Companions,
A colleague of mine has some research findings to add to our earlier thread about Christian Education. Among them, in the samples included in his research, are the following:
1) Four-out-of-five UM adults (80.4%) report “little” or “no” interest in Sunday school, Bible study, or small group formation experiences.
2)Two-out-of-five (39.1%) claim that believing that Jesus Christ is God’s true son is enough — since they have a guaranteed spot in heaven, they don’t have anything else of value to learn.
3)An additional 48% believe that attending weekly worship is adequate, and that there is no need for any other formational experience in their lives.
4) “Boring” is the number one word or phrase associated with Sunday school (among all adults).
5) “Fellowship with friends” is the number one reason adults attend Sunday school classes.
6) Those adults who attend Bible studies find them “interesting” and “informative,”
7) Only 1-in-6 (17%) report finding practical information that applies to their daily lives.
8) About one-third (31%) of regular Sunday school attendees can remember what their class was about within the first 24 hours. This drops to less than 10% after one week, 3% after two weeks, and essentially 0% after three weeks.
Source: GBOD Research News and Views
This, of course, represents the typical regimen of adult Christian education via the adult Sunday School in the United Methodist Church. It does not capture what may be happening in venues where Christian formation, community building, and missional deployment are intrinsically and intentionally linked.
Still, the question remains, where are you seeing different results in what you're doing with adult formation? How do you know you're getting different results? And what would you suggest to others considering the significant changes that are obviously necessary if United Methodists are going to move beyond the failure of the adult Sunday School to form disciples, much less missionaries, in Jesus' name?
Peace in Christ,
Taylor Burton-Edwards
5 comments:
I am not at all surprised by any of this. Disturbed, yes but not surprised. In the small churches where I am pastor I cannot get even the leadership interested in any type of formation. No one seems to "have the time" to study or participate in anything. What ever happened to Wesley's vital piety, heart and head. It is very difficult to get people in the congregation to participate in formation experiences when the lay leadership sees no need to be involved in participating, or heaven forbid, leading small accountability groups in study.
This is my first time to this blog, so I'm not sure if my comments are welcome or not (or even valid, for that matter). I don't know where the conversation has come from previously, so I don't understand the full context of what has been and continues to go on (which is always dangerous).
Like Ed, I'm not surprised by any of this either. On the other hand, I'm also not disturbed by it. From my own experiences there are just so many embarrassing examples of Sunday school classes, Bible studies, and other various adult formation groups. I don't blame people for not wanting to be involved in them.
Why should they want to be involved in them? (I'm asking a serious question).
...why do we have Sunday school and other CE programs?
Don't get me wrong, I believe such things are important; but clearly the way we're used to doing them isn't working. We have to be more creative. (Hopefully that's what this blog and group of people is about). ...and maybe we have the wrong goals/outcomes in mind.
I don't know.
Grace and Peace,
Tim
Like Tim I can't imagine why people would want to be involved in formation as we know it in (most)churches these days. I agree that we need to seriously look at new ways of preparing people for mission in the world, starting with their own back yard (community.) I am trying to find ways to do just this and Sunday School/CE as it is done today isn't it. e need new and innovative ideas. Are there any out there?
Here are some of the issues I've experienced/witnessed... and some thoughts.
1. Many small groups, Bible studies, etc. last for a relatively short amount of time (say 12 weeks). Ideally once the group has officially ended folks will keep getting together to continue the conversation. I'm not sure this happens. What happens if we ask people to make a commitment to each other for a long period? (1 year; 2 or 3?) I imagine there are already several churches doing this.
2. Similarly, many groups are relatively narrowly focused. [This group] gets together to study the Bible... [This group] gets together to serve the homeless... [This group] gets together for fellowship... etc. Are there groups that integrate it all? (Once a month we study together, once a month we serve together, once a month we have dinner together, etc.)
3. When there are service/mission opportunities I feel like they are often set by the leadership, who then try to find people to volunteer for them. Shouldn't we rather find out what people are passionate about, and as leadership, do whatever we can to support them?
Again these are just some brief thoughts based on my very limited experience. I hope I don't come across as being negative toward the church. I do love the Church and think she can be beautiful.
Grace and Peace
I recently came to the UMC out of a restoration tradition church. Before leaving, I was a coordinator and frequent teacher in the Sunday school program. I can tell you that, with a few exceptions, we were experiencing the same things.
Some of my observations were as follows:
1. Sunday school classes form and bond, and people become motivated to attend, based on their desire to participate in community. Indeed, we found that connection with a Sunday school class was a primary predictor of how "connected" a person felt to the church body more generally.
2. This is not a bad thing, but it means that a sense of "ownership" of the group by its members is important. Welcoming and encouraging members to do announcements, lead prayers, organize projects, etc. does wonders for the life of the group. (Think of it as a "church within a church").
3. A healthy balance of conversation and information is important to keep the curriculum interesting and relevant. Too much lecturing, and people feel disconnected. Too much discussion, and things feel unfocused. Likewise, alternating between in-depth textual studies and practical how-to topical studies seemed to keep things invigorated.
4. Once this stage is set, its not that difficult to challenge the class with new ideas. In my particular experience, the class was well aware that I approached scipture and theology from a "third way"/emergent perspective. They didn't always agree, but always welcomed the chance to be challenged by new perspectives.
Your mileage may vary - there are certainly a few differences between the two faith traditions.
Nevertheless, I'm following this discussion with some interest - the next challenge for me is to jump-start a UMC university/twenty-something Sunday school class!
Peace to all.
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