This issue of Religious Education revolves around a story of collaboration across religious boundaries and commentary on the questions the story raises. Although the story and the commentary describe and analyze what happened when twenty-two religious educators in the Catholic and Jewish communities studied together over nearly three years, the implications of their encounter transcend the modest number of those involved and the particularities of their religious traditions. By engaging in a "thick" description and analysis of the Catholic-Jewish Colloquium, we hope to stimulate serious reflection on the goals and processes of conversation between religious traditions in order to foster a genuinely pluralistic society.

We believe it is appropriate that the story and commentary appear in this journal. The essays testify to the importance of projects grounded in the knowledge and know-how of religious educators, and point to the distinctive contribution the field of religious education might make to interreligious dialogue. They also point to the transformative power of educational process.

A word about the structure of this issue. Under the leadership of editor-in-chief Hanan Alexander, Religious Education has inaugurated a fourfold format. The section on "Insights from Theory" brings research and scholarship to bear on critical issues in the intersection of religion and education, while that on "Insights from Practice" provides readers with studies of educational practice as well as reflections by practitioners. "Forum" includes conversations across different traditions of faith and points of view. "Critique" contains reviews of books and other resources.

Readers will find that this issue encompasses this format at its deepest level while following an organization more organic to the project under discussion. The issue as a whole is a forum, and in each section readers will find insights from theory and practice intertwined. Of the eighteen authors who offer commentary, eight participated in the Colloquium, and write from the perspective of their experience. The other ten work principally in colleges and universities. The annotated bibliography on Christian-Jewish Relations constitutes our contribution to the resources on this important subject.

We owe enormous gratitude to many. First and foremost, our thanks to the Lilly Endowment, Inc., not simply for the generous grant that supported our venture, but to the personal involvement of Drs. James Wind (now of the Alban Institute), Edward Queen II (now of Indiana University) and Craig Dykstra. We are grateful to the Institute of Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore, through whom the grant was managed. Director Christopher Leighton, associate Rosann Catalano and former associate Shira Lander, and coordinator Joan Marie Stief were a source of much help. Charles and Peggy Obrecht, so active in the Institute, offered us hospitality and support through every phase of the project. Our thanks, too, to the guest scholars whose expertise stimulated such rich reflection: John Coleman, Celia Deutsch, Hasia Diner, Anthony Saldarini and Michael Signer. Guests Elizabeth Losinski, Donald Goor and Dorothy Bass lent us their wisdom. Moreover, Dorothy’s intense interest in our project sparked many conversations that that have been central to our thinking and stimulate us to further collaboration.

We thank our eighteen authors who responded so thoughtfully and promptly to our invitation to write, and to Karin Case whose help has been invaluable in the editing process. We acknowledge with gratitude the work of Hanan Alexander and and the editorial staff of Religious Education, as well as the sage counsel of Barbara Ryan of the Religious Education Association.

Finally, we express our profound indebtedness to the commitment and love of the twenty-two religious educators who participated in the Catholic-Jewish Colloquium. We list them below, because it is to them that we dedicate this issue.

Mary C. Boys and Sara S. Lee

February 24, 1996