Freda Shamma is a writer and curriculum development director from Cincinnati, and the mother of five. An essay she wrote, “Teaching Your Child About Islam,” encourages parents to be Islamic role models for their children and was presented at the annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America. Shamma can also speak about the […]

Dorothy C. Bass is director of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith. This project, funded by the Lilly Endowment and based at Valparaiso University in Indiana, works to develop resources to help people live out the practices of Christian faith with integrity. Bass can speak about teaching children to resist the […]

Scottie May is assistant professor of Christian formation and ministry at Wheaton College in Illinois. Her emphasis is on children’s ministry, and her research includes how children come to faith. She is co-author of Children Matter: Celebrating Their Place in the Church, Family and Community.

Stuart Z. Charmé is a professor of religion at Rutgers University at the campus in Camden, N.J. For more than a decade, Charmé has interviewed Jewish children and teenagers about their religious beliefs and ideas – focusing particularly on how gender affects a child’s understanding of Jewish history and practice.

Thomas Lickona is a developmental psychologist and education professor at the State University of New York at Cortland. He also directs the Center for the 4th and 5th Rs (Respect and Responsibility), which emphasizes the development of character and ethics in children. He is the author of Character Matters: How to Help Our Children Develop Good Judgment, Integrity and Other Essential […]

The ECLA’s social statement on sexuality, approved in August 2009.

Mollie Painton is a licensed psychologist and play therapist from Fort Collins, Colo., and founder of the SpiritPlay Institute. She is the author of the 2007 book Encouraging Your Child’s Spiritual Intelligence and says that spiritual children – compassionate and wise – can be healers and teachers for the world.

Kevin E. Lawson is a professor of Christian education at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University in La Mirada, Calif. He helped organize a national conference in 2003 on children’s spirituality (such conferences are being held every three years) and can speak about trends in children’s ministry.

Marcia McQuitty, an experienced preschool educator, is associate professor of childhood ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.