Christian Education

Christian Education
by
DABA Motuma
 Education background:-
 Advance Certificate in Biblical studies & Pedagogical Administration,
 Diploma in Theology,

 BTH in Biblical Studies,

 MA in Practical Theology,

 MA in Organizational Leadership…

 MYS- email- [email protected] - 2020/ 21

 Phone No. - 0912488044
 Christian Education
 Mekane Yesus Seminary CoTS- DoDEP
Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
 P.O.BOX 1247
 BPR: 432 Introduction to Christian Education
Syllabus
 Christian Education
 1. Academic Year: 2020/2021
 2. Instructor: Rev. Daba Motuma Desta
 3. Level: Degree IV
 4. Credit Hours: 3
 5. Semester: First
 6. Time: Saturday 1:30-5:30
 7. Dates: Sept.192020; Oct. 17/2020; Nov. 14/2020; Dec. 12/2020
 [email protected] 0912488044
 Christian Education
Course Description: This course provides background knowledge to
the history and philosophy of educational and developmental
psychology of children, adolescents and adults. It then offers theoretical
and practical skills for teaching Sunday school, confirmation classes
and other forms of Christian education within congregational settings.
This is done with a focus on the EECMY context and beyond.
 Course Relevance: This course fulfills the objectives of
MekaneYesus Seminary CoTS- especially the Division of practical
Theology by equipping students to fulfill God’s mission through a
sound theological and practical understanding of Christian
Education. This goal will be achieved by:
 Christian Education
- Introduce the Meaning and Purpose of Christian education, Biblical Bases of
Christian education, Historical Bases of Christian education, Theological Ground of
Christian education, Christian education for children, youth, adults, women, marriage
& family life, new believers, developing voluntary leaders, the mission of God,
Curriculum Development and Christian education, Christian education and Methods
of Teaching, evaluation and Christian education
 Grading systems

 Attendance & Class participation/discussion 10%

 Midterm Exam 20%
 Assignment 30%
 Final Exam 40%
 The Meaning and Purpose of Christian Education

 Education - is the process of facilitating learning, or

the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs,
and habits.
 Educational methods include teaching, training,
storytelling, discussion and directed research.
 Education frequently takes place under the
guidance of educators, however learners can
also educate themselves. Education can take place
in formal or informal settings and
any experience that has a formative effect on the
way one thinks, feels, or acts may be considered
educational. The methodology of teaching is
called pedagogy.(education, teaching, training,
instruction, tutoring, & schooling etc.).
What Is the Purpose of Education?

 Formal education is commonly divided formally

into such stages
as preschool or kindergarten, primary
school, secondary school and
then college, university, or apprenticeship.
 In most regions, education is compulsory up
to a certain age. There is a movement
for education reform, and in particular
for evidence-based education with global
initiatives aimed at achieving the Sustainable
Development Goal, which promotes quality
education for all.
 The Meaning and Purpose of Christian
Education
 There are many definitions:
 Werner Graendorf has defined it in the

following way:
 “Christian education is a Bible – based, Holy

Spirit –empowered (Christ-centered) teaching-

learning process.
 It seeks to guide individuals at all levels of

growth through contemporary teaching means

toward knowing and experiencing God’s
purpose and plan through Christ in every
aspect of living.
 The Meaning and Purpose of Christian
Education
 Italso equips people for effective ministry, with
the overall focus on Christ the Master
Educator’s example and his command to make
mature disciples
 Roy Zuck also gives similar definition to it by

saying that:-
 “Christian education is the Christ-centered,

Bible-based, pupil-related process of

communicating God’s written Word through
the power of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of
leading others to Christ and building them up
in Christ.”
The Meaning and Purpose of Christian Education

 This means that through education it is

possible that we may learn the kind of
relationships we have with God, with our fellow
man, and with the nature around us and to
lead a responsible life.
 This shows that Christian education applies to

all age groups and to males and females of the

community of saints as well as to the universe.
 Such education is a life-long education which

is meant for all people regardless of their age,

race or nationality, sex, or educational level.
 The Purpose of Christian Education

 The purpose of Christin education is leading

others to Christ and building them in Christ.
 The ministry of Christian education is

through which the Biblical teaching is being

given to people aiming at four basic tasks.
 These are:
 (1) faith formation,
 (2) faith development,
 (3) faith integration, and
 (4) faith in mission.
1) Faith Formation-
 This takes place or happens when people are

introduced to Jesus Christ and they also declare that

they have accepted him as their Lord and Savior. In
fact faith cannot be taught and be understood easily.
 Faith take place when God opens the hearts of the

people and creates in them through the power of the

Holy Spirit (Jn.15: 26; 16: 7-13).
 This does not mean that teaching and preaching are

