New Mexico

Ricardo Rivera

This project sought to develop a Sunday school revitalization strategy for Hispanic churches in the Baptist Convention of New Mexico. The project had four goals. The first goal was to discover the critical issues for revitalizing the Sunday school by surveying selected Hispanic churches and interpreting the results. The second goal was to determine the best practices for revitalizing Sunday school by review of Sunday school growth principles. The third goal was the development of a Sunday school revitalization strategy for Hispanic churches in the Baptist Convention of New Mexico with the assistance of a selected strategy development team. The final goal was the validation of the strategy by three small groups of selected pastors and leaders of Hispanic Baptist churches in the state. The outcome of the four goals was a three-year Sunday school revitalization strategy with four objectives that addressed the main critical issues affecting the Hispanic Sunday schools.

James W. Hunter D.Min.

his work studies the phenomenon of individuals dropping out of active church membership after confirmation. The positive approach adopted to examine this issue is through Appreciative Inquiry. Rather than trying to "fix" a problem, this paper studies what is good in the current confirmation preparation program, discovering how those good elements can be improved, and the importance of community in retaining members. The problem is analyzed through Holy Scripture, the Great Tradition of Christianity, and the experiences of eleven parishioners who have matriculated through the confirmation process and remained active in the life of the Episcopal Church of St. Mary, Albuquerque, New Mexico.