Mary Elizabeth Moore

By Claire Bischoff

Protestant

MARY ELIZABETH MULLINO MOORE (1945 - ):  Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore is a master educator and prolific writer and speaker whose work in religious education, process theology, and practical theology arises from and contributes to a concern for repair for the world (tikkun olam). Moore's distinguished teaching career in religious education and theology spanned twenty years at Claremont School of Theology and ten years at Candles School of Theology, Emory University, after which she was installed as Dean of the School of Theology at Boston University in 2009. A lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, Moore has served the church through her active leadership in local, regional, and national church bodies; her preaching and teaching both locally and internationally; and her formative influence on countless ministers and scholars who have been inspired by her writing and teaching. Through her development of theologies and pedagogies concerned with embodied faith, socio-economic justice and socio-ecological renewal, and equipping people for bold discipleship, Moore has had a profound influence on advancing the dialogue between theology and education.

Biography

Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore was born January 16, 1945, to James Ogle and Elizabeth Heaton Mullino in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Her childhood and youth were spent in Baton Rouge, where she went to school with the same classmates from grade school through to high school graduation; she still counts some of these classmates as very close friends.

Mary Elizabeth speaks of her father, a quiet and non-judgmental man, as a kindred spirit whose way of parenting strongly shaped her way of relating to others throughout her life. She tells this story as illustrative of their relationship: While they were not a poor family, they did not have much money for extra things. Even so, James took Mary Elizabeth to the store to pick out a record to give her mother for a Mother's Day gift. He trusted Mary Elizabeth to carry the record to the car, yet as she walked, bag bouncing off of her knee, the record shattered. She anticipated punishment, but her father recommended that they go back to the store to purchase a replacement. His attitude was, "I can understand how that happened. What can we do differently next time?" Having the consistent experience of being trusted, understood, and given the benefit of the doubt by her father set a foundation upon which Mary Elizabeth has been able to extend to others the same appreciative attention.

In retrospect, Mary Elizabeth notes how her interest in religious education started early in her life. Her mother was a Sunday school teacher, and participating in their church community was always an important part of the Mullino family life. At times, Mary Elizabeth's outgoing and ladylike mother pushed her much more introverted and academic child into leadership roles that called for more extraversion than was comfortable for Mary Elizabeth. Yet, grounded in her mother's love and trusting that her mother would always be there for her, Mary Elizabeth became active in youth ministry, participating in service projects and leading devotionals when she was barely old enough. Despite being shy, Mary Elizabeth eventually became president of her youth group and of the district youth group as well.

Even more than her involvement in her local congregation, the five summers she spent at camp had a formative influence on Mary Elizabeth's sense of vocation. Since she was an only child, Mart Elizabeth's parents worked hard to insure that she could attend the camp. The intense living situation of camp taught her skills for living well with others, including learning to be forgiving of one's self and others, and this resulted in lifelong friendships. As she interacted with people who were different from each other, she practiced loving God and neighbor in the midst of everyday life, a theme that would come to infuse her scholarship many years later. Further, leaders at the camp recognized her gifts and called her to use them in leadership roles, which helped her gain confidence and develop interpersonal skills, and also modeled for her the way in which a community can call forth the gifts of its members, something she would later do as a mentor to graduate students.

Even after starting college, Mary Elizabeth returned to the camp for two summers to serve as a counselor. This is when her work in religious education really began in earnest. As she spent time with the younger campers doing faith sharing, asking hard questions about faith, and leading devotionals, she learned to communicate about faith and life with others, something she would continue to do throughout her career.

Just before she began her undergraduate work, Mary Elizabeth's parents moved to Houston, Texas. Having lost her childhood mooring in Baton Rouge, her life came to feel more nomadic. After spending one year at Emory University, Mary Elizabeth transferred to Southern Methodist University (SMU), where she completed a B.A. in psychology in 1966. Like many undergraduates, Mary Elizabeth was not interested in conventional church programs. More satisfying to her at this time was her involvement in church-sponsored social service work.

Driven by her interest in psychology and a vision that she would one day work as a clinical psychologist, Mary Elizabeth undertook an M.A. in psychology at SMU, which she completed in 1968. Through a series of unforeseen circumstances, including the departure of a few faculty who had included Mary Elizabeth in their research, Mary Elizabeth found herself teaching undergraduate psychology classes and developing a correspondence course in psychology for SMU. These experiences of developing and teaching courses shifted Mary Elizabeth's vocational trajectory, as she discovered her love of teaching,

 After her undergraduate years, Mary Elizabeth married Larry Matthews. When he had finished his law degree at SMU, the couple moved to El Paso, Texas, where Mary Elizabeth gave birth to their two children, Cliff and Rebecca. Initially in El Paso, Mary Elizabeth did not have paid employment, but she had the joy of teaching an adult class at her church there. In continuity with her psychology degrees, she was also a mental health volunteer, and she worked with individual children at a child treatment center and did testing of children referred to a children's guidance center. As if this was not enough to keep the young mother of two busy, she also volunteered at Casa Blanca Halfway House and later became the chairperson of the Board of Managers and member of the Advisory Council from 1969-1973. In these roles, she helped to set policies, raise money, and stabilize finances for the Halfway House, as well as playing a major role in reorganizing, relocating, and redesigning it.

During this period, Mary Elizabeth and her husband divorced and she became a single mother. At this crossroads, she knew it was time to think about what she would do with the rest of her life. While working full time as a youth minister at a church in El Paso and raising her children, she entered into an intentional process of vocational discernment. The church for which she worked gave her two weeks off each summer in order to do training. With her children at their grandparents' house and Mary Elizabeth paying her own way, she took a two week intensive course in Christian education at Perkins School of Theology. At this course she met Christian educators from all over the country and consulted with pastoral care faculty about the possibility of doing a PhD in pastoral care.

It was during a communion service in the Perkins chapel that summer that Mary Elizabeth felt herself called to ministry (not for the first time). In the past, she had not been exposed to any images of women in ministry upon which to base her own image. While receiving the communion bread and wine from an ordained female minister, who had also presided over the service, Mary Elizabeth felt overwhelmed. God was directly communicating to her in that moment that ordained ministry was her calling. In retrospect, she recognized that she had ignored previous calls into ministry and that much of her past had prepared her for this moment. She discerned that she was called to ordained ministry and academic study and believed that pastoral theology would be her academic home.

Since Claremont School of Theology had been recommended for her consideration, Mary Elizabeth went there the following summer to take courses, at which time she applied for the doctoral program, which she began a few months later. During her first semester, she realized that pastoral theology was not the right place for her and that her passion for psychology and theology was permeated with educational values. It was in that time that she finally and officially took on the mantle of religious education.

Life at Claremont proved to be full and life-changing. In January 1976, Mary Elizabeth married Allen Moore, who taught at Claremont, and the two blended their families so that Mary Elizabeth became a stepmother to Allen's children—Nan, Joyce, and Glenda—and Allen became a stepfather to Cliff and Rebecca. In her studies at Claremont, Mary Elizabeth first completed an M.A. in religious education in 1977 and then a PhD in theology and education in 1981. Taking education courses at Claremont Graduate University and doing work in systematic theology allowed Mary Elizabeth to keep religious education in conversation with education and theology, an intersectional location that would continue to serve as a unique location for her scholarship.  Process theologian John Cobb was her doctoral father, and Paul Irwin, a retired professor of religious education, also served on her committee. When she finished her dissertation, Allen convinced her to send it to a publisher, knowing that women in theological schools faced an uphill battle for jobs and promotion. Women needed to be published even more so than their male colleagues to promote their marketability and job stability. Mary Elizabeth sent her dissertation to Abingdon Press, and they agreed to publish it as it was in 1983 under the title Education for Continuity and Change: A New Model for Christian Religious Education. In 1989, Chung Kuhn Lee translated the book into Korean and thus introduced her traditioning model in the Korean context.

 After finishing her PhD, Mary Elizabeth taught for two years at Claremont School of Theology as an instructor before being hired as an assistant professor of religious education. Over the next eighteen years, Mary Elizabeth was promoted to associate professor and then given tenure as a full professor in 1987. During her tenure at Claremont, Mary Elizabeth served as advisor for over thirty PhD dissertations, including projects undertaken by religious educators Eun Mi Paik, Dean Blevins, Randy Litchfield, Beverly Johnson-Miller, Alan Smith, and Yolanda Smith. She also served the school in a variety of capacities that demonstrated her academic and church-related passions. For instance, she served as the co-chair of the Eco-Justice Coordinating Council from 1994-1999 and as the chair of the Curriculum Revision Committee from 1987-1989. Additionally, she held church liaison roles for Ecumenical and Interreligious Concerns and for Diaconal Ministry, and she planned conferences on religious pluralism and the common good, pedagogy for a just and sustainable world, and the minister as teacher in a broken world, among others. Despite the challenges that she and Allen faced as married faculty in the same field, with he being a senior faculty when she was a junior faculty, and then he being Dean when she was a tenured faculty, those who knew them in that environment would agree that they handled the situation with poise and grace. Further, despite the difficulties for women in theological education at the time, Mary Elizabeth was not only a survivor in the academy but someone who contributed immensely to the lives of her students and her school.  

