Leaven Leaven

Volume 7 Issue 2 Adult Nurture Article 10

1-1-1999

Reflections of an Adult Educator Reflections of an Adult Educator

Tamsen Murray

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Adult Nurture 103

Reflectionsof

An Adult Educator

BY TAMSEN MURRAY

One of the greatest blessings inthe Christian life is to know that yourlife and/or words impact the life ofanother person. I shall never forgetthe feelings of amazement and awethat simultaneously enveloped meearly in my years of ministry the firsttime I heard one of the young peoplein the youth group repeat one of myfrequently used phrases. I wasamazed that he or she had in factbeen listening to me, all externalevidence to the contrary notwith-standing. Sobering self-examinationquickly followed: Were those en-trusted to my ministry hearing theright things?

In more recent years, there wasthe experience of teaching a singlesclass over a period of time longenough that the subject of steward-ship made its second run through thecongregational calendar. Financialmatters are touchy enough for mostfolk, but throw in the element ofsingle parenthood in the expensivemarketplace of southern California,and the teacher must be prepared toface a less than enthusiastic audi-

ence. Imagine the joy of hearing alongtime member of the class quoteadvice she had given another singleparent: Begin somewhere in giving tothe Lord's work and set goals toincrease that giving as the Lordenables. She was not just echoingwords I had said on more than oneoccasion-she was testifying to theirtruth in her own experience.

A few months ago, I listened as aminister's wife who had known meas a junior high camper introducedme as the speaker for a women'sministry event. Sitting beside me wasa dear friend who, with her husband,had been a rock of support andencouragement in my first ministry.Also seated in the audience were twoof my former students, now activelyinvolved in leadership ministry withchildren and youth in that church. Itwas a special moment-a moment ofreflecting with gratitude on thosewho have played a role in educatingme and on the privilege that has beenmine to pass that education on toothers who are now planting theseeds of the gospel in still others.

Only one of these personalmemories is specifically related toadult education in the church, but allreflect the blessing that comes whenone becomes aware of havinginfluenced the life of another in apositive way for Christ--of enhanc-ing that person's growth towardspiritual maturity. For centuries,believers who by grace have taken upthe cloak of responsibility to teachwhat they have been taught about ourLord in his word to men and womenor girls and boys who in turn willteach others (2 Tim 2: 1, 2) haveexperienced this rich blessing.

Most of the congregations withwhich I have been associated haveplaced tremendous emphasis onministering to children and youth.The Christian colleges with which Iam most familiar are expected byboth students and constituentchurches to provide courses and,preferably, a major in youth ministry.At least some courses in children'sministry are expected as well.

But adult education seems to be aminor blip on the radar screen of our

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I believe that congregations shouldembrace a teaching ministry to adultswith the same fervor currentlyassociated with teaching childrenand young people

corporate consciousness in bothcongregations and colleges. Whereaschildren (and, to a lesser extent,teenagers) are seen as high-mainte-nance individuals who require muchattention and programming, adultsare viewed as people who tend totake care of themselves. Certainly,the developmental (and even anec-dotal) evidence is compelling: mostpersons who accept Christ do sobefore they become adults. Theformative years of childhood andadolescence represent the most openwindows of opportunity for evange-lism.

Having said that, however, itseems to this writer that in manycases congregations have thrown uptheir hands and resigned themselvesto the "fact" that adults can't bereached with or for the gospel. To saythat most of the people who acceptChrist do so before they becomeadults is not to say that most adultswill not be receptive to the gospelbecause they have already passedthose formative years when suchdecisions are made. It is not difficultto construct a lengthy list of criticallife decisions made during the lifecycle of an adult. Certainly, thequality of those decisions ordinarilyreflects the nature and content ofone's early training, but it is notuncommon for men and women tochange life directions during theiradult years. And it is during thosetimes of change-even crisis-that

adults are receptive to the transform-ing power of the gospel.