not needed.
 They are needed as people need to hear the Word of

God and through that they are connected to the

living God, and as a result of that change may take
place with them.
 On this point Paul says “faith comes from
hearing the message, and the message is heard
through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10: 17).
 So, it is the duty of the pastors, evangelists

and teachers to help others to hear the Living

Word of God (Rom. 10: 14-16).
 We are called to be the instruments of his

Word, but it is God who can create faith in

people and enable them to give their own
responses to it (Acts 4: 4).
 Faith development.- Faith needs development.
Otherwise, it may fail (Luke 22:31-32). For example, a
plant needs fertile soil, watering and a special care to
grow and bear fruits.
 From this we can learn that faith which is created in
people also needs nurturing and care.
 We need to teach people the Word of God and to enable
them to develop their faith and grow and become
mature in it from time to time.
 From the first letter of Peter we read similar idea:
“Like newborn babies, carve pure spiritual milk, so
that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that
you have tasted that the Lord is good” (2Pet. 2:2).
 As the babies grow and become mature and able to eat
solid food, people can grow and become mature in
their Christian faith and be able to distinguish between
good and evil, and between right and wrong.
 This happens when they may know Jesus Christ well
and able to lead a responsible Christian life.
 Faith Integration. The term ‘integration’ shows the
combinations of different elements into a harmonious
whole.
 Thus, ‘faith integration’ takes place when every aspect
of our life is seen through the eyes of faith. This
means that faith is not something that can be practiced
only on Sundays.
 Christian Education
 It could be practiced always or other days of a
week, months and years as we are his
regenerated children.
 In other words, it means that we should be

doers of the Word we hear. Our faith should be

combined with the doing part (see James 1:
22).
 In this way transformation and renewal of our

life may take place with us.

 For this, Christian education is an essential

tool to enable us to lead a life that is dedicated

to God.
 Christian Education
 Faith in Mission- Christian education is not only
meant for personal knowledge of God the Father, of
God the Son Jesus Christ, and of God the Holy Spirit.
 It is also to enable us to participate in the mission of
God. This is to qualify us to play significant role in the
extension of the kingdom of God on this earth so that
others may become part of it.
 Christian Education
 Those people who are still in darkness or living
in the land of the shadow of death may come
out of that and enter into the kingdom of God
(Matt.4:16).
 It is to enable them to participate in God’s

mission of love and reconciliation (2Cor. 5: 18

-19).
 The church of Christ is established on this

earth in order to fulfill this task: to equip

Christians and to send them out to the world to
witness Jesus Christ so that all human beings
may be saved (Matt.28:19-20).
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education

 What is the Bible?

 The Bible is the divine Word of God which is written by

human beings. It is written by those people who were

filled by the power of the Holy Spirit (1Pet. 1: 10 -12).
 Seven reasons why the Bible is written:

1. The Bible is the record of God’s self – revelation;

2. The Bible is the respiratory of God’s redemptive message
for the world;
3. The Bible is inspired by God;
4. The Bible is providentially preserved;
5. The Bible is God’s gift to his church;
6. The Bible is the only authoritative guide for Christian life
and work; and
7. The Bible is the indispensable book that brings person to
Christ.
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 What kind of education does the Bible provide? To answer this
question we have to look into Old Testament and the New
Testament.
 1. Christian Education as based in the Old Testament
 The book of Deuteronomy, especially chapter 6: 1 – 9, is
foundational for Christian education. In this passage the teacher,
the content, the students, the objectives, and the methods of
teaching were included in the educational process of the people of
Israel.
 As we see from the text, the teacher was God who brought them
out of the land of Egypt and led them through the dry land to
bring them to the promised country where flowing milk and honey
could be found.
 The objective was that the people of Israel and their children
could fear God as long as they would live on this earth. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom or knowledge which is very
important for God’s people (Prov.2: 6).
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 The methods of teaching were:
 talking or sharing with them when they

would:-
 sit at their home,
 walk along the road,
 lie down, and
 would rise.
 This kind of duty was given to their fathers

(vv.10 ff)
 I believe Jews’ mothers were also included in

this as they were mainly responsible for their

daughters.
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 In our Ethiopian culture, it is more or
less the same. Isn’t it?
 The method of teaching was very much

informal or non-formal, which is

contrary to the formal education.
 Non-formal education is defined as

“education that occurs through shared

identity and experience.
 It occurs in setting other than the school

and classroom.
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 It takes place in unintentional
interactions as occasions in which
learning occurs.
 Formal education, on the other hand, is

defined as “education that is

conventional, given in an orderly,
logical, planned, and systematic manner.
 It is associated with institution of the

school and the actual classroom

experience.
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 This shows that the teaching was in variety of ways,
not only through our hearing and thinking capacities
but also through using our eyes to see, our hands to
touch, and through our daily lives and activities.
 Through all these methods, it could be possible that
we would also teach our children and the young
people.
 The exemplary life of the parents or the grown-up
people is much more important than our oral teaching.
In this way the whole life of individuals could be
nurtured.
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 In the book of Deuteronomy chapter 6, the

