Church Ministries Research Guide
This document provides an introduction to church ministry resources available in and through the Vick Library. Subjects covered include local church ministry to various age groups; evangelism and discipleship; and pastoral theology.
Reference Works
Christian Education
Evangelical Dictionary of Christian Education
Harper's Encyclopedia of Religious Education
Josh McDowell's Handbook on Counseling Youth
Concise Dictionary of the Christian World Mission
The Youth Worker's Encyclopedia of Bible-Teaching Ideas [2 vols.]
Pastoral Theology
Concise Encyclopedia of Preaching
Evangelism and Church Growth : [A Practical Encyclopedia]
Leadership Handbooks of Practical Theology [3 vols.]
New Dictionary of Christian Ethics & Pastoral Theology
Periodical Indexes & Abstracts
Websites
Elmer Towns Online LibraryA site offering access to a variety of resources authored by Elmer Towns. On-line books and chapters are in PDF format, requiring the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software.
Youth Ministry Resources (Gospel Communications Network)
Links to dozens of Web sites related to youth ministry.
Periodicals
Baptists - Education - Periodicals
Christian Education - Periodicals
Sunday School - Periodicals
Special Collections
The Christian Education Collection is particularly valuable to Church Ministries majors. Materials in this collection--curriculum and other teaching resources--are arranged according to a specialized classification scheme.
Call numbers
The CE Collection has its own classification system, loosely based on the Dewey Decimal System.
Curriculum supplements
- Curriculum supplements are idea books, etc. that do not qualify as curriculum.
- They are classed in 268.1-268.223 and 268.6-268.7 (See the Classification Table below)
Dated curriculum (Sunday school kits)
- Dated curriculum includes actual lessons, often incorporating a variety of methods, usually published quarterly for specific seasons, i.e. Sunday school kits.
- They are classed in 268.9 with a special call number format:
- Always start with the prefix CE
- Always use the class number 268.9
- Add the publisher's symbol, e.g. ACP
- Add the grade/age level abbreviation
e.g. HS for High school
- Add the year of the kit being cataloged, e.g. 2000 (note that Summer 2001 may actually be part of the 2000/2001 cycle, and, therefore, use the year "2000" in its call number)
- Add the year number of the cycle and the quarter number in the following format: Yr2-Qtr1
Here is a completed call number for the Primary curriculum packet from Accent from Fall 2000-2001:
CE 268.9 ACP Pri 2000 Yr2-Qtr1
Undated curriculum
- Undated curriculum includes actual lessons, often incorporating a variety of methods, that are usually in a series and have a starting and stopping point: a 12 lesson series on the Gospels, 10 Bible lessons on friendship, etc.
- They are classed in 268.91-99 (See the Classification Table below)
Classification table
268*
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Religious/Christian education (use standard Dewey subdivisions)
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268.1
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Administration, Planning
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268.15
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Sunday schools (includes their history and administration)
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268.2
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Buildings, equipment, media
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268.21
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Facilities
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268.22
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Audiovisual instruction
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268.221
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Blackboard, chalk, flannelgraph
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268.222
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Bulletin boards, pictures, charts
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268.223
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Electronic media
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268.25
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Bus ministry
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268.3
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Personnel, teacher training, teaching (when the emphasis is on the teacher and not the age group or specific teaching method)
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268.4*
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Christian education of specific age groups, classes of persons (class here books on teaching specific age groups when the emphasis is on a particular age group, rather than 268.3)
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268.41*
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Children (pre-school - grade 6)
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268.412*
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Pre-school
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268.413*
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Elementary
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268.4131*
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Primary (grades 1-3)
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268.4132*
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Juniors (grades 4-6)
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268.42*
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Youth (Jr. High-High School)
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268.421*
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Jr. High
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268.422*
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High School
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268.43*
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Adult
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268.431*
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Young Adult (College age)
|
268.432*
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Senior citizens
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268.48
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Special education
|
268.5*
|
Records and rules
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268.6
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Methods of instruction and study
*In the CE Collection, class here curriculum supplements that feature a combination of two or more of the methods listed in 268.61-67; for methods books predominantly featuring one specific method, see 268.61-67
*In the General Collection, class books emphasizing one particular teaching method in 268.61-268.67, not in 268.3 or 268.4
|
268.61
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Question & answer (Quiz books, etc.)
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268.62
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Discussion (Contain discussion material or statements/questions designed to provoke discussion)
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268.63
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Lecture (Anything explanatory or expository that doesn't qualify as question & answer, discussion, projects, music, storytelling, or drama)
|
268.64
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Projects
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268.65
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Music
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268.66
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Storytelling
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268.67
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Drama
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268.7
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Non-instructional activities (youth ice-breakers, fund-raisers, camp games, and other activities that do not tie in to an educational goal)
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268.8
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Special programs (VBS, camps & retreats, Awanas, etc.)
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268.9
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Dated curriculum (for a full explanation of classifying, adding, and weeding dated curriculum, see below)
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268.91-99
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Undated curriculum. Add to base number 268.91 notation from the Dewey tables 001-999; for example, a collection of devotions for teens would be classed in 268.9242.
|
*Call numbers marked with an asterisk (*) do not apply to the CE Collection; rather, they are to be used for books on the theory of Christian education that go in the General Collection. With the exception of 268.9-99, all of the above class numbers can be used for items in the General Collection.
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Dewey Decimal Numbers
Most materials related to the study of church ministry, as defined here, are classed between 240 and 269 in the Dewey Decimal Classification. Following is an overview that should facilitate browsing.
268 Religious/Christian education (use standard Dewey subdivisions)
268.1* Administration, planning
268.2* Buildings, equipment, media
268.3* Personnel, teacher training, teaching
268.4 Christian education of specific age groups, classes of persons
268.5 Records and rules
268.6* Methods of instruction and study
268.7* Non-instructional activities (youth ice-breakers, fund-raisers, camp games, and other activities that do not tie in to an educational goal)
268.8* Special programs (VBS, camps & retreats, AWANA, etc.)
268.9* Curriculum
*Call numbers marked with an asterisk (*) apply to the CE Collection. With the exception of 268.9-99, all of the class numbers above can be used for items in the General Collection.
Subject Headings & Subdivisions
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Christian education
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Christian education—Activity programs
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Christian education of children
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Christian education of young people
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Christian ethics
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Christian life
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Christian life—Biblical teaching
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Church camps
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Church decoration and ornament
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Church group work
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Church work with children
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Church work with married people
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Church work with new church members
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Church work with single people
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Church work with teenagers
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Church work with young adults
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Church work with youth
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Curriculum planning
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Discipling (Christianity)
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Recreation in church work
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Religious education of young people
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Sunday school superintendents
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Sunday school teachers
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Teaching
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Visual aids
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Visual education
Other Resources
Many theses and dissertations related to church ministry can be located by searching the Theological Research Exchange Network database.
Last Updated: August 8, 2007
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