Two particular contributions to the academic community at Claremont stand out, both of which signal important commitments of Mary Elizabeth's scholarship. First, Mary Elizabeth was heavily involved in the school's Center for Process Studies, a faculty center of Claremont School of Theology in association with Department of Religion at Claremont Graduate University, which promotes "a relational worldview for the common good" by its encouragement of "exploration of the relevance of process thought to many fields of reflection and action" (Center for Process Studies, 2012). She was a Center co-director from 1990-1999, working with others to sponsor conferences and seminars each year, and she then served on its board after she departed from Claremont.

Second, when Allen retired from Claremont after teaching for thirty-one years and serving as the dean for the last seven, Mary Elizabeth worked with other faculty to start a multicultural center that was named for Allen. From 1993-1999, Mary Elizabeth served as the Allen J. Moore Multicultural Resource and Research Center's co-founder and co-chair. Her work there involved developing a collection and access system for multicultural and culture-specific ministry resources, publishing resources for theological education and religious communities, sponsoring research, and publishing a Center newsletter. When the Moores left California for Georgia a few years later, Elizabeth Conde Frazier, her husband, and several other faculty worked to develop the Center further.

In 1999, Mary Elizabeth left Claremont to take a position at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, in Atlanta, Georgia, as professor of religion and education and as the director of the Women in Theology and Ministry Center (WTM). Likely because administrative positions like this often are seen as second class work in the academy, it had been difficult for the school to find someone to head up this program. Yet Mary Elizabeth was attracted by the potential of the program and thought it would be worth the risk. Under her leadership, the WTM program thrived, hosting the Annual Women's Forum from 2001-2009; six to twelve community-wide events per year; and smaller events geared specifically to address the needs of Candler's women students. Mary Elizabeth also left her mark on the WTM program by instituting a research agenda. As one example, with funding from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, Mary Elizabeth served as the principal investigator of the Oral History Project, which collected the oral histories of women who had had an influence on church or society. In addition to her WTM work, Mary Elizabeth actively nurtured a new generation of women religious educators and practical theologians, serving as the advisor to the dissertation projects of Renee Harrison, Jennie Knight, Heejung Kwon, and Almeda Wright and as a committee member for projects by Claire Bischoff, Courtney Goto, and Veronice Miles. In addition to her advising on dissertations, Mary Elizabeth's Moore's writing has been a significant influence on numerous other PhD dissertations and Doctor of Ministry theses, including the work of religious educations Narola Ao McFayden and Cindy-Lee Kissel-Ito.

While at Candler School of Theology, Mary Elizabeth also lived out her commitment to supporting the thriving of women through multiple forms of service to the institution. She was an associated faculty of the Women's Studies department from 2003-2008; assisted on the committee for Women's History Month from 1999-2008; and served on the President's Commission on the Status of Women from 2002-2005. Her dedication to environmental justice was also evident, as she served on the University Sustainability Committee and the Committee on Environmental Stewardship from 1999-2004. Finally, in cooperation with the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, Mary Elizabeth planned and co-hosted the 2006 conference on "Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World," which, among other things, resulted in a collection of essays by the same name, co-edited with Almeda Wright and published by Chalice Press (2008).

After having been at Candler for a number of years, Mary Elizabeth began to discern another element to her calling—to help shape the future of graduate theological education. In January 2009, Mary Elizabeth was installed as the Dean of the School of Theology (STH), Boston University (BU), after a long period of transition for the school during which it had been led by an interim dean and had gone through a first strategic planning process. As Mary Elizabeth describes it, her first role as Dean was to listen carefully to the visions and hopes of the faculty, encourage the creativity that was already in the air, and lead an extensive strategic planning process. Further, she sought to provide administrative support to curricular revisions and the strengthening of creative pedagogy, faculty research and scholarship, doctoral programs, cultural diversity, library innovation, and fund-raising.

Characteristic of Mary Elizabeth's leadership during these first years was her commitment to keeping decision-making firmly in the hands of the faculty, while doing much of the planning and legwork herself and with other administrators, in order to support faculty who were carrying their important roles in teaching, research, and leadership, plus the creative, demanding work of re-visioning and change. An important outcome of Mary Elizabeth's visioning leadership has been embedding ongoing assessment of the mission and work of STH in the life of the institution. Additionally, under Mary Elizabeth's leadership, the faculty has developed a new comprehensive approach to contextual education, a new program in lifelong learning, and an even richer approach to community life, aided by the hiring of an Associate Dean for Community Life and Lifelong Learning and two Directors of Contextual Education. Mary Elizabeth and the faculty also instituted a review of the doctoral programs at STH, which resulted in the design and implementation of a reshaped PhD in Theological Studies, paired with BU’s PhD in Religious Studies in a partnership of overlapping faculty. The new PhD is smaller with larger doctoral stipends, enhanced doctoral mentoring in teaching and research, and a vital collaborative structure and spirit.

In addition to serving as a midwife for a new vision for STH, a crucial component of Mary Elizabeth's leadership as Dean has been supporting the faculty and fostering their development. She meets with each faculty member on an annual basis and reads their written work in order to foster her personal relationships with them. She has also worked on structural supports for faculty, including developing a Faculty Handbook; establishing a mentoring program for pre-tenure and clinical faculty; and supporting faculty research through increasing research funds, supporting and co-writing research grants, providing course releases, and creating and supporting venues for research sharing.

Alongside creating a fecund environment for faculty scholarship and teaching, Mary Elizabeth has provided academic and structural leadership. On the academic front, she has supported administrators and faculty in revising the MDiv, MTS, and Masters of Sacred Music programs and has provided programming, communications, fund-raising, and grant writing support to undergird existing Centers (Anna Howard Shaw, Global Christianity and Mission Center, and Practical Theology) and to create new programs, such as Religion and Conflict Transformation, Homiletical Theology, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Initiative for the Development of Ethical Leadership. Structurally, in addition to implementing changes to better support faculty and staff, Mary Elizabeth has restructured the administration to improve efficiency in the daily conduct of the school and has been able, with others, to address the challenge that the cost of housing poses for recruitment and retention of students by creating three intentional living communities, working to develop a long-term plan for rental apartments close to campus, and increasing endowment funding dedicated to defraying housing costs.

 A final mark of Mary Elizabeth's leadership at STH is her commitment to building relationships. She has worked hard to build faculty and staff relationships, from increasing structural support to hosting social gatherings. In order to build up relationships with alumni/ae, Mary Elizabeth visits with close to 200 alumni each year, hosting many of them in her home and at STH events; attends church and professional conferences where alums gather; and communicates with granting agencies, efforts that have resulted in an increase in annual giving each year of her tenure as Dean. She also continually looks beyond STH to build relationships across BU and within the Boston Theological Initiative. Through her continued active involvement in her annual conference, she strengthens ties with the United Methodist Church, and she connects with other church bodies by attending their judicatory events. Finally, Mary Elizabeth seeks to build relationships globally by encouraging faculty and administrators in their global relationships, building academic partnership with universities and international agencies, and collaborating herself with colleagues from 13 countries. At the time of this writing in 2014, Mary Elizabeth still is serving as Dean at the School of Theology, Boston University.

In addition to her illustrious teaching and leadership career that has led to her influence on the work of countless religious education scholars and practitioners in the United States and abroad, Mary Elizabeth has served the academy, in general, and the work of religious education, more specifically, in several other significant ways. First, Mary Elizabeth is a prolific author in the areas of religious education and practical theology. She is the solo author of five books: Education for Continuity and Change: A Traditioning Model for Christian Religious Education (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), which was also published in a Korean language edition in 1991; Teaching from the Heart: Theology and Educational Method (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1991), which was published in a Korean language edition in 1998; Ministering with the Earth (St. Louis: Chalice, 1998); Covenant and Call (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, UMC, 2000); and Teaching as a Sacramental Act (Cleveland: Pilgrim, 2004). She co-authored another book, Called to Serve: The United Methodist Diaconate (Nashville: Board of Higher Education and Ministry, 1987), writing with Rosemary Keller and Gerald Moede. She is the editor of A Living Tradition: Critical Recovery and Reconstruction of Wesleyan Traditions (Nashville: Kingswood Books, Abingdon, 2013); co-editor with Chris Hermans of Hermeneutics and Empirical Research in Practical Theology: The Contribution of Empirical Theology by Johannes A. Van der Ven. (Leuven: Brill, 2005); and co-editor with Almeda Wright of Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World (St. Louis: Chalice, 2008).

But her published books are just the tip of the iceberg of Mary Elizabeth's academic and church-resource publishing. She has authored no fewer than fifty chapters in books that have been published in Austria, Canada, England, Germany, India, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United States on subjects including Wesleyan spirituality and theology, feminist theology and religious education, youth ministry, teaching for justice, and imagining peace. She has authored, either alone or with colleagues, over thirty-five academic articles, in journals such as Quarterly Review, Process Studies, International Journal of Practical Theology, and over ten articles in Religious Education. Committed to bringing her academic voice to a broader constituency, Mary Elizabeth has authored numerous articles for church and popular audiences, including over twenty-five pieces in Creative Transformations, a quarterly journal of process-themed essays, liturgies, and reflections, along with poetry and church curriculum resources.