primary focus is the parents and their

essential role in education.
 Parents, as primary educators, could
determine what influences their children
actively or passively.
 - Christian education is one of the ministries

of the church which teaches what worship is

all about.
 - The book of Deuteronomy is an educational

book of the Bible which we need to focus on

for the implementation of Christian
education in our respective churches.
 Biblical Bases of Christian Education
 As we have seen above, God was the teacher who
taught his chosen people about His Law so that they
could live in loving him and loving their fellow-men.
God was not the only teacher of the time.
 Beside him, Moses, the parents, the priests, and the

prophets were also teachers in carrying out this

teaching ministry (Deut. 6: 4-9; 31:9).
 The children yet to be born were also included in this

process.
 In this teaching – learning process, God wanted them

that all of them should share their history with their

new generations so that they should not forget what
God did for them throughout their ages.

see pp. 10-12

 - If we look Nehemiah 8: 1- 18 we may also learn that
Ezra, as an instructor, read the Law of God for the
people of Israel who returned from the captivity in
Babylon. This was to renew them (read the passage).
 As a teacher, Ezra, included three main lessons in his

teachings. These are:

 (1) reading, speaking, or sharing of God’s Word,

which was meant to be proclamation,

 (2) the translation and explanation or opening up of

the meaning of God’s Word (exposition), and

 (3) giving direct application and responses for those

who hear him (exhortation).

 What about the responsibilities of the students or
the learners? They were made responsible for
three things: -
 (1) knowing God’s Word by listening to its

proclamation,
 (2) understanding God’s Word by responding

to its exposition,
 (3) obeying God’s Word by responding whole

heartedly to its exhortation; and

 (4) worshipping God who is encountered

through the proclaimed Word and celebrating

the restoration realized in personal and
corporate life. Pazmino. P. 27
  (2) Christian education as based in the New Testament
 When we come to the New Testament, we can find some passages in the
Gospels as well as in the Epistles which we could able to use as bases or
principles for Christian education. For example, the Gospel of Matthew
could be used as a teaching manual for discipling Christians. For this we
can look into the following passages:
1. Matt. 5 - 7 contains Jesus’ teaching on personal and social ethics of the
kingdom. This means that the Gospel of Matthew provides a vision for
participation in God’s kingdom.
2. Matt. 10: 1- 42 tells us the charge that Jesus gave to the twelve disciples. He
taught them to go out and to do mission work. He also gave them specific
directives in order to guide them in their ministries.
3. Matt. 13: 1- 52 also provides the teaching of Jesus about redemptive history
using different parables. In this passage the nature of the kingdom is
explained. This means that it has small beginning, but keeps on growing in
the midst of this evil world.
4. Matt. 18: 1 – 35 deals with Jesus’ discourse on church discipline. He
describes the nature of his disciples’ commitment to one another in love and
truth.
5. The final section is Matt. 23: 1 – 25: 4 where the teaching of Jesus on
eschatology took place. This is the ‘last day’ or ‘the end of the present age’
when God’s kingdom is fulfilled on this earth.
 Christians need :
1. to share their vision for God’s work
in their specific localities,
2. to share the need of doing mission
work locally as well as beyond their
boundaries,
3. to share their memory of God’s
work in their particular localities in
order to advance his kingdom over
the centuries.
  If we look the Gospel of Luke chapter 24: 13 – 35 we
can find particular educational methods which could
be used in teaching Christian education.
 Discussion method is used between Jesus and the two
disciples on the road to Emmaus. In this passage (1)
open inquiry (v.17), (2) correction and clarification
(vv.25 – 27), and (3) response (vv. 33 – 35) took place.
 As seen here, we can notify three worthy elements.
These are:
(1) asking questions which shows that the learners may
think for themselves,
(2) listening to them and hearing their responses, and
(3) that the teacher (facilitator) is sharing with them the
truth of the message from which the learners could
draw the right directions.
 The general principles: Jesus’ teaching was
authoritative; Jesus trusted in the power of
truth to convince his hearers; Jesus sought to
have persons think for themselves; Jesus lived
what he taught; and Jesus loved those he
taught.
 The particular features: Jesus’ teaching was

