Faculty/Staff
Arts and Humanities

Dr. Marian R. Plant,
Associate Professor of Christian Education

Bio
Marian currently serves as Associate Professor and Schauffler Chair of Christian Education at The Defiance College in Defiance, Ohio and is Co-Coordinator of the Design for Leadership of Defiance College. The Design for Leadership is a distance learning undergraduate program in Christian religious education serving primarily nontraditional age students working in local churches in capacities such as directors of Christian education, youth leaders, and directors of children's and family ministries. She teaches two of the courses in this program, Child Development and Nurture and Foundations of Religious Education.

Marian works as an Education Consultant for the United Church of Christ, and serves on the Committee on Certification for Church Educators, United Church of Christ.

Marian is a member of the Association of United Church Educators (AUCE), the Religious Education Association (REA), and the Association of Professors and Researchers of Religious Education (APRRE). She is an active member of the Great Lakes Association of United Church Educators (GLAUCE).

Marian received her B.A. in Religion and Philosophy from The Defiance College, Defiance Ohio; her M. Div. from The Methodist Theological School in Ohio; and her Doctor of Education from Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois. In addition to being an ordained minister, she is a Certified Specialist in Church Education in the United Church of Christ.

Research Interests include the development of men's faith maturity and implications for education in the local church, including implications for the church school. She has conducted workshops and conferences based on findings from her research in this area.

Writer for the United Church of Christ's Inviting Word, Year 2 and 3) curriculum (1995, 1996), as well as a prototype writer for the international and ecumenical Seasons of the Spirit curriculum (2002).

Pastor and Educator in Ohio and Illinois for over 25 years. In August 2002, Marian moved to Ohio to begin her responsibilities as full-time faculty at her alma mater, The Defiance College.

Marian Plant says of herself, "I have been involved with Christian formation throughout my professional life. For me, all of ministry - preaching and worship, pastoral care and outreach, service and mission, education and fellowship, evangelism and justice – is the fertile field of formation in the Christian faith and practices. As an ordained minister I have served small rural parishes as well as large and mid-sized suburban parishes. In each setting I had the great fortune to work closely with colleagues and laity to create environments that both nurtured and challenged, and to create and sustain ministries and programs that supported the stretching and growth in faith of adults, youth, and children. Now I have the great fortune to train others for this essential ministry."

Contact
Phone:419-783-2338
e-mail: mplant@defiance.edu