Second, Mary Elizabeth actively has cultivated and contributed to a robust conversation in international practical theology and lived her loyalty to her vision of the interconnections at the heart of reality as a "global academic." She has been a leader in the International Academy of Practical Theology, beginning her membership in 1993 and eventually serving as Vice-President from 1997-1999 and President from 1999-2001. She has also been a member of La Societe Internationale de Theologie Pratique and the International Seminar in Religious Education and Values since 1998. In addition to working as the English Co-Editor of the International Journal of Practical Theology from 2002-2010, she has also served on the editorial boards of the British Journal of Religious Education (2003 – present), the Journal of Religious Education (Australia, 1998-present), and the  International Journal of Education and Religion (1999-2004). Because of her reputation, Mary Elizabeth has served as a visiting scholar at Kings College, London; University of Melbourne, Australia; and Trinity College, New Zealand, and has done presentations at academic assemblies and seminars in at least 12 countries worldwide.

Closer to home, Mary Elizabeth has been a consistent presence in the academic societies related to religious education in the United States. Before their merger, Mary Elizabeth served as the President and Chair of the Board for the Religious Education Association from 1989-1994 and as the President-Elect (1995-1997) and the President of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education in 1997-1998. Since their merger into REA: Association of Professors, Professionals, and Researchers in Religious Education, Mary Elizabeth has served in various roles, including a board member from 2005-2006 and the co-chair of the religious education and public life forum from 2004-2005. Mary Elizabeth has also been a member of the United Methodist Association of Scholars in Christian Education since 1978, serving as its president in 1982-1984, and has served on the board of directors for the Christian Educators of the 20th Century Project from 2003 through to its completion in 2014.

Third, as a testament to her academic location at the intersection of education and theology, Mary Elizabeth has filled the roles of the President-Elect (1996-1998) and President (1998-2002) of the Association of Practical Theology; member of the board of trustees for the Association of Process Philosophy of Education beginning in 1996; and a long-time member of the editorial board of Process Studies. She is a longstanding member of the American Academy of Religion, and was active in the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality from 1990-1998. She has exercised leadership in the Association of Theological Schools, serving on the Committee on Scholarship and Research from 1986-1991; the Lilly Faculty Grants Program from 1996-2000; the Incarnating Globalization Project: Theological and Educational Consultant Team from1996-1999; and an Accreditation Team in 2011, and she is currently serving on the Presentational Intensive Leadership Team.

Finally, even with all of her responsibilities to the academy, Mary Elizabeth has never forgotten her calling to ordained ministry and has proffered great service to the United Methodist Church. She was first certified as a Director of Christian Education in 1977, the same year she was consecrated as a Diaconal Minister. In 1997, she was ordained as a deacon in the United Methodist Church. She has consulted with United Methodist boards in areas of educational  theory, spirituality, ministry, theological education, continuing education and values education, as well as providing consultation to local churches in theology, educational ministry, and spirituality. She has been a long-time member of the editorial board of Kingswood Books, a division of Abingdon Press that publishes books on Methodist historical and theological traditions.

From early in her career, Mary Elizabeth has been heavily involved in the regional and national structures of the United Methodist Church. This service has included membership on the Futures Council of the General Council on Ministries from 1984-1988 and serving as a consultant and representative on the Board of Higher Education and Ministry, a division of Diaconal Ministry, from 1992-1994. She was a delegate to the General Conference of the UMC in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 and to the Jurisdictional Conference in 1984, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, and 2012. She has served as the Secretary of Ministry Legislative Committee of the General Conference in 1992; the Secretary of Faith and Order Legislative Committee of the General Conference in 2000; and the Chair of the Faith and Order Legislative Committee of the General Conference in 2008. Additionally, she has served on the Commission on the Status and Role of Women, Pacific and Southwest Annual Conference from 1988-1992; the Board of Ordained Ministry, California-Pacific Annual Conference from 1996-2004; the Board of Diaconal Ministry, California-Pacific (formerly Pacific &Southwest) Annual Conference from 1977-1984 (chairperson from 1980-1984) and 1992-1996, seeking to support, guide, and advocate for diaconal ministries in the UMC.

Her involvement with the United Methodist Church also has taken on a global component through her involvement in the Oxford Institute in Methodist Studies, whose mission, according to their website is to "to foster and support disciplined theological study among professional scholars and scholarly ministers and laypersons within the Methodist and Wesleyan traditions around the globe, with a goal of undergirding and enriching the ministry of these traditions in their global settings." In 1983, 1987, 1992, 1997, 2002, and 2013, Mary Elizabeth was a delegate to the extended residential institute, which is currently held every five years at Oxford University. She was also on the Executive Committee for the Institute from 1992 to 2002 and co-chair of the Contextual Theology group in 1996-1997. In 1981 and 1986, she was a World Methodist Conference Delegate, which brings together representatives from over eighty Methodist church bodies from around the globe.

Given her track record of dedicated service to the institutions in which she serves and the United Methodist Church, as well as her immense gifts as a teacher and scholar, there certainly are more chapters of this biography that will need to be written as Mary Elizabeth lives the future seasons of her life.

WORKS CITED

Personal interviews with Mary Elizabeth Moore conducted by the author in 2013.                               

The Center for Process Studies. About the center. (2012). Retrieved from: http://www.ctr4process.org/about/general.shtml.

The Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies. Retrieved from http://oxford-institute.org/.

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Contributions to Christian Education

 In reflecting on the life and work of Mary Elizabeth Mullino Moore, one word comes to mind: integrity. In her academic writing, she integrates theology and education and demonstrates the importance of a two-way conversation between these fields in which each is shaped by the other. Further, throughout her writing corpus, Moore embodies the very commitments and methodologies for which she is arguing. In her teaching practice, Moore integrates content and pedagogy, insuring, again, that each mutually informs the other for the sake of strengthening the students' learning experiences. Perhaps most importantly, in the work of living her life, Moore practices integrity of belief and action. This, in turn, leads back to the integrity of theory and action that marks all of her work; she is an erudite scholar with a passion for insuring that theory touches the ground of practice and that practice cycles back to inform theory in a dance that ultimately contributes to tikkun olam, a repair of the world. There is a whole and undivided nature to her work and life that defies easy summary, yet for the sake of clarity, separate elements of her contributions to the field of religious education are elucidated below. While doing so goes against the very interconnectedness of her work, I highlight four of her major contributions to the field in relation to her four major published works.

A Visionary for Integrated Religious Education

With her first major book, Education for Continuity and Change (1983), Mary Elizabeth Moore established herself as a creative visionary in religious education, presenting, in the words of one reviewer "a truly innovative model of Christian religious education" (Albers, 1984, p. 220). In this work, Moore takes on the dualism between education for passing on the tradition and education for promoting transformation that troubles much religious education. To move beyond this dualism, Moore proposes a model of traditioning education, a model that incorporates both education for continuity and education for change. Moore understands there to be two foundations of traditioning education. The first is the community, which has the tasks of interpreting and transforming itself. As an interpreting community, it examines the past, present, and future of the faith tradition in light of the best knowledge of people, the world, and the church. As a transforming community, it acts in the church and the world toward the promise of the kingdom of God. The second foundation of traditioning education is the person, who Moore understands as always in process (drawing particularly on the process thought of George Herbert Mead and Alfred North Whitehead); internally related to the world, other people, and God; and able to act and to be acted upon.

Based on these two foundations, Moore writes that traditioning education involves people in the life of the faith tradition through interpretation and transformation, with the past, present, and hoped for future of the community of faith serving as the content of the education. The aims Moore envisions for traditioning education are to pass on the tradition, to enable individuals to interpret their experiences, and to open the possibility of change in the self, the church, and the world.

Yet Moore does not offer only a systematic, academic articulation of this inventive and creative model of religious education. As is characteristic of most work in Moore's written corpus, after unfolding the traditioning model of education, she concludes the book by examining this traditioning model in process, addressing especially what educational practice and curriculum look like in this new model. As such, she ends with practical concerns and implications of her vision, insuring that her reconceptualization of religious education will be more than an exercise in abstract and utopian thinking. Here she explicates her own traditioning model by returning to the two tasks of the traditioning community, interpreting and transforming, to ask the hermeneutical question of why we do religious education and then the transformative question of how we do it. As Mary Boys writes in her review of Education for Continuity and Change, "[The final chapter] represents a fine extrapolation of the work of the so-called curriculum reconceptualists" (1983, p. 582).

 In this work, we begin to see methods, characteristics, and themes that will be carried throughout Moore's career both in her writing and her teaching. Methodologically, Moore gives careful attention to the past and present in order to discern directions for the future. In this book, this takes the shape of her careful consideration of the continuity/change debate in religious education and her ability to draw from this debate conclusions that inform a new vision for religious education. As Boys writes, "Her ability both to assimilate insights from multiple perspectives and to extend and enhance previous positions by explicating specific proposals for the reformulation of educational theory and practice" is one characteristic that makes her writing such an important contribution to our field (p. 581). Further, Moore's trinitarian-inspired ability and commitment to hold together past, present, and future is a significant theme in all of her writing, and one that in this work enables her to overcome the dualism of tradition and transformation that has so often beset religious education.