oral instruction; it was occasional in nature,

elicited by quite casual events; it was adapted to
his audience; and it includes figurative
elements such as illustrations epigrams,
paradoxes, and parables.”
 Like wise, Christian educators need to use variety of
methods in teaching people and having a loving
relationship with them.
 This means that they should not depend only on the
oral teaching which Jesus used, but they should also
have access to a variety of media and methodologies.
 All the Gospels, including the rest of the Bible books,
are written so that we may use them for our personal
knowledge as well as for the teaching ministry of his
church.
 For further, let us see what Paul writes in 2 Tim. 3: 16
– 17: “All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the man of God may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
 This shows that for every good work the Bible is foundational
on which we have to depend.
 If we go to the Epistles we may find some more basic
principles for Christian education too. For example, Paul
writes in 1 Cor.2: 6 -16 that the wisdom of God whose source
is the Holy Spirit is needed for the ministry of Christian
education as teaching itself is one of the gifts of the Holy
Spirit (Rom. 12: 3- 8; 1 Cor.12: 27-31; Eph. 4: 7 -13; 1 Pet. 4:
10 -11).
 This shows that the teachers of Christian education need to
be filled and guided by the Holy Spirit in the process of their
teachings.
 On this issue, we can read what Paul writes: “Do not let any
unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is
helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it
may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption” (Eph. 4: 29 – 30).
 This is foundational from the New Testament perspective.
 The wisdom from the Holy Spirit is in contrast to the wisdom
from the world. When we read a letter of James 3: 13 – 18 we
can understand that there is a difference between the two.
 The wisdom which is from this world is unspiritual or of the
devil from where envy and selfish ambition comes, while the
wisdom that comes from heaven is pure, peace-loving,
considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit,
impartial and sincere (vv.15 – 18).
 This can tell us that the spiritual wisdom is what matters
more than the wisdom of this world.
 Christian teachers, being guided by the Holy Spirit, are to
prepare others for their teaching ministry in Christian faith
(2 Tim. 2: 2). This means persons who could teach others
need to be prepared or equipped before embarking into the
teaching task. In other words, it means that to train the
trainers is very much needed in order to qualify them.
 In addition, let us also see Heb. 5: 11 – 6:3 (read the text).
This text provides us with important question of readiness
prior to and during teaching interactions. Here the writer
of the Hebrews warns against those who fall away from
their faith. He says that these kinds of people have to be
re-taught in the basic truths of God’s Word so that they
may understand it again and be able to live accordingly.
He came to use the metaphor of food in order to tell us
that there are some persons who need milk, while others
are matured enough to have solid food. Like wise,
Christian teaching should have various levels in order to
meet the situations of the people. This means if people are
new to the Christian faith, elementary or very simple
education is needed to be given to them. But, if they are
matured people, an education that meets their level of
maturity should be prepared. So, Christian educators
need to know the educational levels of their target group.
 If we continue looking into Titus 2: 1 –15 it can tell us
whom we teach, what we teach, and why we teach
those people who are identified in different categories.
This text gives us guidelines for the ministry of our
Christian education, which we need to follow.
 - Christian educators should know the situations of
their target group or learners very well, and to adjust
their teachings to their spiritual, social, cultural,
economic, and political context.
 This approach is very much helpful to address the
learners at their appropriate levels of understanding
and readiness. In fact, it can attract the learners and
motivate them more than any other approaches.
 The Bible is a base for our Christian education in
providing us content, objectives, methods of teaching,
the types of teachers that the church needs to use, and
groups of people that the church needs to teach, and so
forth.
 This means our Bible is an educational book which
develops us holistically. Let me close this section by
the exhortation of Peter: “Each one should use
whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully
administering God’s grace in its various forms. If
anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very
words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the
strength God provides, so that in all things God may be
praised through Jesus Christ. To whom be the glory
and power for ever and ever. Amen” (1Pet. 4:10-11).
Historical Bases of Christian Education
 In the New Testament, we have also seen a ground for the
principles of Christian education that was laid by our Lord Jesus
Christ and the writers of the Epistles. The main objective of the
education was that the people of God would live together in
loving God and in loving each other as a community of believers.
 This time we are dealing with the historical bases of Christian
education. What do we mean by history? What impact does it
have on education? Marc Bloch defines it as “the science of
persons over time.”
 According to this definition, history is considered as a science
for its disciplined inquiry with the analysis of documents and
other evidences. It is also concerned with individual persons in
a concrete sense and understanding them in their concrete
situations. “Over time” is also included in this definition to
indicate that the event took place at a concrete and living reality
with a constant changing and developing character.
 Historians have their methods of dealing with history. They do
careful investigation and cross-examination of documents
through collecting data and facts in order to get a full
understanding of the event that took place. In addition, from the
critical analysis of the documents, it is common to interpret the
whole concept.
 When we come to Christian education, what historical
contributions do we have? What documents do we have to
investigate and come-up with our proposals?
 According to Arno A. Bellack, what history has contributed is “to
help persons to discern the continuity or carryover of the past into
the present and future along with points of discontinuity.” This
tells us that there are educational elements which could be carried
out and which could be left-out as time goes on.
 To do so, education must be seen in terms of its liberating and
oppressive effects upon persons, groups, and society at large. By
any means its oppressive effects must be ignored, and its
liberating effects must be encouraged and to be continued
throughout.
 If we look into the history of Church Reformation, we may learn a lot what
place the reformers such as Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, John Calvin,
Ulrich Zwingli and others gave to Christian education.
 Martin Luther “strongly admonished parents to teach their children.” He
called this “the big work of parents.” According to Tidwell, Luther went so far
as to say that people should not marry until they were competent to teach
their children in religion, and bring them up as true Christians. As he gave an
important place for this kind of teaching, he also challenged the government
to support compulsory education. By this he wanted that the government
should work as agent of education to advance the teaching of the church. In
regard to this Luther prepared small catechism, especially for the teaching of
children what Christian faith is all about.
 Philip Melanchthon influenced the development of the University of
Wittenberg, in Germany, so that it should take the protestant lines and
became model for other universities. As far as teaching materials are
concerned, he produced Latin grammar, along with texts in rhetoric, ethics, and
theology.
 John Calvin was another reformer who also stressed the importance of careful
parental instruction of children in the home, although he urged the church to
teach young people. He came to say that children should be taught to sing the
songs of the church. In addition, he insisted that they should be trained in
“sound learning and doctrine … in manners, good morals, common sense.”
 The other reformer was Ulrich Zwingli who was from
Switzerland. He was very much favored indoctrinating children.
This means he showed great concern in educating children and
young people in matters of Christian faith. Based on this, he
prepared a book called “The Christian Education of Youth.”
 The Reformation history taught us those great reformers were
instruments in giving an important place for Christian
education by which children and youth could be taught so that
they could grow in their Christian faith. For this they advocated
that parents, the school, and the church should be responsible in
teaching them. This goes with the Biblical facts that we dealt
with as stated above.
 In the early churches attention was also given to Christian
education. If we read Eph. 6:1 – 4, Col. 3: 21, 1Pet. 5: 5 we can
learn that children and young men were taken care of by the
churches and parents. This does not mean that older people
were not embraced in Christian education.
 Theological ground of Christian Education
 The term theology is driven from the Greek word “theo”
which means God, and “logos” means Word. In other
words, it means that theology is the study about God, i.e.
who God is, his divinity, and that he is an ever lasting Lord.
 In order to know God, we need to know his Word, i.e. the
Bible through the help of his Holy Spirit. It is from the Bible
that we can gain the knowledge of God that is revealed to
us through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 This means in order to know God we need first to know
Jesus Christ who became like one of us in order to give us
salvation. If we read Jn.17: 1 – 3 we can understand what
this means from the prayer that Jesus prayed to his Father:
“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son
may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all
people that he might give eternal life to all those you have
given him. Now this is eternal life: that they may know you,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”.
 Theological ground of Christian Education

