What is a church supposed to teach?
Our congregation, thanks to the leadership of our adult education team, has been thinking and talking about wholesale revisions to our educational offerings for adults.
Up until recently, our church has "educated" adults through a traditional Sunday School, which (if you haven't been to one of late) consists of 60-minute long classes on Sunday mornings. Many of these classes (thanks to our congregation's wealth of leadership) are led by teachers with theology degrees or some other professional qualification. It's a traditional model for education: an "expert" prepares a curriculum and presents it and students listen and ask some questions and read a bit on their own.
Up until recently, our church has "educated" adults through a traditional Sunday School, which (if you haven't been to one of late) consists of 60-minute long classes on Sunday mornings. Many of these classes (thanks to our congregation's wealth of leadership) are led by teachers with theology degrees or some other professional qualification. It's a traditional model for education: an "expert" prepares a curriculum and presents it and students listen and ask some questions and read a bit on their own.
- The pluses of this model are that great teachers, who know the material, can bring it to life.
- The downside of the model is that it relies on experts too much, but doesn't necessarily create experts. The mode of learning (pedagogy) doesn't allow the students to become masters of the subject matter.
In some churches, the small group has eclipsed the traditional Sunday School class as the paradigm for education. A group of 6-12 folks will meet to discuss a prepared curriculum, with an emphasis on conversation.