This book also demonstrates the beginning stages of the contribution Moore has made of putting process thought into conversation with religious education. Her theological anthropology draws heavily on a process view of the person, leading her to the metaphor of the person at an intersection who must "rely on past knowledge and experience, concentrate on the present existential situation with its multiple decisions, and keep an eye on the future to anticipate the possibilities and potential" (Albers, p. 222). This theological anthropology clearly implies the need for Christian education to attend with equal care to the past, present, and future of human experience. Further, Moore's attention to process thought undergirds her commitment to inclusivity and overwhelming concern for education that promotes living well in ecumenical, interreligious, intercultural, interdisciplinary, international, and intergenerational relationships. In Education for Continuity and Change, we see this commitment in her sensitivity to cross-cultural issues and global concerns, as well as in her methodological choice to hold theology, anthropology, and sociology together to inform her understanding of religious education.

Bridging Education and Theology

 Moore's second major work, Teaching from the Heart (1991), more profoundly demonstrates the contribution she has made to deepening the dialogue between process theology and religious education. It also makes a signal contribution to the field of religious education in that it moves beyond a commonly accepted and practiced understanding of the relation between theology and education in which theology simply provides concepts to be taught. Moore uses the metaphor of writing "on the bridge between the lands of educational method and theology" to describe what she desires to do in this book in terms of promoting a two-way conversation that can serve the betterment of both process theology and educational method (1991, p. 5). As one reviewer notes, "By suggesting that theologians have something to learn from educators about theology Moore has pointed the way toward a fruitful conversation that needs to be broadened and continued" (Holder, 1992, p. 513).

Moore begins Teaching from the Heart by noting that education and theology do not talk with each other as much as we might assume or as might be useful for both fields of study, and her passion for promoting connection, which itself stems from her commitments to process thought and education, fuels her ambitious project here. She engages process theology because it is an organic theology that focuses on the ongoing process of reality and holds together the sacred and the secular, along with the past, present, and future, and thus is useful to any education that wishes to promote a connectedness of thought and students' ability to integrate education with life. She engages educational method, at least in part, because of the way that it often has been problematically utilized in education, as an after-thought to decisions about subject matter. Moore contends that methodological considerations come "before, during, and after the identification of subject matter" (p. 19) to promote a "systematic approach for reaching a goal or doing inquiry into an area of study" (p. 20). While Moore makes this argument in theory here, anyone who has served as a teaching assistant with Moore can attest to the fact that she also lives this approach to method in her teaching. Planning sessions for class always are, of necessity, circular under Moore's guidance, to insure that content and process inform each other in a dance of mutuality.

 In the chapters that follow, Moore considers five educational methods: (1) case study method, in which students learn to see more in the particular; (2) gesalt method, which exposes students to a variety of elements in order that they might seek unity among them; (3) phenomenological method, which promotes the importance of listening, observing, and dialogue; (4) narrative method, a relational form of teaching that invites learners to engage the imagination; and (5) conscientization method, which focuses on the naming and transforming of oppressive social realities. In these chapters, Moore accomplishes her three-fold purpose "to focus on forms of educational method as they are currently understood and practiced, to focus on process theology as a theological system, and to begin a dialogue between educational method and theology that might transform them both" (p. 11). She does this by structuring each chapter thus: describing the educational method and its purposes, benefits, and disadvantages; articulating the process concepts that resonate with the particular educational method; and revisioning both the educational method and the process theology concepts in light of each other. In so doing, Moore provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of educational method in the field of religious education.

The concluding chapter of the book stands as an extended meditation on the metaphor of "teaching from the heart" and conveys Moore's passion for the art of teaching that is evident to all those who have been her students or served as co-teachers with her. Just as the heart is part of an elaborative system in the body that delivers energy, teaching has to do with the sending forth of energy and receiving what has been de-energized back in order to re-energize it. Teaching from the heart means sharing the self, getting to the heart of critical issues, and integrating mind, emotions, and body. Ultimately, teaching from the heart is reverent teaching that both evidences and promotes the revering of God, other, self, and relationships; that celebrates the holy vocation of teaching and the process of education itself; and that inspires us "to revere the ordinary so much that it becomes extraordinarily ordinary" (p. 224).

Not as immediately evident to the world of religious education is the contribution that this book makes to the field of process studies. As Moore's mentor and major thinker in the world of process theology, John Cobb, writes in his review of Teaching from the Heart, "This book is a major advance both in relating Whitehead to education and in modeling a truly Whiteheadian way for testing his thought" (1999, p. 143). In other words, Moore lives into Whitehead's invitation to test his thought in relation to all fields of inquiry by taking process thought to five separate methods of education in order to see both how Whiteheadian thought informs these methods and how it needs to be modified in light of these methods. As Cobb concludes, "To my knowledge, no one else has modeled Whitehead’s methodology so fully" (p. 144).

Beyond so fully embodying the structure of process thought in her work, Moore also offers an important challenge to process thought. In dealing concretely with the intersections of process thought and educational methods, Moore critiques process thought for utilizing overly generalized categories that do not meet people's lived experience. As Cobb concludes, "Moore's criticisms are of the failure of those in the process community to develop relevant and useful theories through interaction with the concrete material in various fields" (p. 145). As is not surprising for someone's whose writing on theology and education is so thoroughly grounded in the particulars of practice and everyday life, Moore ultimately calls process theology to become a practical theology, the type of theology that she so expertly articulates in her work.

Tikkun Olam, Repair of the World

In her third major book, Ministering with the Earth (1998), Moore most explicitly demonstrates her commitment to tikkun olam, a Hebrew phrase meaning "repair of the world," a commitment that always grounds her excellent scholarly work in practical concern. Moore states the purpose of this book thus: "to reflect on action for the sake of action, particularly to reflect on acts of ministry for the sake of projecting a new vision of ministering with the earth" (p. xii). The book takes its heart from Moore's process-inspired sense of the interconnection and mutual responsibility human beings experience in relation to the rest of the created world. Throughout Moore draws on stories of action as sources of inspiration toward her metaphorical project of assembling a quilt of sacrality, with chapters focusing on the sacredness of hopes, creation, meetings, confrontation, journeys, partners, and vocation. As one reviewer summarizes, "Within these themes, Moore explores the many ways in which our faith story and images of God fashion and direct our understanding of, and regard for, creation and, in turn, the ways in which our experiences of creation can shape our knowing of God" (Harrison, 2001, p. 99). Perhaps more than any other religious educator, Moore has demonstrated here how the context of our work must be the earth upon which we live. She has sounded the call that all of our ministry, including our teaching ministry, needs to inspire a sense of holy connectedness between human beings and the rest of the created order, for the good of ourselves, the world in which we live, and ultimately our relationship to God.

Because of the interconnected way in which Moore sees the world, she draws on biblical, historical, and poetic texts; philosophical, theological, and scientific ideas; and autobiographical stories, stories of others' actions, and the story of the earth and cosmos in order to convict the reader of our essential connection to the earth and to inspire (really, in-Spirit) work from this essential connection as "the context for all our acts of ministry" (Ballinger, 2001). Further, along the way, the reader encounters specific details about how Moore's vision of "God-centered, earthbound ministry" can be put into practice "on the ground," details that suggest future action for repairing the earth. In the end, Moore does not call only for ministry for the earth, in which human beings strive to take better care of the sacred ground upon which we walk, but also ministry with the earth, in which the created order is our partner not only in shaping us but also working with us to fashion God's kingdom on earth.

One of the broader gifts of Ministering with the Earth is the way in which Moore contributes to practical theology through it. First, she brings a concern for the earth to the center of practical theology by demonstrating that the context of all of theology and ministry must be "God-centered, earthbound." Moore makes it clear that ecological concerns cannot be separated from social, political, and economic justice concerns; we must always look for the connections among the many. Second, Moore demonstrates through her skilled and sensitive analysis and writing that stories need to be taken seriously as texts from which wisdom can be drawn. For instance, in the first chapter, after telling stories her experience at Girl Scout Camp, the creation of the cosmos, and the degradation of the earth, Moore not only lifts up insights from each of the individual stories but is able to draw from their intersections eight affirmations about the relationships between God, human beings, and the earth. This is just one example of Moore's ability to see connections across seemingly disparate resources in order to draw wisdom for repair of the world, an ability that challenges an overall tendency in academic writing to see things separately in order to tear them down. At the heart of reality, Moore sees mutual interconnections, and it is in living into and from these interconnections that Moore sees hope for the future. In a way that is truly remarkable in the academy, Moore's methodological framework arises from, mirrors, and responds to her deep sense of interconnectedness and awakens us to an alternative way of thinking that can help train us to see things together for the good of ourselves and our world.

