Rev. Paula Comper - Gotuccdogs@aol.com -
(708)758-6700
Rev. Carol Currier-Frighetto -
ambsnana@aol.com - (815)478-4900
Rev. Tracy Heilman –tracy@community-ucc.org
- (217)328-0249
Rev. Susan Lock – revslock@yahoo.com
- (708)207-3099
Rev. Beth Wagner - beth@stlukeunion.org
- (309)663-7437
Rev. Tom Norwalk -
tnorwalk@sbcglobal.net
- (815)836-0745
Norma Storey - Retired Association Educational Consultant
Education Station…
In this column devoted to educational concerns, we hope to share both inspirational as well as practical ideas that will help to resource and inform your Christian Education programs. We’ll begin with the topic: “Why Christian Education?” These thoughts come from a resource entitled “32
Ways to Become a Great Sunday School Teacher” by Delia Halverson.
“In Biblical times the foundational faith tenets were passed to children in the home. As the Christian faith developed, formal faith education for the general population was limited to the preparation time spent before becoming a part of the fellowship of believers. In the late 1700’s, the Sunday School began in England and spread rapidly across America.
However, Christian education is more than a Sunday morning class. It can happen anywhere, and it extends into the home. It happens when Christians gather for a celebration. It happens when two persons talk together about a life problem and when someone models a Christian action.
In 1990 a study was released through the Search Institute under the title Effective Christian Education: A National Study on Protestant Congregations. Several findings came from that study. It indicated that youths and adults with the strongest maturity in faith had experienced lifetime involvement in an effective Christian education program. The study also indicated that Christian education is strengthened through nurturing a thinking climate, building a caring community, and involving people in service to others.
The research identified these traits of effective teachers involved in a variety of Christian education settings:
A willingness to grow and learn along with those whom they teach.
A knowledge of their students—their likes and dislikes, their joys and sorrows.
A knowledge of how people learn and grow through life stages.
A faith that is seen not only in words they speak, but in their actions in the congregation and the larger community.
A growing knowledge of the Bible and a willingness to continue studying and pondering the scriptures
A teaching style that invites others into the learning situation and awakes in them a desire to know God as they see God known by their teacher.