My Professional Life

I serve as the Price-Lebar Professor of Christian Education at Wheaton College in the area of Christian Formation and Ministry. I am also Adjunct Professor of Educational Studies for the Ph.D and Ed.D. programs at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. I have been teaching in higher education for 30 years.

My Classes 2007-2008
I am teaching Human Development and Ministry, Culture and Ministry, and Research Methods in Christian Education at Wheaton College. In June, 2007, I taught a doctoral level class in Qualitative Research Methods at HoneyRock camp.

Qualitative Research Resources
These are some of my materials related to qualitative research methods, including a 100 page booklet on video methods in qualitative research, developed from my dissertation work. I have received many positive comments on these materials from students and faculty in many areas of the world as well as the United States and Canada, and the video methods book was the basis upon which I was asked to do a chapter in a book on qualitative research for the American Psychological Association (published in 2003). You may also want to check out my Ministry Research Methods web page.

Publications
I have authored, coauthored, and/or edited 15 books and booklets, as well as a couple dozen journal articles. In addition I have written individual chapters for another 7 books. Most of my writing relates to psychology, religious education, research methods, and children. This section of my page lists my books, other publications, and lecture notes from several classes. The complete text of Raising Your Child: From Birth to Age Twelve also is available here, without charge. My most recent book is on children's spiritual development, taken from the conference described below.

The Children's Spirituality Web Page
Children's religious and spiritual development have been an area of interest and study since the 1970's. I served on a planning team for a conference on children's spirituality which was held in June, 2003, as well as the second conference held in June, 2006. Planning is now under way for a third conference tentatively scheduled for 2009. I also have summaries of many books related to the research in this area, which is an ongoing and regularly expanding project.

Conference Presentations, Papers, and Perspectives of Education
I have presented workshops for several graduate schools, including the clinical psychology program at Wheaton College, the counseling and education programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Talbot School of Theology (several faculty from Rosemead Graduate School of Psychology attended). I also addressed the psychology department at Fuller Graduate School of Psychology and served as a research consultant at Concordia University, River Forest. I have had the privilege of giving regular and extended presentations at a variety of national and international conferences.

My Background in Qualitative Research and Children's Spirituality
This is a bit more autobiographical, with the emphasis is upon the development of my interest in children's spiritual development and qualitative research methods.

The Rest of My Life

soli deo gloria