Sacred Teaching  

In her first published book, Moore marked herself as a visionary in religious education in her articulation of a traditioning model of religious education that overcomes the dualism between education for continuity and education for change. In Teaching as a Sacramental Act, Moore takes on even more trenchant and wide-reaching dualisms between "worship and education, sacredness and secularity, belief and action, spirituality and social witness" (2004, p. 7) in making her claim for teaching as a sacramental act. Based on the grounding assumptions that "God is the primary Teacher and that God's creation is a source for learning" (p. 6), Moore argues, "The central assertion of this book is that religious teaching needs to be re-visioned as sacred teaching—mediating the Holy. The more specific assertion is that Christian teaching needs to be envisioned as sacramental, with the purpose of mediating God, and with approaches that mediate God's grace and God's call to the human community for the sake of human sanctification and creation's well-being" (p. 5). This idea of sacramental teaching comes in response to the two central questions that spur this book: What is the nature of Christian vocation? What kind of teaching is needed to inspire and equip people toward this vocation? (p. 2) It also reinforces Moore's strong conviction that it is in the "concrete stuff of creation"—through our connections with people and the earth, through our practices, through our stories—that God's grace is mediated to human beings (p. 10). Connected with her concern for tikkun olam, Moore's ultimate goal is that sacramental teaching equip people for sacramental living, in which our very lives "mediate divine grace in the church and world" (p. 22). Through this book, Moore offers religious educators the great gift of poetically and intellectually putting into words what we have always known: that our work is holy work.

 In the middle chapters of the book, Moore names six acts of sacramental teaching: expect the unexpected, remember the dismembered, seek reversals, give thanks, nourish new life, and reconstruct community and repair the world. In exploring these acts of sacramental teaching, Moore's methodology once again showcases the overarching commitments of her scholarly career, her commitments to stories, the wisdom found in stories, the wisdom found in Christian tradition, putting theology and education in context and in conversation, and insuring that academic work touches ground through practical implications. In the end, this book takes seriously the theological foundation of the teaching vocation in a way that is not typical of other works in the field.

It is one thing to write about overcoming dualisms; it is quite another to put this integrated living into practice, and yet, this is exactly what Moore has done in her teaching career. Students who have taken courses with Moore have lived the content of a course through its pedagogy and learned pedagogy through its content. And they have experienced the melting away of distinctions between worship and education, as the education process itself, guided by Moore, brings them face-to-face with the divine within each other and their world. If the spiritual journey is about coming to see God in all things and thus serving God in all things, Moore has made her contribution to this vision through inspired and inspiring writing, teaching, and living that calls all who encounter her words to follow her example.  

Works Cited

Albers, R. H. (1984). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M.E. Moore]. Word & World, 4(2), 220.

Ballinger, Phillip. (2001). [Review of Ministering with the Earth, by M.E. Moore]. Catholic Issues.

Boys, M. C. (1983). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M.E. Moore]. Religious Education, 78(4), 581.

Cobb, J. (1999). [Review of the book Teaching from the heart: theology and educational method, by M.E. Moore]. Process Studies, 28(1-2), 143-145.

Harrison, O. (2001). [Review of the book Ministering with the earth, by M.E. Moore]. Encounter, 62(1), 98-100.

Holder, A. G. (1992). [Review of the book Teaching from the heart: theology and educational method, by M.E. Moore]. Anglican Theological Review, 74(4), 512-514.

Moore, M.E. (1983). Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Moore, M.E. (1991). Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Ministering with the Earth. St. Louis: Chalice Press.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Teaching as a Sacramental Act. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press.

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Bibliography

Books:

Moore, M.E. (1983). Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

Moore, M.E., Keller, R., & Moede, G. (1987). Called to serve: The United Methodist diaconate. Nashville: Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

Moore, M.E. (1989). Telling stories and crossing boundaries. In C. A. Howe (Ed.), Unitarian Universalism, 1988 (pp. 25-41). Boston: Unitarian Universality Ministers Association.

Moore, M.E. (1991). Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. (Korean language edition, transl., Tai Hyun Chang. Seoul, 1998).

Moore, M.E. (1998). Ministering with the Earth. St. Louis: Chalice Press.

Moore, M.E. (2000). Covenant and call. Nashville: Discipleship Resources, UMC.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Teaching as a Sacramental Act. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press.

Moore, M.E., & Hermans, C. (Eds.) (2005). Hermeneutics and empirical research in practical theology: The contribution of empirical theology by Johannes A. Van der Ven. Leuven: Brill.

Moore, M.E., & Wright, A. (Eds.) (2008). Children, youth, and spirituality in a troubling world. St. Louis: Chalice.

Moore, M.E. (Ed.) (2013). A living tradition: Critical recovery and reconstruction of Wesleyan traditions. Nashville: Kingswood Books, Abingdon.

Resource Books:

Moore, M.E., Dorff, E.N., Ellwood, R., & Osman, F. (1991). Teaching about world religions: A teacher's supplement, eds. Alfred Wolf and Robert Ellwood. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Moore, M.E., Brockman, J., & Smith, Y. (Eds.) (1995). Resources for sacred teaching. Claremont, CA: Moore Multicultural Resource and Research Center.

Moore, M.E., & Parachin, J. (Eds.) (1997). Resources for sacred teaching II. Claremont, CA: Moore Multicultural Resource and Research Center.

Moore, M.E., with Candler Students. (2002). Gatherings: Resources for ministry with women. Atlanta, GA: Women in Theology and Ministry, Candler School of Theology.

Chapters in Books:

Moore, M.E., & Moore, A. (1982). The transforming church: Education for a life style of discipleship. In A living witness to oikodome: Essavs in honor of Ronald E. Osborn (pp. 50-69). Claremont, CA: Disciples Seminary Foundation.

Moore, M.E. (1983). Questioning assumptions: God, goodness, and human nature. In D. Joy (Ed.), Moral development foundations. Nashville: Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1985). Wesleyan spirituality: Meeting contemporary movements. In T. Runyan (Ed.), Wesleyan theology today (pp. 291-298). Nashville: Kingswood Books, Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1987). Commentary on gospel agenda in global context. In A. F. Evans, R. A. Evans, & W. B. Kennedy (Eds.), Pedagogies for the non-poor (pp. 209-212). Maryknoll, NY: Orbis.

Moore, M.E. (1988). Meeting in the silence: Meditation at the center of congregational life. In E. Nelson (Ed.), Congregations: Their power to form and transform. Atlanta: John Knox.

Moore, M.E. (1989). Women and men in the social order. In A. J. Moore (Ed.), Religious education as social transformation. Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press.

Moore, M.E. (1990). Feminist theology and education. In  J. L. Seymour & D. E. Miller (Eds.), Theological approaches to Christian education. Nashville: Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1991). Our teaching task: Doing theology. In E. B. Price & C. R. Foster (Eds.), By what authority: A conversation on teaching among United Methodists (pp. 92-124). Nashville: Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1991). The style and substance of United Methodist theology in transition. In T. A. Langford (Ed.), Doctrine and theology in the United Methodist Church. Nashville:Kingswood Books, Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1993). Education in congregational context. In D. S. Schuller (Ed.), Rethinking Christian education: Explorations in theory and practice (pp. 31-46). St. Louis: Chalice.

Moore, M.E., & Moore, A.J. (1993). Denominational identity and the church school—Teasing out a relationship. In J. W. Carroll, & W. C. Roof (Eds.), Beyond establishment: Protestant identity in a post-Protestant age (pp. 54-73). Louisville: Westminster/John Knox.

Moore, M.E. (1993). One Spirit-many stories: Contemporary laywomen share their vocational visions. In R. S. Keller (Ed.), Spirituality and social responsibility. Nashville: Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1995). Feminist practical theology and the future of the church. In H. Heidenreich, & and R. Schmidt-Rost (Eds.), Pastoral-theologische informationen: The struggles over the future of the church (pp, 163-184). Mainz: Pastoraltheologische Informationen.

Moore, M.E. (1996). The unity of the sacred and the public: Possibilities from feminist theology. In J. Astley, L. J. Francis, & C. Crowder (Eds.), Theological perspectives on Christian formation: A reader on theology and Christian education (pp. 201-215). Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1996.

Moore, M.E., & Smith, Y. (1997). Olivia Pearl Stokes: A living testimony of faith. In B. A. Keely (Ed.), Faith of our foremothers: Women changing religious education (pp. 100-120). Louisville: Westminster/John Knox.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Trinity and covenantal ministry: Theology of ministry reconsidered. In R. L. Maddox (Ed.), Rethinking Wesley's theology for contemporary Methodism (pp, 143-160). Nashville: Kingswood Books, Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Walking with youth: Youth ministry in many cultures. In At-Risk youth, at-risk church: What Jesus Christ and American teenagers are saying to the mainline church (pp. 47-61). Princeton: Institute for Youth Ministry, Princeton Theological Seminary.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Volcanic eruptions: Eruptive youth ministry. In At-Risk youth, at-risk church: What Jesus Christ and American teenagers are saying to the mainline church (pp. 63-72). Princeton: Institute for Youth Ministry, Princeton Theological           Seminary.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Promises and practices for tomorrow: Transforming youth leaders and transforming culture. In At-Risk youth, at-risk church: What Jesus Christ and American teenagers are saying to the mainline church (pp. 73-84). Princeton: Institute for Youth Ministry, Princeton Theological Seminary.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Communautes urbaines et traditions culturelles: La dynamique de la culture religieuse. In J. Nadeau, & M. Pelchat (Eds.), Dieu en ville: Evangile et eglises dans l’espace urbain (pp. 299-325). Outremont, Quebec: Novalis.

Moore, M.E. (1999). Teaching for justice and reconciliation in a conflicted world. In P. Ballard, & and P. Couture (Eds.), Globalisation and difference: Practical theology in a world context (pp. 177-184). Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press.

