CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
| Christian Education Guidelines |
PURPOSE OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Education is as natural a part of life as breathing. From the day we are born, we are learning. As babies, we explore our fingers and toes. We are taught our ABCs and how to tie our shoes. We discover what we like to eat and what we don’t. We learn to approach the world from a standpoint of trust or mistrust. And we go on from there. Life is about learning, growing, adapting, and learning some more. It follows, then, that we must be taught the ABCs of our faith. That, simply stated, is the role of the ministry of Christian education, although there is more.
Form, Inform, and Transform
All of life’s experiences serve to shape us into the people we are and will become. The baby who learns basic trust is formed in a very different way from the child who doesn’t. The teen who easily learns life’s tasks has a distinctly different path from the teen who struggles to grasp those lessons. Whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) has an effect on our character, values, decisions, and behavior. As Christians and as teachers or leaders in Christian education, we carry tremendous responsibility and opportunity to forge values and behaviors that are biblically based, theologically sound, and faithfully lived out. We endeavor to form people as Christian disciples for the transformation of the world.
The ministry of Christian education and formation is a teaching ministry. Content—facts, dates, explanations, maps, meanings—is central to this ministry. It’s important to know the who, the what, the when, the how, and why of our faith as it is recorded in the Bible and beyond. It is hard to live by the words and life of Christ if we have not read or learned them.
However, information, no matter how crucial, cannot carry all the weight of Christian education ministry. Knowing about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian tradition is just a part of the whole. Knowing God through Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the saints of the church, is what takes us from being biblically literate students to being mature disciples who actively love God and neighbor. Knowing and experiencing lead to transformation.
While it is true that all of life shapes us, we are not necessarily formed with the values and principles of faith that God desires. As we learn and develop in God’s grace, we are necessarily changed—transformed—as we grow into the likeness of Christ. Becoming Christ-like is the ultimate goal for the well-formed, informed, and transformed Christian disciple.
Education is as natural a part of life as breathing. From the day we are born, we are learning. As babies, we explore our fingers and toes. We are taught our ABCs and how to tie our shoes. We discover what we like to eat and what we don’t. We learn to approach the world from a standpoint of trust or mistrust. And we go on from there. Life is about learning, growing, adapting, and learning some more. It follows, then, that we must be taught the ABCs of our faith. That, simply stated, is the role of the ministry of Christian education, although there is more.
Form, Inform, and Transform
All of life’s experiences serve to shape us into the people we are and will become. The baby who learns basic trust is formed in a very different way from the child who doesn’t. The teen who easily learns life’s tasks has a distinctly different path from the teen who struggles to grasp those lessons. Whatever happens (or doesn’t happen) has an effect on our character, values, decisions, and behavior. As Christians and as teachers or leaders in Christian education, we carry tremendous responsibility and opportunity to forge values and behaviors that are biblically based, theologically sound, and faithfully lived out. We endeavor to form people as Christian disciples for the transformation of the world.
The ministry of Christian education and formation is a teaching ministry. Content—facts, dates, explanations, maps, meanings—is central to this ministry. It’s important to know the who, the what, the when, the how, and why of our faith as it is recorded in the Bible and beyond. It is hard to live by the words and life of Christ if we have not read or learned them.
However, information, no matter how crucial, cannot carry all the weight of Christian education ministry. Knowing about God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Christian tradition is just a part of the whole. Knowing God through Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the saints of the church, is what takes us from being biblically literate students to being mature disciples who actively love God and neighbor. Knowing and experiencing lead to transformation.
While it is true that all of life shapes us, we are not necessarily formed with the values and principles of faith that God desires. As we learn and develop in God’s grace, we are necessarily changed—transformed—as we grow into the likeness of Christ. Becoming Christ-like is the ultimate goal for the well-formed, informed, and transformed Christian disciple.