Therefore, I believe that enhanc-ing the spiritual formation of adultsis a critical challenge facing churchesin the closing years of this century.Further, I believe that congregationsshould embrace a teaching ministryto adults with the same fervorcurrently associated with teachingchildren and young people. In orderto do that, however, churches mustaddress some erroneous points ofview that have shaped our thinkingabout adult education. We shallexamine evidence to the contrary,especially within the larger educa-tional community of our nation. It isalso important to identify the imme-diate and long-range benefits of amore vigorous focus on adult educa-tion in the church.

First, what are some erroneousstereotypes we might find aboutadults? Adults are not a homoge-neous population, for one thing.Given the present life expectancyrates in the United States, most of uscan reasonably expect to be adults fora longer period of time than thecombined years of our childhood andadolescence. An educator who failsto understand that the developmentalchallenges facing a five-year-old arenot the same as those facing afifteen-year-old will hardly beviewed as credible. Yet, in reality, thedevelopmental challenges facing atwenty-five-year-old differ dramati-

cally from those facing a thirty-five-year-old or a forty-five-year-old, tosay nothing of a seventy-five-year-old. In fact, the developmentalchallenges facing a cohort of twenty-five-year-olds will not be identical;marital status, parenthood, careerposition, and level of education arejust a few of the possible variableswithin the cohort. There is potentialfor a much wider range of challengeswithin a group of adults who are allthe same age than there is in a groupof children who are all the same age.

For example, I and most of mycolleagues are "Early BabyBoomers." But in the space of abouteighteen months, one of my friendsbecame a first-time grandparent,adopted a six-year-old foster child,and had to place his mother in askilled nursing facility. Another hastwo daughters-one in eighth gradeand one about to start kindergarten.And neither of them feels the samepressure as the colleague whosefather and father-in-law died unex-pectedly within a span of six weeks;the care for her mother and mother-in-law while her son is finishingcollege has presented special chal-lenges. A friend once used the term"sandwich generation" in describingthe pressure of coping with raisingteenagers and caring for agingparents at the same time. I think it'san apt description.

Therefore, the church desiring tominister to adults cannot afford toassume a lockstep age-group ap-proach to class formation. Life-eventgroupings may be a more beneficialway of enhancing the spiritualformation of adults-parents ofpreschoolers, parents of teenagers,empty nesters, and so on. Better yet,in my opinion, is an intergenerationalapproach wherein Paul's instructionsin Titus 2 can be "lived out" in aneducational setting-older men and

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women mentoring (to use a currentbuzzword) younger men and women.

Another stereotype about adultsthat churches may assume is that theyalready know the Bible or aren'tinterested in learning anything more.Certainly, there is ample societalevidence of the interest of adults inlearning. Every week the Los AngelesTimes and the Orange CountyRegister (as well as countless othernewspapers across the nation, I'msure) are peppered with advertise-ments that target adult learners.Practically every private college oruniversity in southern California iscompeting for the attention ofworking adults who wish to finish orenhance their degrees. One ad says,"Your industry is changing. Yourcompany is changing. Your job ischanging. How about you?" Itemphasizes "our unique one-course-a-month format ... [and] our flexibleday and nighttime schedules" asevidence that everything about itsprogram "is designed for you-theworking adult." Another universitysays, "Completing your bachelor'sdegree is the best investment you'llever make" and notes that its pro-gram is designed for working profes-sionals. My own university's ad says,"Dream of being a teacher, counse-lor, executive or advancing yourcareer? Finish your bachelor's degreein 18 months." And I have evenreceived a mailing from one of thoseother universities, looking forqualified adjunct faculty. Nontradi-tional education for the workingadult is a growth business in highereducation today and is characterizedby creative scheduling, courses witha definite beginning and ending, and,frequently, a cohort of individualswho stay together and learn togetherfor the duration of the programthrough a fixed sequence of classes.

What might the church learnfrom this phenomenon? Adultsperceive a need for additional andongoing education in order to meetthe challenges of a constantlychanging marketplace; such educa-tion need not be limited to technicalor business expertise. Spiritualeducation is also assuredly needed toenhance one's life skills. Shortcourses with clearly stated calendarparameters may be an effective"hook" to bring adults into thechurch's educational setting. Adulteducation in the church need not betotally teacher-centered, either; adultlearners bring a wealth of experiencein a wide variety of contexts to thelearning environment. Their contribu-tions can be of immense benefit to allof the learners.