Moore, M.E. (1999). Feminist practical theology and the future of the church. In F. Schweitzer, & J. A. van der Ven (Eds.), Erfahrung und theologie—Schriften zur praktischen theologie (Practical theology—International perspectives) (pp. 189-209). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Moore, M.E. (2000). Sacramental teaching: Mediating the holy. In J. M. Lee (Ed.), Forging a better religious education for the third millennium (pp. 41-68). Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Richness in religious education: Ethnic, religious and biodiversity. In L. J. Francis, J. Astley, & M. Robbins (Eds.), The fourth R for the third millennium: Educationin religion and values for the global future (pp, 115-135). Dublin: Lindisfarne Books.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Teaching justice and reconciliation in a wounding world. In A. S. Park & S. L. Nelson (Eds.), The other side of sin: Woundedness from the perspective of the sinned-against (pp. 143-164). New York: State University of New York.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Compassion and hope: Theology born of action. In B. P. Stone & T. J. Oord (Eds.), Thy nature and thy name is love: Wesleyan and process theologies indialogue, (pp. 315-339). Nashville, TN: Abingdon, Kingswood Books.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Knowing God and living fully. In J. S. Park & G. D. Beebe (Eds.), Religion and its relevance in post-modernism (pp. 101-117). Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen.

Moore, M.E. (2002). Wounds of hurt, words of faith. In J. L. Berquist (Ed.), Strike terror no more Theology, ethics and the new war (pp. 316-325).St. Louis: Chalice.

Moore, M.E. (2002). Curriculum: A journey through complexity, community, conversation, culmination. In W. E. Doll, Jr., & N. Gough (Eds.), Curriculum visions (pp. 219-337).            New York: Peter Lang.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Resurrection faith: Titus 2:11-14. In H. Nausner (Ed.), The quality of the resurrection faith: Documents of the fourth international consultation of the United Methodist Church (pp. 163-173). Vienna: Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche, 2003.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Following a tradition: Seeking a vision; & Congregations struggling with hope: embodied knowing. In J. F. Fishburn (Ed.), People of a compassionate God (pp. 131-157). Nashville: Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Beyond poverty and violence: An eschatological vision. In P. D. Couture & B. J. Miller-McLemore (Eds.), Poverty, suffering and HIV-AIDS: International practical theological perspectives. Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press.

Moore, M.E. (2004). New creation: Repentance, reparation, and reconciliation. In D. Meeks (Ed.), Wesleyan perspectives on the new creation. Nashville: Kingswood Books, Abingdon.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Walking with children toward hope: The long road to justice and reconciliation. In H. Alexander (Ed.), Spirituality and ethics in education: Philosophical,theological, and radical perspectives (pp. 83-97). Sussex: Sussex Academic Press.

Moore, M.E. (2005). Rythmes de programme: Reperes pour un parcours educatif (Trans. Jean-Marie Breuvart). In Jean-Marie Breuvart (Ed.), Les rythmes educatifs dans la philosophiede whitehead (pp. 189-222). Frankfurt: Ontos Verlag.

Moore, M.E. (2006). Nourishing relationships that nourish life. In G. Allan and M. D. Evans (Eds.), A different three Rs for education: Reason, relationality, rhythm (pp, 103-120). New York: Rodopi.

Moore, M.E. (2006). Dynamics of religious culture: Ethogenic method. In M. de Souza, K. Engebretson, G. Durka, R. Jackson & A. McGrady, International handbook of the religious, moral and spiritual dimensions in education, Vol 1 (pp. 415-431). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Moore, M.E. (2006). Imagine peace: Knowing the real, imagining the impossible. In J. McDaniel & D. Bowman (Eds.), Handbook of process theology (pp. 201-216). St. Louis: Chalice.

Moore, M.E. (2008). The ethics of institutions: Compassion, critique, creativity, and form-giving. In T. Walker, Jr., & T. Mihaly (Eds.), Whiteheadian ethics (pp. 83-100).    Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press.

Moore, M.E. (2008). Education as creative power. In M. Weber & W. Desmond (Eds.), Handbook of Whiteheadian process thought, pp. 199-214. Frankfurt: Lancaster, Ontos Verlag, Process Thought X1 & X2.

Moore, M.E. (2008). Theology of life’s end through portraiture [Trauern und sterben]. In D. Korsch und L. Charbonnier (Eds.), Der verborgene sinn: Religiöse dimensionen des alltags. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Moore, M.E. (2008). Non-theological discourse in theological practices of peacebuilding. In W. Gräb and L. Charbonnie (Eds.), Secularization theories, religious identity and practical theology: Proceedings of the International Academy of Practical Theology conference Berlin 2007. Berlin: LIT Verlag.

Moore, M.E. (2008). Twenty-five years of contextualizing: A retrospective for the future. In T. Brelsford (Ed.), Contextualizing theological education. Cleveland: Pilgrim.

Moore, M.E. (2009). Passion for life: Power for building justice and peace. In E. Graham (Ed.), Redeeming the present: Essays in honour of Grace Jantzen (pp. 181-196). Aldershot, UK: Ashgate Publishing.

Moore, M.E. (2009). Foreword. In L.M. Hess, Artisanal theology (pp. vii-xi). Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

Moore, M.E. (2010). Education for peace: Exploring the margins of human rights and religion. In K. Engebretson, M. de Souza, G. Durka, & L. Gearon (Eds.), International handbook of inter-religious education (pp. 1087-1104). The Netherlands: Springer Academic Publishers.

Moore, M.E. (2012). Foreword. In E. M. Kim & D. B. Creamer (Eds.), Women, church and leadership: New paradigms. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock.

Moore, M.E. (2012). Reconstructing Wesleyan ecclesiology: Church as connection of the children of God. In R.D. Matthews, The renewal of United Methodism: Mission, ministry, and connectionalism (pp. 179-196). Nashville, TN: General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, UMC.

Moore, M.E. (2012). Conversation that matters: Life transforming dialogue. In I. ter Avest (Ed.), On the edge: (Auto)biography and pedagogical theories on religious education (pp, 115-126). Rotterdam: Sense Publications.

Moore, M.E. (2013). Desires of the young. In R. R. Ganzevoort, R. Brouwer, & B. Milller McLemore (Eds.), City of desires – A place for God? (pp. 101-110). Zurich: LIT Verlag.

Articles:

Moore, M.E., & Fozard, J.L. (1970). Age differences in judgments of recency for short sequences of pictures. Development Psychology, 3(2), 208-217.

Moore, M.E. (1983). The minister and the people of God. Quarterly Review, 3(3), 33-49.

Moore, M.E. (1983). Making connections. Religious Education, 78(4), 510-515.

Moore, M.E. (1985). Inclusive language and power: A Response to Letty Russell. Religious Education, 80(4), 603-614.

Moore, M.E. (1988). Response to: The spirituality of the religious educator. Religious Education, 83(1), 35-37.

Moore, M.E. (1989). The unity of the sacred and the public: Possibilities from feminist theology. Religious Education, 84(3), 384-401.

Moore, M.E. (1989). The style and substance of United Methodist theology in transition. Quarterly Review, 9(3), 44-63.

Moore, M.E. (1992). A wrestling church: Cultural pluralism in the Wesleyan tradition. Quarterly Review, 12(2), 75-94.

Moore, M.E. (1992). Musings of a psychologist-theologian: Reflections on the method of Charles Hartshorne. Process Studies, 21(2), 113-117.

Moore, M.E. (1993). To search and to witness: Theological agenda of Georgia Harkness. Quarterly Review, 13(3).

Moore, M.E. (1995). Teaching Christian particularity in a pluralistic world. British Journal of Religious Education, 17(2), 70-83.

Moore, M.E. (1995). Codependence theory: Heuristic or reductionistic? Journal of Ministry in Addiction and Recovery, 2(1), 59-77.

Moore, M.E. (1995). The myth of objectivity in public education: Toward the intersubjective teaching of religion/ Religious Education, 90(2), 207-225.

Moore, M.E. (1995). Conversation at the Center for Process Studies. Process Perspectives, 19(2), 1-5.

Moore, M.E. (1996). La theologie pratique aux Eats-Unis: Une diversite options. Cahiers de l’Institut Romand de Pastorale, 24, 3-17.

Moore, M.E. (1996). Theological education by conversation: Particularity and pluralism. Theological Education, 33(1), 31-47.

Moore, M.E. (1996-1997). Poverty, human depravity, and prevenient grace. Quarterly Review, 343-360.

Moore, M.E. (1997). Wisdom, Sophia, and the fear of knowing. Religious Education, 92(2), 227-243.

Moore, M.E. (1997). Synergistic education: Contexts and norms in higher education. Process Papers, vol. II.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Poetry, prophecy, and power. Religious Education, 93(3), 268-287.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Dynamics of religious culture: Theological wisdom and ethical guidance from diverse urban communities. International Journal of Practical Theology, 2, 240-262.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Teaching religion synergistically: Creativity and structure in dynamic tension. Panorama: International Journal of Comparative Religious Education and Values, 10(2), 135-150.

Moore, M.E. (2000). Critiquing codependence theory and reimaging psychotherapy: A process-relational exploration. Process Studies, 29(1), 103-123.

