Re: Christian Education in the Small Membership Church
I atteneded this class at Missouri School of Religion and found it to be an excellent use of my time. Key points presented by Dr. Karen Tye were that small member congregations do not need to beat themselves up about not being corporate or program churches. As with individual people, God calls congregations to be and do different things. Each congregation needs to use the talents and resources God has provided with imagination and creativity to build up the body in the way and place where God has placed them. Another key emphasis was that education IS happening ALL the time. Our role as leaders/teachers/mentors is to be conscious of what we are teaching. Even when we don’t realize others are watching and learning, what we neglect, ignore or won’t talk about are also conveying a lesson. The class was held at the Rickman Center in Jefferson City and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to help other learn and grow as Christians or to grow him/herself. Vicki Schildmeyer