 Christian education should play a role in helping people to know

who God is. To know God or to have the knowledge of God requires
our relationships with him which our Lord Jesus Christ established
for us. In this regard in Jn. 14: 6 – 7 we can read what he said to his
disciples concerning this: “No one comes to the Father except
through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as
well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him”. Jesus
established this relationship through his life, death, and resurrection.
Through such a relationship and knowledge we can become his
friends or people who could have fellowship with him.
 J. J. Packer explains what such friendship is about: “Why has God
spoken? The truly staggering answer which the Bible gives to this
question is that God’s purpose in revelation is to make friends with
us.” This tells us that God desires a deep, loving friendship with us.
Our Lord Jesus Christ restored such a relationship which was
broken because of sin. Through such a relationship, God wanted us
to experience his love, to commit ourselves to him, and to have a
flow of communication with him so that our knowledge of him may
grow and our friendship with him also becomes strong.
There are people who believe that religious
knowledge comes in two forms: “head knowledge”
and “heart knowledge.” According to Wilhoit “head
knowledge (knowledge of theology or memorized
Bible verses) is “often seen as having only indirect
impact upon one’s religious life”, while “heart
knowledge (i.e. one’s values, beliefs, and attitudes) is
said to be very important in a person’s daily life.”
 This implies that knowing about God is different

from knowing God. Ultimately, it is our deeds what

will be counted, not just our beliefs and words.
 In James we read which supports this principle: “faith
without deeds is dead” (James 2: 26). So, as we need to
have intellectual grasp of the Bible and doctrine, we
equally need to have close relationship with God.
 In other words, the head knowledge and the heart
knowledge of God are needed to come together and
help us so that we may live a complete Christian life
according to the Biblical truth.
 By any means we should not be like the people of
Israel who knew about God, but estranged themselves
from him. This means they ignored him and
worshipped other gods (Isa.1. 3ff).
 We should not also be like infants, tossed back
and forth by the waves, and blown here and
there by every wind of teaching and by the
cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful
scheming (Eph. 4: 14). Rather, we should be
stable in our Christian faith than guiding our
lives by our feelings.
 This means that we should become mature in