A recent note in Leadershiplisted the top spiritual needs ofAmericans today, based on a listdeveloped by pollster/researcherGeorge Gallup Jr. (Spring 1998, p.11):

1. To believe that life is meaning-ful and has a purpose

2. To have a sense of communityand deeper relationships

3. To be appreciated and re-spected

4. To be listened to5. To feel they are growing in

faith6. To get practical help in devel-

oping a mature faith

One would be hard pressed, in myopinion, to develop a more compel-ling argument for the importance ofadult education in Americanchurches today. Consider, for ex-ample, the fourth statement: To belistened to. It is difficult to imaginethat needs being met in a settingother than some kind of smaller,more intimate group than large-scalecorporate worship.

Adult Nurture 105

I have family members whoattend a very large church in Texas. Ifind it interesting that when they talkabout their church experience, theyare far more likely to wax enthusias-tic about their Sunday school classthan about the music or the preach-ing. The music and the preaching arequite good, mind you, but they don'tprovide fellowship with otherbelievers to the same extent as doestheir Sunday school class. Thatcongregation has four worshipservices every Sunday morning; thereis a full slate of adult classes duringthe second and third of those fourservices. Adult education is impor-tant there.

And that has proven beneficial tothe church, I believe. There is a long-term return to the kingdom when acongregation invests heavily inchildren's education. Lives areshaped into the image of Christ veryearly on. But the congregation itselfmayor may not directly benefit fromthat investment-and the return willnot be realized for many years.Children's ministry costs-it requiresa disproportionate share of acongregation's financial and humanresources. An adult class withtwenty-five in attendance can func-tion fairly well with only oneteacher; a similar number of learnersin a class of four-year-olds can spellbig trouble for one teacher workingalone! Likewise, a congregation thatinvests heavily in ministry to youthwill not see immediate return on theinvestment; certainly, the offeringswill not match the expenses.

Please do not misunderstand me.I am not saying that churches oughtto stop investing in children's minis-try or youth ministry. But the realityof church life is such that there canbe a more immediate return on aninvestment in adult education. Adultsare in a far better position to begin

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supporting the ministries of thechurch financially than are childrenor teenagers. The educational settingprovides greater opportunity fortargeted instruction, dialogue, andtestimony about the stewardship ofone's life and resources than isgenerally possible in the corporateworship setting. Another way inwhich the investment in adult educa-tion pays a more immediate dividendis in recruiting and developingleaders to staff the various ministriesof the church. Congregations thatplace a higher priority on children'sor youth ministry to the virtualexclusion of adult education soonbegin to have difficulty in findingable and willing volunteers to staffthose ministries. There is no "feedersystem," if you will.

Perhaps the church shouldborrow a page or two from thoselocal colleges and universities andbegin to market the advantages ofadult education programs. "Yourindustry is changing. Your companyis changing. Your job is changing.Your family is changing. How aboutyou?" Or this approach: "Looking fora place where you are appreciated,respected, and listened to? Whereyou can gain practical help in devel-oping a maturing faith?" Reorientingour thoughts about adult education inthe church is vital to individual andcorporate survival in the comingcentury. Not only must we communi-cate the benefits more creatively, wealso must be aggressive in develop-ing various ways of delivering

quality learning to the men andwomen who venture through thedoor.

The adult educator is eager totackle the challenge. I would like formy congregation to be known forexcellence in providing qualitylearning opportunities for her adults.Will you join the ranks of those whorefuse to give up on adults, thosewho believe in reaching themthrough the educational ministry ofthe church?

TAMSEN MURRAY is associate profes-sor (teaching in biblical studies andsocial science) and until recently wasregistrar at Hope InternationalUniversity (formerly Pacific Chris-tian College) in Fullerton, California.

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