, as it destroyed so many of you. I’m feeling just emotionally spent.

How do we keep hope alive when this year there […]

By |December 3rd, 2015|Categories: Leadership||0 Comments

No, we shouldn’t be paying Religious Education teachers.

Paying teachers is a sign of not only a religious education program in trouble, but it’s a sign of a dying congregation. Religious Education should be part of the mission of any congregation in any denomination. With our deep history around Sunday School, it should especially be the mission of any Unitarian Universalist Congregation. […]

By |May 7th, 2015|Categories: REThinking RE||10 Comments

In defense of logos and branding…

The biggest complaint I’ve heard about the new UUA logo isn’t that it looks like <fill in the blank with whatever you’re projecting on to it>, it’s the cost that goes into branding.  Because that money could best be spent on <fill in the blank with whatever your pet peeve/cause is>.

Look, we all have […]

By |February 13th, 2014|Categories: Denominational||6 Comments

Prophetic Followers

There are a lot of prophetic leaders right now within Unitarian Universalism, and it’s a wonderful thing.  We’re talking about things that five years ago I could have only hoped we’d be discussing.  Just within the last 24 hours, I was incredibly moved by Meg Riley’s call to wear the mantle of our faith […]

By |January 27th, 2014|Categories: Leadership||1 Comment

I have power and so do you. And that’s ok.

So the more trainings, workshops, and meetings I go to, the more I see how the topic of power is always so dicey.  It seems like many Unitarian Universalists really don’t like the idea that they have personal power, especially in a congregational setting. (But they do hope they have political power to change […]

By |September 16th, 2013|Categories: Denominational||1 Comment

Multigenerational and not Intergenerational

The difference between multigenerational and intergenerational has been on my mind these past few weeks as I have begun my new life as a Director of Religious Education.  In the past I used the two as synonyms, as I imagine most folks out there.  But the more I ponder the two when thinking about […]

By |August 9th, 2013|Categories: REThinking RE||1 Comment