our Christians faith in the Lord (Eph. 4: 15) for

which Christian education is an instrumental.
 Theologically, we also need to know God the Creator
(Gen. 1: 1ff), God the redeemer-liberator of persons,
groups, and societies, God is the source of
righteousness, justice, and freedom; the one on whom
persons must depend for fulfillment; and the initiator
of a redemptive covenant; and Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, Lord and Savior, Son of Man, and King.
 What about the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the
activator and sustainer of life, the Spirit of truth, and
the transformer of persons. This means that the
Apostles’ Creed plays significant roles in providing a
helpful framework for exploring what theology is all
about within the content of Christian education.
 Christian Education for Children

 - Children, according to their ages, need different

educational programs. Tidwell explains that the nursery
children (preschool), who are below 6 years, need:-
 to associate some simple Bible truths with their daily living;
 to recognize the rights and feelings of others,
 while older ones, who are from 6 to 8 or 7 to 9, need to
accept the Bible as a guide:-
 for their conduct in everyday life;
 to grow in their understanding for prayer and in their ability
to pray;
 to want to do things in ways of pleasing to Jesus;
 to grow in their ability to make right choices;
 to develop in their ability to make their home happy;
 to have an increasing love for all people which will be
expressed in friendliness and cooperation.
 - What about those who are older than the children
mentioned above? What needs do they have? Tidwell
further says that the children who are from 9 to 11 or
to 12 years old need:-
 to depend on Jesus each day to help them choose the right way;
 to learn how to use their own Bible and to gain from it direction
for daily living;
 to make progress in developing Christian character which will
express itself in all areas of their experience;
 to gain strength for Christian living through private and a group
prayer;
 to try to grow as Jesus grew – in mind, body, and in relationship
with God and with other people;
 to do their part to make their home happy by obeying their parents
and accepting cheerfully their share in the work at home.
 - The churches need to have trained and devoted teachers who
can help them with their spiritual, physical, and social needs. In
this regard the parents are the key people who can teach their
children at home and help them to meet their needs.
 In the Old Testament, we have seen that the people of Israel,
particularly the parents were made responsible in teaching their
children their own history in relation to God’s help and guidance
through Moses (Deut. 6: 1- 9). This means that children should
grow in knowing God.
 St. Paul also gave emphasis to the teaching of children (Eph.6:
1- 4). As Moses trained the people of Israel (Deut.6: 7- 9), today,
the churches need to give trainings to the parents so that they
may be able to teach the word of God to their children at home
like obedience, good moral life, etc.
 Parents can impress on their children what Christian faith is
through their loving talk, loving relationships and care. Home is
a good environment where children can easily learn the Word of
God from their loving mothers and fathers.
 - For such a big responsibility, parents need to be provided with
educational materials by which they can teach their children.
Different educational materials, according to the ages of the
children, are very much needed. This means it is not just
enough to give them training how to teach their children.
Children Bible books, song books, books which have different
pictures (e.g. of Jesus, David, Joseph, etc), and other materials
are helpful.
 Sunday school materials shall be translated or produced in a
contextualized way.
 - In teaching children, it is good to choose methods or
educational aids that can attract them and help them to learn
better. For example, to use stories as much as possible, to use
pictures or films, and to let the children themselves do drama or
games can help them better than oral teaching.
 - Teaching children by story telling needs guide lines. This
means that the teacher should know how to do it. In other words,
it means that he has to familiar himself with the story.
 To do so, he has to know the following:
1. Know well the story.
2. Know that the story should have introduction, presentation, and
conclusion.
3. Decide what you want to teach by the story.
4. Choose an introduction which leads directly to the story.
5. Shorten the story to 5 – 10 minutes for smaller children, 10 – 15
minutes for older ones.
6. Review for yourself the main truth which you want to teach and
a memory verse.
7. Use the life of children in your class for illustration of the story.
8. Include details of the story to satisfy the curiosity of the
children.
9. Don’t change the Bible story or add details: children accept
everything you say as truth.
10. Teachers’ guidebook also necessary to be prepared.
11. Be sure that the Holy Spirit works at the heart of the children
while you speak with full conviction and faith
 With all these, there are certain elements which we need to consider.
These are:
1. Voice: You are expected to speak slowly with your usual voice. To
change the intonation and loudness of your voice is helpful to fit to the
story. You have to speak as an actor in the story. Children like to
imitate it.
2. Language: You have to use simple words and directed speech so that
children may understand it.
3. Posture: Include the right degree of hand and body movement.
4. Repetitions: Children like them.
5. Illustrations: While you tell the story, draw figures on the blackboard
or show a picture as you reach the point.
6. Objects: They help to raise the interest of children and may add
impact to the story.
7. Questions: Questions allow the children to be involved and listen
better. They help you to know if children understand the story.
(Participatory way of teaching will be dealt with in chapter 14) .
 - The youth are the young people who are from 12 or
13 to 18 or 20 years of age. In some cultures it goes
beyond twenties. The youth of this age categories,
according to Tidwell, need to grow in consciousness of
the living Christ as the Lord of their life;
 to accept with confidence the Bible and the Holy Spirit as guides
in making the best use of their life;
 to grow in understanding of why and how to pray;
 to seek to pattern all personal conduct in accordance with the
teachings, spirit, and example of Jesus:
 to strive to be Christ-like in attitudes towards and relationships
with parents and other members of their family;
 to continue to make progress in developing Christian character
which will express itself in all their relationships.
 These needs of the youth are very important as they
develop them into maturity in their Christian faith.
For this reason, their needs must met by their
respective churches through teaching them Christian
education. Here their Christian teacher is a key
person in helping them to develop themselves to
maturity. What do we mean by maturity?
 Maturity, according to Collins English Dictionary,
means “the state or quality of being mature; full
development.” This implies that the Christian youth,
through the teaching of Christian faith, will be fully
developed in glorifying God more fully and
participating more deeply in the life and service the
church. According to Wilhoit, Christian maturity is
associated with four basic concepts.
 These are: (1) spiritual autonomy, (2) spiritual wholeness, (3)
spiritual stability, and (4) wise of knowledge. Their explanations
are as follows:
 1. The first mark for spiritual maturity is Spiritual autonomy.
This takes place when Christians have control over their lives
and are appropriately self-directed. Not only to control over
their lives, but as Wilhoit says, “sufficient” control of their
lives, and by which they will be able to offer their bodies as
living sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to God (Rom. 12: 1).
