Adult Education

TUES., MAY 16, 1995, 7:14 AM
FARM, STUDY

Your time and service as a member of the Session of your church is now over, except for one more set of minutes. I’ll advise you to do these right away, even today, and complete that commitment. You have enjoyed being in this group of ruling elders, as you have over these many years in four churches. But now it is time to rest from such involvement.

The Newsletter is your continuing opportunity for a unique form of adult education. In the rush of getting an issue written you often forget that what you write can be more than objective news. In myriad ways you can remind your readers, and you do have a few faithful, even avid ones, that they all should be… and are… servants of Mine in this Body of Mine, called the Church. Be ever mindful that the chance to write or rewrite an item is a chance to offer “instruction”, of the best kind.

You shall continue to be a leader for what are now called Adult Forums, a form, certainly, of adult education. You enjoy this task, and at the same time are rightly cynical about efforts in educating adults in the church setting. Remember that the most crucial offering you bring to any adult group is your own enthusiasm for learning and for helping others in this activity, important even in the adult years.

Your cynicism is an honest one and not a doleful one. You just see that the majority of adults, in the congregations of which you have been a part, don’t seem to have the time or the inclination to be involved in study, even that which requires no preparation. It is as if they know all they need to know… but then, there’s that other factor…

You learned of it years ago, you have shared it, and you have experienced it, in some measure. It is that older folks just don’t want to appear to fail or be inadequate, publicly. And you should be able to see that in adult Christian education this is particularly crucial. If you’re claiming to be a Christian…and your Reformed tradition emphasizes the need for each of you to be knowledgeable about this faith you claim… you don’t want to be shown… and to show to others… that you don’t have the understanding that you should have. Any “class” group in which you are unprepared could be an embarrassment. The older you get the more you want to avoid such embarrassing situations.

Despite a rather long heritage in your Protestant tradition that I, the Living Word, Jesus, and/or I, the Holy Spirit, can speak to you directly through Holy Scripture there is still a great reluctance to express insights about Scripture, theology, Christian history, and even contemporary applications of this faith. Anyone who seeks to educate adults, as you do, must recognize this tendency and treat your learners very gently. Encourage study beforehand, but don’t embarrass those who don’t. Many will just not return…and you want them to return.