Christian Educator's Handbook on Adult Education

Description

Get historical insight and practical help for your adult Christian education needs.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 février 1998
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441231758
• Langue: English

Extrait

© 1993 by Kenneth O. Gangel and James C. Wilhoit
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids. MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without prior written permission from the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
ISBN 978-1-4412-3175-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Other quotations are from The New King James Version ( NKTV ). © 1979, 1980 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Publishers; the New American Standard Bible ( NASB ), © the Lockman Foundation I960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977; J.B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English ( PH ). Revised Edition. © J.B. Phillips, 1958, 1960, 1972, permission of Macmillan Publishing Co. and Collins Publishers; the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible ( NRSV ), © 1989 by the Directors of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America; and the Authorized King James Version ( KJV ).
The internet addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers in this book are accurate at the time of publication. They are provided as a resource. Baker Publishing Group does not endorse them or vouch for their content or permanence.
CONTENTS
COVER
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
INTRODUCTION
1. Biblical Foundations for Adult Education
Kenneth O. Gangel
2. Theological Foundations for Adult Education
Edward L. Hayes
3. Christian Adults and Spiritual Formation
James C. Wilhoit
4. Cultural Factors of North American Adults
Gregory C. Carlson
5. Psychology of Adulthood
John M. Dettoni
6. Contributions of Malcolm Knowles
Malcolm S. Knowles
7. Learning from Gender Differences
Catherine M. Stonehouse
8. How Adults Learn
Richard Patterson
9. Inductive Teaching: Strategy for the Adult Educator
Duane H. Elmer
10. Small Groups in Adult Education
Samuel L. Canine
11. Setting and Achieving Objectives for Adult Learning
Warren S. Benson
12. Curriculum for Adult Education
James C. Galvin/David R. Veerman
13. Teaching Young Adults
Fred R. Wilson
14. Teaching Middle Adults
Wesley R. Willis
15. Teaching Older Adults
Robert E. Fillinger
16. Single Adults and Single Parents
Patricia A. Chapman
17. The “Critical Years” of Young Adulthood
Richard E. Butman
18. Family Life Education
James R. Slaughter
19. Adult Education with Persons from Ethnic Minority Communities
Robert W. Pazmiño
20. Adult Sunday School
Harold J. Westing
21. Programming Adult Education in the Local Church
Stanley S. Olsen
22. Mentoring and Discipling
Allen D. Curry
23. Seminars and Workshops
James A. Davies
24. Illustrations of Effective Church Education with Adults
Michael S. Lawson
CONTRIBUTORS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
BACK COVER
INTRODUCTION
In 1989 the United Way of America published an outstanding trend analysis handbook entitled What Lies Ahead: Countdown to the 21st Century. In the introduction to that volume, the Environmental Scan Committee which prepared the research identified “Changedrivers: Nine Leading Forces Reshaping American Society.” Included in their list were such familiar items as globalization, economic restructuring, and the information-based economy. They entitled the first item “The Maturation of America” and dealt with many of the items which make up the fabric of this book. Regarding the maturation of America, the United Way people observe:

This trend starts with the maturing of the baby boom generation as these individuals move into their prime family-, household-, and asset-formation phrase. It also includes trends pertaining to the “graying of America” the growth of the age-65-and-over population, a more active, more affluent group than existed in previous generations. Accompanying the aging of the population is the related psychological phenomenon of a maturing and increasing sophistication of tastes. The U.S. is leaving an era obsessed with youth, and moving into one that will be more realistic, more responsible, and more tolerant of diversity. [1]
Specific statistics are offered for every point, but in general the report observes what we already know that the population will continue to grow older; the median age will continue to rise; there will be a decline in the proportion of young adults; a sharp increase in the proportion of middle-aged Americans (thirty-five fifty-four) will occur; a dramatic increase in the proportion of Americans over seventy-five will result; and there will be a political activism which will pragmatically reflect the aging of the society.
We consider it likely that the evangelical community, which has only now begun to reposition itself to minister to 76 million Baby Boomers, will have given very little thought to what happens when those active, young, and middle-age adults move into older age brackets. Already national news magazines have observed that Boomers are returning to church and that more than 80 percent of them consider themselves religious and believe in life after death.
The first Boomers become fifty in 1996 and four years later (to borrow the framework of the United Way report) move into older adulthood. Is it possible that churches which have radically restructured their programs and services to accommodate the external sociological preferences of Baby Boomers will find those very people rejecting the change and opting for more traditional models? Trading in hymnbooks for worship chorus slides; exchanging organs and pianos for worship bands; offering a message of languorous good-will these have been Band-Aid ™ solutions calculated to draw people into public meetings but unproven in meeting their inner needs.
Right now these are radical changes, but what will happen by the end of the decade? One could argue that Busters will replace the Boomers and are likely to want even more radical worship and educational patterns, but we have no clear-cut research to argue that point. We do know, however, that demographers expect as many as 1 million Boomers to reach the age of 100 and to both continue and increase their dominant influence in national institutions including the church.
Most of the authors contributing to this volume seem to concur that the church has not yet awakened to its responsibilities and potential in adult education. We still live in that youth culture the United Way report insists we are leaving behind. Placement directors in Christian colleges and seminaries regularly find requests for youth directors and, occasionally, a director of children’s ministry. Directors of adult education, discipleship, and family life appear only in the mega-church pattern and then well down the line of priority staffing.
Yet Americans over the age of sixty-five have increased their ranks by 50 percent since 1950 and will increase another 75 percent by 2030. Adults make up about 73.9 percent of the population and by the year 2000 should number about 200 million. The 1980 median age of 30 will climb to 38.4 by the end of this decade. Meanwhile, the youth population continues to shrink.

During the 1990s the 18-25 age group will decrease by 12 percent. In 1980 there were 4.2 million 19 year olds; in 1992 there will be 3.1 million. The fastest growing age group in America is the age group over 85. By 1998 the number of Americans over 85 will have grown by 50 percent. At the same time there will be a 45 percent increase in 45-50 year olds and a 21 percent increase in those 75-84. [2]
Meanwhile, largely because of inadequate philosophies of leadership among pastoral staff members, lay leadership struggles and volunteerism languishes. We desperately need a lay renewal, a new emphasis on the universal priesthood of believers in the ministry of God’s people. According to an ETA survey, churches spend six times more for music than for worker training, and 60,000 churches do not report one annual conversion. Yet the genius of the New Testament clearly focused on lay ministry, not the dominance of professional theologians. George Barna puts it this way:

For more churches to grow, both in numbers and spiritual depth, a major overhaul of our approach to lay leadership must also transpire. Often, pastors complain that there are not enough people willing to be leaders in the church. In actuality, our research has shown that there are more than enough people capable and willing to serve in leadership roles. However, people will refuse to accept the burden of responsibility alone. They must be involved in team ministry, partnering with the clergy and other leaders to make ministry happen. [3]
No book on adult education can complete its task without some focus on family life education. Though we have included only one chapter directly aimed at this crucial ministry, many other authors have dealt with it in the broader sense. The United Way report observes trends we have come to expect slow growth in the number of single person households; slowing increase in the number of childless married-couple households; a slowing of the baby boomlet (echo boom) in the mid-1990s. But they also are calling for a decline in the divorce rate and an increase in family violence. As the chaotic outside world tries to force the family to be a more stabilizing force, at the same time internal stresses make it less able to fulfill its supportive role. In America over 2.3 million people live together without a marriage bond (POSSLQS), and 700,000