Moore, M.E. (2000). Ethnic diversity and biodiversity: Richness at the center of education. Interchange, 31(2 & 3), 259-278.

Moore, M.E. (2001). God’s spirit and the renewal of creation: Living in committed, ambiguous hope. Quarterly Review, 21(2), 169-181.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Beyond poverty and violence: An eschatological vision. International Journal of Practical Theology, 7(1), 39-59.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Commissioning the people of God: Called to be a community in mission. Quarterly Review, 23(4), 399-411.

Moore, M.E., Lee, B., Turpin, K., Casas, R., Bridgers, L., & Miles, V. (2004). Realities, visions and promises of a multicultural future. Religious Education, 99(3), 287-315.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Imagine peace: Knowing the real, imagining the impossible. Process Papers, 8, 5-25.

Moore, M.E. (2005). The relational power of education: The immeasurability of knowledge, value, and meaning. Interchange, 36(1-2), 23-48

Moore, M.E. (2005). Imagination at the center: Identity on the margins. Process Studies, 34(2), 192-210.

Moore, M.E., & Bischoff, C. Cultivating a spirit for justice and peace: Teaching through oral history. Religious Education, 102(2), 151-171.

Moore, M.E. (2008). Stories of vocation: Education for vocational discernment. Religious Education, 103(2), 218-239.

Moore, M.E. (with Sister Fund, Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and Candler School of Theology’s Women in Theology and Ministry research team). (2008). Healers of our time. New York: Sister Fund, in press. [monograph-length research report]

Moore, M.E. (2008). Difference: Pathway to wholeness. Process Papers, 12 (2008).

Moore, M.E. (2009). The United Methodist Church at 40: What can we hope for? Methodist Review, 1, 69-91.

Moore, M.E. (2012). Let freedom ring! Let peace reign! Religious Education, 107(3), 236-240.

Articles for Church and Popular Audiences:

Moore, M.E. (1980). Telling and being the story. Impact, Disciples Seminary Foundation, 5.

Moore, M.E. (1985). Living in God's house. Impact, Disciples Seminary Foundation, 14, 1-7.

Moore, M.E. (1989). In J. C. Rowell, The church's educational space: Creating environments for teaching and learning (pp. 5, 16-19). St. Louis: Christian Board of Publication.

Moore, M.E. (1991, November). The time is now: And it is not over yet. Circuit Rider.

Moore, M.E. (1991). Teaching toward future. Creative Transformation, 1(2).

Moore, M.E. (1992). Re-membering the spirit: Pentecost in multi-cultural community. Creative Transformation, 1(4).

Moore, M.E. (1993). Multicultural connections: Pain and promise. Creative Transformation, 2(2).

Moore, M.E. (1994). Poppies and the politics of violence. Creative Transformation.

Moore, M.E. (1994, October). Report from Malaysia: Sabah Theological Seminary. Circuit West.

Moore, M.E. (1995). Images of hospitality: Images gathered on a journey. Creative Transformation.

Moore, M.E. (1995). Many faces of youth ministry. Circuit Rider, 6-7.

Moore, M.E. (1996). Institutional leadership and social transformation. Creative Transformation, 5(2), 4-5, 20-23.

Moore, M.E. (1997-1998). The future of Christian education: Challenges for Christian educators fellowship. Christians in Education, 4(1), 1-14.

Moore, M.E.  (1999, September). Korean blessings. Claremont Hanmadang: KAAC BiMonthly Newsletter, 1.

Moore, M.E. (1999). An interview with Mary Elizabeth Moore. Process Perspectives, 22(2), 3-8.

Moore, M.E. (2000). Orthodoxy is heresy?! Occasional Paper of the California-Pacific Methodist Federation forSocial Action.  

Moore, M.E. (2000). Signs of hospitality: Genesis 18:1-6. Creative Transformation, 10(1), 7-9.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Spiritual leadership in a beautiful, broken world. Christians in Education, 7(2), 1-4.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Sacramental teaching—sacramental spirituality. Creative Transformation, 10(3), 9-10.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Beyond poverty and violence: An eschatological vision. APT Occasional Papers, 5, 1-12.

Moore, M.E. (2002). Teaching with and for the Earth. Creative Transformation, 11(2), 16-17.

Moore, M.E. (2002). Stories, images and sound. Creative Transformation, 11(3), 12-13.

Moore, M.E. (2002). Education for immortality? Creative Transformation, 11(4), 14-15.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Discovering Builder-God and Wisdom-Woman. Creative Transformation, 12(1), 14-15.

Moore, M.E. (2003). God-nudges and the art of meaning-making. Creative Transformation, 12(3), 14-15.

Moore, M.E. (2003). Loving and hating religion. Creative Transformation, 12(4), 18-19.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Incarnational teaching in a multi-faith world. Creative Transformation, 13(1), 18-19.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Conversing: God, evil, and the body of Christ. Creative Transformation, 13(2), 16-19.

Moore, M.E. (2005). Dancing bones and living waters: Seeking creative visions. Creative Transformation, 14(1), 16-17, 30.

Moore, M.E. (2005). New creation: Ancient wisdom. Creative Transformation, 14(3), 14-15.

Moore, M.E. (2005). Prayer and doctrine in times of tragedy. Creative Transformation, 14(4), 16-17.

Moore, M.E. (2005). Let’s talk straight about power and spirituality in the public sphere. Tikkun, 20(6), 41-43.

Moore, M.E. (2006). Water as sacred: Jewish and Christian traditions. The Academic Exchange, Emory University, 8(5), 8-9.

Moore, M.E. (2006). Hello, my name is … Creative Transformation, 15(2), 20-21, 29.

Moore, M.E. (2006). Worship-filled education, education-filled worship. Creative Transformation, 15(3), 14-15.

Moore, M.E. (2007). Seen An Inconvenient Truth? Now what? Creative Transformation, 16(1), 16-17.

Moore, M.E. (2007). Spirituality and sacramentality. Creative Transformation, 16(2), 18-19.

Moore, M.E. (2007). Forming the habit of loving life. Creative Transformation, 16(3), 14-15, 9.

Moore, M.E. (2007). A church of odds and ends. Creative Transformation, 16(4), 20-21.

Moore, M.E. (2008). Forming faith: Riding the waves. Creative Transformation, 17(3), 2-9, 25.

Dictionary Entries:

Moore, M.E. (1990). Thomas Mann. In I. Cully & K. Cully (Eds.), Dictionary of Religious Education. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Moore, M.E. (1990). Rabanus Maurus. In I. Cully & K. Cully (Eds.), Dictionary of Religious Education. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Moore, M.E. (1990). Methodology. In I. Cully & K. Cully (Eds.), Dictionary of Religious Education. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Moore, M.E. (1990). Elizabeth Bailey Seton. In I. Cully & K. Cully (Eds.), Dictionary of Religious Education. San Francisco: Harper & Row.

Moore, M.E. (2000). Diskriminierung, Discrimination. In Redaktion der Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart vierte Auflage, Vol. 2 (p. 3750). Tubingen, Germany: J.C.B. Mohr.

Other items by the Person—Hymns, Poetry, and Visual Media:

Moore, M.E. (1996). Clouds, Words, A river's journey, God rumbled, Leaving, Desert mountains. Creative Transformation, 6(1), 12-13. (Poems)

Moore, M.E. (1996). Creation. Photographic slides and reading first presented in Christian Educators' Fellowship, San Antonio, TX.

Moore, M.E. (1997). Birds in spring: In honor of Charles Hartshorne-Lover of birds. Creative Transformation, 6(2), 16. (Poem)

Moore, M.E (1997). In the beginning and in the middle. Claremont, CA: Moore Multicultural Resource and Research Center. (a photographic story of creation)

Moore, M.E. (1998). Shards of wholeness: A pilgrim journey. Videotape produced by “Education and Story” class, Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, CA.

Moore, M.E., & Larsen, J. (1998). Creation and Baptism. Videos first presented in Quadrennial Consultation of Deacons and Diaconal Ministers.

Moore, M.E., & Gresham, M. (composer). (2001). Blessings. Decatur, GA.: Lux Nova Press, 4-8.

Moore, M.E. (2001). Prayers. In B. D. Miller, (Ed.), Prayers: Voices of the Candler Community (pp, 67, 83). Atlanta, GA: Emory University.

Moore, M.E. (2005). Daybreak. In K. Black & H. M. Elkins, (Eds.), Wising Up: Ritual Resources for Women of Faith in their Journey of Aging (p. 165). Cleveland: Pilgrim.

Published Curriculum and Teaching Resources:

Moore, M.E. (1978-79, winter). Bringing together the broken pieces. Fellowship Times (pp. 41-47).

Moore, M.E. (1978-79, winter). Faith is a verb. Fellowship Times (pp. 53-56).

Moore, M.E. (1979, spring). Is there a devil? Fellowship Times (pp. 24-32).

Moore, M.E. (1979). What makes us different? The Church School (pp. 6-8).

Moore, M.E. (1980). Strategies for change: Visions and actions. The Church School.

Moore, M.E. (1981, summer). Free to belong - Free to follow. Explore (Teacher's and Students' books), U.M.C. Graded Press (pp. 27-63).

Moore, M.E. (1983-84, winter). Is our task to form or transform Christians? Church School Today (pp. 32-35).