 This happens when Christians submit themselves to the lordship
of Christ and charge of their own lives. This tells us that without
appropriate self - direction, Christians cannot be mature in their
relationship to Christ.
 In other words, to surrender our lives to Christ means to have
control of our lives. When these two go together in our Christian
lives, maturity automatically takes place with us, and the
church as a whole will mature too.
 2. The second mark is spiritual wholeness. This is the quality that is
described in Deut. 6:5, which says: “Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
 This shows the devotedness or the total commitment of Christians to God.
This does not go with the maturity of persons in ages. But it can be
seen in children, youth, and adults.
 To be spiritually whole means, according to Wilhoit, “to give all that
you know of yourself, to all that you know of God.” Here, Wilhoit gives
emphasis to the quality of the dedication of the Christians to God, not to
the quantity of their knowledge or training about God.
 Spiritual wholeness is the central part of Christian maturity when they
reach the stage of being prefect, complete, or dedication (see Col. 1: 28;
Matt. 19: 21).
 3. The third mark of Christian maturity is spiritual stability. This
happens when Christians stand firm and strong in their Christian faith
(see 1Cor. 16:13).
 4. The final mark is the wise use of knowledge. This takes place with
Christians when they have good knowledge of the Bible and able to
distinguish between good and evil, between right and wrong through
their lives and teachings (Heb. 5:14).
 - When we consider these four marks as spiritual maturity, do we see
them in our youth today? Youth work is a well known program since the
establishment of our church, the EECMY. It is an organization in
which youth will be equipped with the knowledge of Christian
education and become spiritually mature in their Christian faith. If
they do not have these marks, then, there is something wrong with
them. Then, the church has to evaluate this program and should come
up with a possible solution.
 - Due to lack of these marks many of them left the church and have
started to lead a worldly life. Others lead double life. Some others are
full of questions about God, the Bible, Christian faith, Christian
marriage, and so forth.
 - What the church should do then? The church needs young people so
that Christian faith and the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ may be
continued in this part of our world. Young people are the backbone of
our church. So, without losing hope, the church should work hard with
those who are still active in their Christian faith and bring them to full
maturity.
 It is also possible to reach others through them. For this task, gifted and
devoted coordinator should be assigned to the program so that he could
able to work with the young people and bring renewal and restoration
into their lives.
 Christian Education for
adults
 - Age wise, adults can be divided into four categories. These are: Young
adulthood (from 18 or 20 to 34 years of age), younger middle adulthood
(from 35 to 49 years of age), older middle adulthood (from 50 to 64
years of age), and older adulthood (from 65 and above).
 - All of them can be divided into three groups. The first group is single
adults where both sexes are included. It means that there are single
men and single women, the widowed, the divorced, and people who
have chosen to remain unmarried, while the married adults are
categorized as another group. These are groups of people who have
practical questions on marriage and child rearing. This means that they
need help in order to cope with their situations from any supporting
group or institution or church.
 The last third category is the older adults, who have reached a
retirement age and lead a different life style from which they used to
have. Some of them could face illness and disability.
 Often, their vision and hearing may decline. This shows that they have
physical needs, which has an impact on their spiritual life.
 Adults need Christian education – i.e. to study the Word of God
or the Bible for their spiritual or personal growth and to fulfill
their responsibilities as parents, teachers, and leaders.
 The first thing that adults need is to grow in grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2Pet. 3: 16). For
this, they need to study the Bible for which the church is
responsible. In other words, it means that they need proper
nurturing for their spiritual development and maturity in their
Christian faith.
 On this issue we can also read an encouraging word in Ps. 119:
105: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” By
this verse the writer tells us that the Word of God is needed for
our personal guidance. This means that the Word of God is
showing us the way or giving us direction on which we need to
walk as Christians. Even if growth is a slow process, it will come
by effective teaching and experiencing Christian faith. They
should keep on studying the Word of God daily.
Christian Education for women
 Today, in Ethiopia, most of the women are married and are taking
care of their families with their husbands. By their nature,
women are different from men. Many of them can become
pregnant and carry babies in their wombs normally for about
nine months. After giving birth, they help their children to grow
by breast feeding and other helpful things. As a whole, women
give much care for their children, for their homes as well as for
their church.
 However, few of them are leading a single life as they are
remained unmarried, due to divorce, separation from their
husbands, or death of their husbands.
 All these points can be applied to men too. As there are single
women there are also single men. The suggestions made for
single women can also be applied to single men as both of them
are in the same boat.
 1. Unmarried Women
 Today, there are many women who are remained unmarried – who are
leading a single life. It looks that people have accepted and are giving
places to them than it used to be. It has become more common among the
educated people than the illiterate. It has been practiced by men too. Is it
possible to remain unmarried? Is it Biblically acceptable? What is the role of
the church in helping these groups of people?
 From our Bible we can read that our Lord Jesus Christ, St. Paul, and
some others were not married. Although the names of unmarried women as
such were not spelled out due to the Jewish culture, I believe there were
single women too during the time of Jesus and of Paul.
 The Bible is not negative to single life. It has positive attitudes towards it.
This means that the Bible has accepted it as an alternative to marriage.
Paul says: “it is good for a man not to marry.” 1Cor. 7: 1). This can be
applied to women too. In fact, whether it is single men or single women, it
should be a gift from God (Phil.4: 11; 1Cor. 7: 7).
 They should have the ability to control themselves from immoral life.
Otherwise, it is difficult for them to lead a decent and holy life. The
question is: if they are not gifted how could they lead a single life
according to the word of God. Then the church has to help them..
 If so, how the church should help them? This requires further
research to exactly know whether there were single women or
not in the culture of the Jewish people as there were single men
– like Jesus, Paul, and others, rather than depending on
assumptions
1. The church should help in teaching them the Word of God with
regard to holiness, and counseling them so that they may lead a
holy and responsible life.
2. The church should engage them in prayer group, Bible study
group, visiting group, diaconic group, and teaching ministry so
that they may be occupied in serving people voluntarily.
3. The church should give them special training, seeing their gifts
that they may effectively serve people and please God.
4. The church should teach the meaning of single and marriage life
and encourage them so that they may get married and have
their own families.
 2. Divorced Women
 Divorce is the separation of husband and wife.

