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There are many organizations, networks and individuals that support life long learning and Christian formation. Listed by category, here is your link to further connections and ideas that can provide helpful information and resources for your educational ministries.

Have a link that you would like to share? Add it to the Forum Page! Together we form the links of a chain that can build relationships and networks for a stronger educational ministry in all our churches.

Denominational Christian Education Organizations support professional and volunteer educators (lay and ordained) in addition to advocating for the ministry of education:

• APCE – Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators (with Reformed Church of America & Moravian Church)
• AUCE – Association of United Church Educators
• CEF – Christian Educators Fellowship (United Methodist Church)
• Forma - (formerly National Association for Episcopal Christian Education Directors)
• LACE - Lutheran Association of Christian Educators (ELCA)

Resource Center Organizations support congregations and individuals in finding the materials that fit their program needs

• ALRC- Association of Lutheran Resource Centers
• NOERC – National Organization of Episcopal Resource Centers
• PARC – Presbyterian Association of Resource Centers

Bible Study, Maps & Historical Documents for supporting the educator and learner:

• Text This Week focuses on the lectionary readings for each Sunday of the year, with numerous links related to each of the texts for sermon ideas, music, prayers, exegesis and a wealth more.
• Bible Gateway is a search engine for looking up bible passages from numerous translations.
• Choosing a Children’s Bible is an article by Gretchen Wolff Pritchard, author of “Offering the Gospel to Children.”
• A Guide to Early Church Documents is helpful for adult study: An on-line encyclopedia of links to Early Church documents such as the writings of: 1. The Apostolic Fathers (Clement, Barnabas, The Didache, Polycarp, Igatius) 2. Patristic texts (Origen, Tertullian, Cyprian, Athanasius, Augustine) 3. Creeds and Canons 4. Miscellaneous Documents Helpful for adult study
• Pictorial Library of Bible Lands contains high-resolution images of biblical sites in Israel and other countries to use for teaching. The collection includes more than 4500 pictures in jpg format.
• Church History: An Anglican Time Line is a time line of Anglican history created by Ed Friedlander from Kansas City, Missouri from 400 CE to modern times.
• Ancient Mesopotamia – Mesopotamia, an ancient Greek term meaning “the land between rivers,” is considered to be the cradle of civilization because this is where we find the origins of agriculture, written language, and cities. Chosen from the Mesopotamian collection of the Oriental Institute Museum of the University of Chicago, this website tells the story of ancient Mesopotamia now present-day Iraq – a story shared by all humans. A good source if studying the Old Testament, especially Genesis.
• The American Bible Society offers numerous links and documents including interactive maps, choosing a bible, history, geography, how to read the bible, and much, much more. An excellent site to tap for all sorts of resources.
• The Bible and the Qu’ran – The integral texts of the Bible and the Qu’ran alongside each other on one website allows you to search the texts using any word to compare them. The site appears in Dutch, English and Arabic at the same time. The objective of the site is to build a bridge between Muslims and Christians.
• What Would Judas Do? – Deidre Good, professor of New Testament at the General Theological Seminary discusses some of the theological issues raised by the rediscovery of the Gospel of Judas. Video courtesy of Trinity Television and New Media.
• Resources for Biblical Studies – A compilation of numerous online resources compiled by Bernard Bell that covers various bible translations, bible software, e-books, academic resources, journals, hymnals, photos, maps and more.
• Sacred Texts Timeline – This is a timeline which gives the history of sacred texts, as well as a few other relevant events. Of course, not all of the dates in this timeline are accurate; some are entirely conjectural. The author has included a few dates, events and documents which are or may be entirely fictional. Links on this page are to resources at this site, not to external sites.
• World Digital Library - Supported by UNESCO, this is a project to provide primary sources from other countries and cultures free of charge, and is offered in seven different languages, including Arabic, Portuguese, and Russian. The design of the website is easy to navigate and very interactive, with its map of the world and timeline beneath it. Moving either of the lime green bars on the left and right of the timeline will change the images on the world map above it, and will provide images of the time period chosen when clicked. Each image is explained in whichever of the seven languages chosen in which to view the site, but any language that appears in the image remains in its original language. At the top of the page, visitors can choose to browse by “Place”, “Time”, “Topic”, “Type of Item”, and “Institution”. The image quality is excellent, and once chosen, the image can be zoomed in on and panned. Thumbnails of similar items to the image chosen are also provided underneath the image.
• History of the Crusades – published by the University of Wisconsin Press over a twenty year period beginning in 1969, this site was intended to serve as a collaborative and comprehensive treatment of the topic, ranging in time from the first 100 years of the Crusades to their ultimate impact on the histories of the Near East and Europe. The work is comprised of six volumes, each of which is included here in its entirety.
• American Women Through Time – This site offers two approaches for the study of specific time periods in American women’s history: via a Timeline from pre-history through today or through research sources. Art, works, and other notes are included. Noted as one of the best free reference web sites in 2004, it is compiled by Ken Middleton, a reference librarian at Middle Tennessee State University Library.
• Monastic Matrix – A scholarly resource for the study of women’s religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE. Includes biographies, digital images and more.