Moore, M.E. (1985, fall). Celebrating the waiting. Church School Today (pp. 46-49).

Moore, M.E. (1985-86, winter). Celebrating Lent and Easter. Church School Today.

Moore, M.E. (1991). God in our midst. National Council of Churches Outdoor Ministries Curriculum. St. Louis: Christian Board of Publication.

Moore, M.E. (1992, summer). Pentecost: A grand intercultural communication event. Culture Crossings, 3(2).

Moore, M.E. (1992, December). Listening to silent voices. Professional Approaches for Christian Educators, 22, 6-9.

Moore, M.E. (1993, April). Ministering with forgotten partners. Professional Approaches for Christian Educators, 22, 15-17.

Moore, M.E. (1997, fall). Blessed by Babel. Newsletter of Multicultural Resource and Research Center, 1(1).

Moore, M.E. (1998, summer). Wrestling with blessings. Newsletter of Multicultural Resource and Research Center, 1(3), 7.

Moore, M.E. (1998, September/October). Everyday earning: Teaching from the heart. Horizons (pp. 4-6).

Moore, M.E. (2000). Stewards of the good news of creation I” and “Stewards of the good news of creation II. In J. Smith, B. Birch, & C. Foster (Eds.), Steward: Living as Disciples in Everyday Life. Nashville: Abingdon. 

Reviews of Moore’s Publications:

Boys, M. C. (1983). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Religious Education, 78(4), 581.

Albers, R. H. (1984). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore].Word & World, 4(2), 220.

Brown, G. G. (1984). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Reformed Review, 38(1), 74.

Savage, T. T. (1984). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Christian Scholar's Review, 13(3), 275-276.

Spellacy, M. (1984, November 30). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. National Catholic Reporter, 21, 28.

Wyckoff, D. (1984). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Christian Education Journal, 5(2), 76-77.

Chamberlin, J. (1985). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Journal Of Ecumenical Studies, 22(1), 150-152.

Cully, I. (1985). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Books and Religion, 13(2), 10.

Wilcox, M. M. (1986). [Review of the book Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education, by M. E. Moore]. Iliff Review, 43(2), 47-49.

Holder, A. G. (1992). [Review of the book Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method, by M. E. Moore]. Anglican Theological Review, 74(4), 512-514.

Koch, J. B. (1993). [Review of the book Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method, by M. E. Moore]. Lutheran Theological Journal, 27(2), 95.

Hess, C. (1993). [Review of the book Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method, by M. E. Moore]. Princeton Seminary Bulletin, 14(2), 220-222.

Cobb, J. (1999). [Review of the book Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method, by M. E. Moore]. Process Studies, 28(1-2), 143-145.

Rolston, H. (1999, May 3). [Review of the book Ministering with the Earth, by M. E. Moore]. The Presbyterian Outlook, 15, 14.

Harrion, O. (2001). [Review of the book Ministering with the earth, by M. E. Moore]. Encounter, 62(1), 98-100.

Long, L. (2006). [Review of the book Teaching as a sacramental act, by M.  E. Moore]. Christian Education Journal, 3(1), 176-179.

Csinos, D. M. (2009). [Review of the book Children, Youth, and Spirituality in a Troubling World, edited by M. E. Moore and A. M. Wright]. Religious Education, 104(4), 453-456.

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Excerpts from Publications

Moore, M.E. (1983). Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

We began this book bemoaning the pendulum swinging between an emphasis on the historical tradition and on contemporary experience in Christian religious education. … Having recognized this dilemma, we proceeded to make the daring claim that a model of education just might be possible that would transcend the dualism between past and present and deal seriously with the future as well. The promise was made of a new educational model that would maximize the possibility of both continuity and change. … What is being said is that the more continuous we are with our past, the greater is the possibility for transformation. What is also being said is that the more we change, the more continuous we are with our past. (p. 120)

Moore, M.E. (1991). Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

...this is a book written on a bridge. The book provides a walkway between one set of [process] theological assumptions and educational practice... The bridge that links education with theology is important because even the most disembodied theological system affects and is affected by educational practice... This book attempts to bridge certain educational methods with theological constructs in order to invite a critique both ways. (p. 16)

Educators often concern themselves first with clarifying the subject matter, assuming that methodology will naturally follow. When this is done, methodology is seen as a secondary concern oriented to the most effective communication of the prescribed subject matter. The position in this book moves in quite a different direction.

The assumption here is that methodological considerations come before, during, and after the identification of subject matter. In fact, what subject matter we choose is actually shaped by our method and our theory or wisdom about method... This book will give attention, long overdue, to the methods of education, not as mere techniques to communicate something else, but as a basic foundation to the educational enterprise. (pp. 19-20)

Moore, M.E. (1998). Ministering with the Earth. St. Louis: Chalice Press.

The most urgent purpose of this book is to inspire the church to minister with the earth in all of its coming and going, its doing and being. To minister with the earth is to serve God in such a way that we care for the earth, receive from the earth, and join with the earth in praise of our Maker and in healing our planet. This is a ministry of covenantal living with God and the human community and the earth. For this reason, priority is given to action. The more precise purpose of this book, then is ... to reflect on acts of ministry for the sake of projecting a new vision of ministering with the earth. Specific actions, such as those described in the stories of this book or others labeled as outdoor ministries, have the potential to awaken the church to this larger vision by stirring appreciation of God's sacred creation and lifting possibilities for wider ministry of worship, sacramental celebration, preaching, teaching, and serving. All of ministry, finally, has the potential for reminding people of the holy ground on which we stand, the unprecedented crises facing our planet, and the opportunities in ordinary Christian life to minister with the earth. (p. 3)

Moore, M.E. (2004). Teaching as a Sacramental Act. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press.

The central assertion of this book is that religious teaching needs to be re-visioned as sacred teaching—mediating the Holy. The more specific assertion is that Christian teaching needs to be envisioned as sacramental, with the purpose of mediating God, and with approaches that mediate God's grace and God's call to the human community for the sake of human sanctification and creation's well-being. (p. 5)

...the heart of sacramental teaching is mediating the grace of God through the concrete stuff of creation for the sanctification of human communities and the well-being of God's creation. (p. 10)

...one can describe pedagogy, or teaching, as an act of walking with, sharing with, acting with, remembering with, and constructing meaning with people in a learning community. Teaching is what Thomas Groome describes as "sharing faith"; teachers are wise companions on the journey. Christian education thus includes the full life of the church—sharing and reflecting in classrooms, praying and planning with others, recreation, worship, and service in the community. (p. 13)

 

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Recommended Readings

Moore, M.E. (1983). Education for continuity and change: A new model for Christian religious education. Nashville: Abingdon Press.

This first major published work by Mary Elizabeth Moore showcases her vision for religious education that overcomes the dichotomy of education for continuity (passing on the tradition) and education for change (supporting transformation): traditioning education. Traditioning education involves people in the life of the faith tradition through interpretation and transformation with the past, present, and hoped for future of the community of faith serving as the content of the education. Readers interested in what this vision means for questions of purpose, practice, and curriculum in the local context should focus their attention on the final three chapters of the book.

Moore, M.E. (1991). Teaching from the heart: Theology and educational method. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.

Written at the intersection of process theology and educational method, this book demonstrates how both theology and education can inform and improve the other through mutual dialogue, as well as what it means to take educational method seriously in theorizing about and practicing teaching. Readers wishing to learn more about specific educational methods will find their perspectives expanded through Moore's thorough exploration of case study, gesalt, phenomenological, narrative, and conscientizing methods. The final chapter offers a beautiful statement about reverent teaching, which clearly arises from Moore's own passion.

Moore, M.E. (1998). Ministering with the Earth. St. Louis: Chalice Press.

A commitment to tikkun olam, repair of the world, is at the heart of Moore's scholarship, and it is most beautifully and thoroughly attested to in this volume. Readers will finish the book inspired to action for ministering with the earth by Moore's vision of the sacred interconnections between human beings and the rest of the created order, and they also will have encountered a host of ideas and examples about how "God-centered, earthbound ministry" can be put into practice. This book is an example of practical theological method at its best: with wisdom being drawn from stories of everyday practice; put into conversation with theological concepts and biblical and historical traditions; and then reimagined in order to inspire further life-giving practice. The book concludes with an appendix that details a retreat design on the theme "Quilting a Life in Relation to God and God's Creation," which will be of great use to practitioners wishing to kindle Moore's passion for earthbound living in students, congregation members, and other interested audiences.

Moore, M.E. (2004). Teaching as a Sacramental Act. Cleveland: Pilgrim Press.

This book stands as the most thorough testament to Moore's process theology-inspired integrated vision of ministry and to her unwavering conviction of the sacred nature of teaching in which teaching is but one way that the holy is mediated in order to inspire people for sacramental living. The middle chapters of the book detail six practices of sacramental teaching, such as expecting the unexpected and giving thanks, and explore the power of each practice, its roots in historical church practice, a theology that resonates with the practice, and the educational practices that embody it. 

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Author Information

Claire Bischoff

Claire Bischoff, PhD (Emory University, 2011) is an adjunct professor of religious education at Lexington Theological Seminary and was a doctoral student of Mary Elizabeth Moore.