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Archive for April 2010
GET WISDOM 109: The Last Episode
Posted on Thursday, April 08, 2010 at 1:36 PM by Jason Barker
In this episode, Jason talks about the end of the GET WISDOM podcast.
Podcast (MP3): Click here to download.
Posted in Episodes
The Future of My Bible Studies and GET WISDOM
Posted on Friday, April 02, 2010 at 11:41 AM by Jason Barker
Two weeks ago, I posted a request for feedback regarding the usage of my Bible studies for Orthodox Christian teens, and interest in future studies. Below is what I sent to the people who responded to this request for feedback.
Based on the feedback I received, I've decided the following:
1. To continue creating quizzes on the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew;
2. To create limited study guides on the Gospel; and
3. To discontinue the Get Wisdom podcast.
You can learn more about these decisions, and what they will mean for your parish, below.
For those of you who are unaware, I made my appeal for feedback because, due to a change in life circumstances, I need to free up time in my schedule for new responsibilities. This necessitated determining which of the many volunteer activities I do for the Church will need to be reduced (or cut completely).
Based on your feedback, combined with years of website statistics, I've decided the following regarding my Bible study resources:
1) The resources I create that are most used by youth workers and teen leaders, at least in preparing for Bible Bowl, are the quizzes. Almost all of you stated the teens in your parishes use the quizzes, and the number of quizzes downloaded from the Orthodox Christian Bible Studies website (http://www.orthodoxyouth.org) exceeds the number of study guides downloaded by almost 300 percent.
I will therefore continue to create quizzes for Matthew (and, for those of you who asked, I will finish the quizzes for the Catholic Epistles study in the next few weeks).
2) The majority of you said that the teens in your parishes use the study guides; however, a notable percentage explicitly stated that your parishes do not use the study guides and, as I mentioned above, far fewer study guides than quizzes are downloaded from the Bible Studies website.
Because a reasonable number of teens use the study guides, I will continue to create study materials for Matthew. However, I've also decided to reduce the scope of these study guides. Therefore, instead of writing commentaries for each chapter of Matthew, I will create an overview (most likely as an outline), and will include selected quotations from saints and Orthodox teachers to help teens better understand the key points of the chapter and apply the teaching to their lives.
Creating these more limited study guides will ensure that I can continue providing useful study materials for youth workers and teens, but will also free up a significant amount of desperately needed time in my schedule.
3) Unfortunately, ceasing to write full commentaries for the study guides means that I will no longer be able to produce the Get Wisdom podcast. The content for Get Wisdom is taken directly from the study guide commentaries -- since I will no longer be writing these commentaries, I will no longer have content for the Get Wisdom podcast. Get Wisdom will therefore conclude with episode 109, where I will announce that the podcast series is ending.
This does not mean, however, that I will no longer produce podcasts that are relevant to teens. I will continue producing Orthodox Life Tips (http://orthodoxresource.com/category/orthodox-life-tips/), my daily one-minute podcast with tips from saints and Orthodox teachers on aspects of daily life, for the Orthodox Christian Network.
I will also continue producing studies, which include the re/CALL podcast for teens (http://www.orthodoxyouth.org/recall), for Ancient Faith Radio. My current study, Worship & You (http://worshipandyou.com), contains free study guides, discussion guides, and podcasts on carrying the transforming power of Orthodox worship into daily life.
You can always find the most recent study guides, articles, and podcasts I create for Orthodox teens and adults on my Orthodox Resource website at http://www.orthodoxresource.com.
Thank you again for your feedback. Please feel free to contact me at any time with any comments, questions, or suggestions you may have.
Have a blessed Holy Week and celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord.
Posted in News