Christian Education is
a lifelong process of learning to observe all things the Master
commanded us; it is concerning every area of our lives to be
submissive to the will of God which is found in His word. The
church should be heavily involved in seeking ways to aid
believers to live the saved life. This has never been optional,
but in a day of moral upheaval and spiritual confusion, it is
more imperative now than it has ever been. The church should be
involved in teaching the whole counsel of God, and seek to
"bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of
Christ."
- New Member
Orientation
We can not expect people to get on board
the churches program unless they know what is expected of
them. They must be presented with a manual of how we
operate. They must be presented with rule but not
legalism.
- Teacher's Training
It
is to our shame that we have so long tolerated mediocrity
in church school, which we would not accept in secular
school. All teachers should be taught and they should
complete a prescribed course of study and be certified
before teaching. Our teacher's training should go on
consistently.
- Doctrinal Teaching
Many
think that Doctrine divides people and that as long as
"you know Jesus," you don't have to worry about
anything else the Bible says. Much of the religious
confusion of our day can be traced to this kind of
thinking. But Doctrine is like the bone structure of the
body and without bones to hold the body together, the
muscles and nerves cannot move the body along. Serious
attention needs to be given to Doctrine.
- Stewardship Class
An on going Stewardship
Class is a must, and each person applying for membership
in the church should be instructed in the meaning of
Church Membership and Christian Discipleship. This would
be pertaining to the entire sphere of what it is to be a
Christian.
- Seminars/Institutes/Workshop
Throughout
the calendar year, there should be special sessions to
focus on areas of special needs.
- Revamped Church
School
Sunday
School, as we know it, is an educational monstrosity;
from the stand point of education alone, it is totally
inadequate. The only redeeming feature of the Sunday
School is its subject matter, the work of God. So despite
our inadequacies, God overrules and uses our attempts to
His own glory and honor. But if we are really serious
about Christian Education, we must recognize that Sunday
School needs radical adjustments. Sunday School in most
churches meets for an hour and one-half on Sunday
mornings. When you deduct the time spent in opening,
closing, passing to classes, reassembling, record
keeping, etc., you only have about 20 minutes for half an
hour for the actual teaching. All too often the teacher
is not qualified or ill prepared. We would never tolerate
this in our children's secular schooling. I dream of a
time when each teacher will have completed and approved
course of study and be certified. We also need our
curriculum changed to provide for more comprehensive and
in depth study of the Bible, we will do this by
incorporating catechism in our Sunday School for a start.
Also, there is a need for a change in the time to allow
for sufficient time to do an effective job. We cannot
possibly do the job that is needed in 20 minutes, once a
week. Some Jewish children attend Synagogue School
several hours in the week; we need to consider such
ideas.
Rev.
Michael E. Coleman, Senior Pastor
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