What is your vision for Christian Education and Formation?
My vision for CE is to develop a new generation of pastors and Christians (men and women) who will be passionate and effective educational leaders for church and mission. I want students to know that CE is about helping the church to live out its mission in the world. We teach and facilitate members toward Christian discipleship, to use their spiritual gifts and to live out their vocation in the world. CE is about the philosophy, theology and educational practices for Christian faith formation, so the church can embody Christ in and for the world. This is my vision for CE. Some scholars in the field are calling this program, “Christian Education and Formation,” which is what we have adopted at Tyndale.
How can this vision be achieved? We need to educate a new generation pastors to reclaim their call as “shepherd-teachers” in their congregations (Eph. 4: 11). Many pastors, because of heavy administrative demands, relegate the tasks of organizing worship, Sunday school and small groups oversight to lay people (or junior pastors), and so are not kept abreast about the state of faith formation in their churches. Members may be informed about the Bible (through preaching, Bible studies), but are they adequately formed in Christ. There may be Sunday school classes, but is there a structured curriculum for “ordered learning” and are there meaningful learning experiences? Members are not adequately taught to reflect theologically and live wisely in an increasingly materialistic and painful world. Teachers are not be adequately equipped to teach, and there is often no assessment as to whether our Sunday schools are achieving their goals. Pastors need to regain educational leadership in their churches. Along with preaching, they need to nurture and develop a group of mature, passionate and gifted teachers with strong educational and biblical/theological foundations so they can help with the major tasks involved in Christian faith formation.
At Tyndale Seminary, I do not just focus on the “nuts and bolts” of Christian Education and Formation. I am convinced that pastors and leaders in CE must have a biblical grounding, to understand from Scripture why education is vital for congregational faith. Then they need to be authentic disciples themselves; there is a spirituality of the teacher. Parker Palmer said it well when he noted that teaching is not about methodology, but the identity and integrity of the teacher. Along with the educational foundations discussed previously (history and philosophy of education, curriculum theory, human development, pedagogical theories) CE leaders also need to use and understand research. We teach about social science research and its proper role in understanding the contexts of ministry. Last, but not least, like Christ, we need to minister holistically to our broken and suffering world. We teach about education, literacy and development and how that is in line with a theology of the kingdom, of peace and justice.