Newton, students’ research published
FOR RELEASE: Thursday, December 9, 2004
Huntington, Ind. "Dr. Gary Newton, professor of educational ministries at the Huntington College Graduate School of Christian Ministries, recently contributed a chapter to the book Children's Spirituality, published in August 2004 by Cascade Books. Research for the chapter Ministering to Unchurched, Urban, At-risk Children was completed in the fall of 2002 in collaboration with students in Newton's Family and Children's Ministry class. Students contributing were Ben Newton, Jennifer (Herring) Dakin, Becky Laumbattus, and Melissa Fenker. They helped design research questions and conducted interviews with 15 program directors of successful ministries located throughout the United States and Canada. These students were also volunteers for Huntington Kid's Club, an outreach to unchurched children in the community of which Newton is the founder and director.
Newton presented the results of this research at the North American Association of Professors of Christian Education Conference in 2002 and at the Children's Spirituality Conference in 2003. Following these presentations, Newton was invited to submit an article, Ministering to Unchurched, Urban, At-Risk Children, which was published in the Lutheran Education Journal in the spring of 2004. He was then asked to write the chapter for Children's Spirituality. Newton has utilized the research results for church workshops, for presentation in Huntington College chapel, and for the enrichment of the Huntington Kid's Club ministry.
Dr. Newton received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Houghton College and his Master of Arts degree and Ph.D. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Prior to his service at Huntington, Newton taught at Taylor University and Denver Seminary. He has also served as senior pastor, Christian education pastor and youth pastor at various churches throughout the United States. In addition, he has spent five summers in Kenya training pastors. He is the author of numerous articles and book chapters, as well as the book Growing Toward Spiritual Maturity.
