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[Updated] Update to the Friday Round-up
Camassia has a response to Up Lummox's post on church authority that describes partly why she left her church and is looking for a new one. One of the commentators suggested she explore going to seminary or taking some theology classes somewhere. She sees a lot of people searching at the school she's at, too:
"I have actually met a number of students who are here to learn, study, search, clarify, who want to be challenged--and who have absolutely no intention of going into the ministry. They have found that they just plain need to be here, studying to satisfy their own need to learn, not able to declare fully what it is they really know or believe. They're here because they are hungrier than most, and they aren't getting the nutrition they crave just by going to church."
I will confirm that that's why some people go to seminary, too. And my friend at Garrett concurs, once remarking that seminary has replaced catechesis in churches for many people. But why did churches drop the ball? Isn't it sad that churches aren't able to provide the nutrition to those who crave heartier meals? I'm aware of programs like RCIA and Alpha Course, though I don't know how intense or "meaty" they are. So perhaps I should qualify my statement above: Isn't it sad that mainline Protestant churches aren't able... Now, it's not all dismal - for example, the United Methdodist Church has Disciple Bible Study (3 or 4 levels now, I think) and Christian Believer, but still Camassia's post should be a wake up call for many of our churches.
Sometimes I think that if the whole Ph.D thing doesn't work out or doesn't happen for me, I'd like to become a Director of Adult Education in a church somewhere. Problem is, this doesn't exist as far as I've seen. Many larger churches have a part-time or full-time Director of Christian Education, but this usually means Children's Ministries. Why do we have such emphasis on children and youth education but not adult education?
UPDATE: Camassia didn't mean simply taking classes to learn about the faith. She writes: "I need to see how a person lives with faith -- how it transforms your outlook, your relationships, your life."
I did go through an Alpha course last year at Christian Assembly, the
church I attended with Telford (in fact, Telford went through the course
with me). I enjoyed it a lot, but more for the table discussions than the
instruction, which was very basic. One of my frustrations with that church,
actually, was that after the course was over we all kind of dispersed into
the megachurch and there wasn't really a way to continue what we'd started
there. Back in the ancient church the catechumenate apparently took two or
three years, and that makes more sense to me than expecting a two-month
course to accomplish what is, after all, a seismic shift in one's way of
living and understanding the universe.
Yeah...hmmm...
I preached on this idea of studying. It goes both ways. There are some who have the motivation and cannot find the catechesis. There are some who have no motivation and ministers are pulling teeth to get people to look in their Bibles.
Somehow our churches have dummied down to a middle ground. Though this seems to give room for all, I wonder sometimes if this is a good idea. I obviously have my bias. I have two master degrees and still feel like I know nothing. Lay members of a congregation with no formal eduaction but with a great love of their tradition can be a huge resource to catechesis. They do the work because the love God and take their tradition seriously.
As pastors, maybe this is what we should nurture and allow for these people to assist in helping others grow, teaching us all to be disciples.
I dunno. Half-formed thoughts and ideas...biased oens at that. What do you think? How would you "fix it?" Where is teh root of the trouble?
Could you drop me your contact info again? I seem to have lost
it.
marck@northwestern.edu
(Yep -- it's time for me to catch up on WW episodes!)
M
Visit me @ http://instantcomma.blog-city.com
The Director of Adult Education at a parish is the pastor. And the
emphasis on children's Sunday School as the focus of 'Christian Education'
is end result of a rather long nineteenth century story. Basically, the
classic idea is that parents are to teach their children (all those
baptismal vows, where we promise to 'place in their hands the Holy
Scirptures, teach them the Creed, the Commandments,' and so on). The
current way just doesn't really work, and allows parents to get off the
hook. Oh, and I got THRASHED at seminary for even suggesting this...
Darn! Now what am I supposed to do with my life? I guess I was thinking
of big churches with a lot of staff. My church just has the senior pastor
and the Pastor of Discipleship, who are elders (ordained to Word, Table and
Order) and the Pastor of Youth and Family Ministry, who is a deacon
(ordained to Word and Service). I've never attended a very big church, but
my seminary roommate was on the pastoral staff at a United Methodist
mega-type of church in Texas, and they had 10 or so pastors, youth staff,
children's staff, etc. I started to wonder why churches have staff to
coordinate the children's ministries but not the adult programs. I see
your point, though. There was one Christian Ed prof at seminary who didn't
believe Sunday School should be divided by age and wanted the whole system
revamped, but I never took any of those classes so I can't tell you anymore
about it.
Reflecting further on what Camassia is searching for, I think the answer isn't just more classes, but more formation in the faith. Don't let me speak for you, Camassia, but from what she said -"I need to see how it transforms you" that's a lot more than teach me what I need to believe intellectually. I think your sermon hit it right, Tripp:
"The hearing of the word is not an empty thing. As God is made present for us through the hearing of Scripture, through our study of it, we are transformed, we are reconciled to one another. The grace of God is poured out upon us through scripture..."
But if you're in a church like Camassia was where you just don't see that happening, how are you supposed to learn what being a Christian is all about?