This is against the will of God. God wants that

a husband and a wife should live together for
life, until death separated them (Gen. 2: 24;
Matt. 19: 6).
 What people are doing today is against the will

of God.
 Why divorce is taking place today in the part of

our world? It has a negative impact on the life

and ministry of the church.
 According to the research done by intellectual
group of people under the Ethiopian
Evangelical Churches Fellowship in 2009, the
main factors are:
 lack of sexual satisfaction of the partners,
 economic problems, and
 interferences of relatives and family members.
 Because of these facts out of 1437 marriages 1009 divorces took
place. This means only 428 marriages were survived.
 In four months time out of 8034 marriages 994 divorces took
place. Out of these 15% of them were members of the
Ethiopian Evangelical Churches.
 Christians are doing what God hates (Mal. 2:
16). This is a sad history. The people are also
experiencing spiritual, moral, and economic
crisis.
 In fact, it is a complete failure on the parts of

husbands and wives. They could also have

guilty feelings about it.
 As a result of this crisis, many of their children

are suffering living on the street. This means

that the society is also being affected by such a
disaster.
 What the church could do about this?
1. The church has to critically evaluate her Christian education program,
and to start to give to people relevant and timely education which could
help them not to commit such mistakes again. This means courses such as
pre-marriage, marriage and family life education, sex education, home based
financial management, communication between husband wife, and husband
and wife relations to relatives and family members with its need and
limitations.
2. The church should have experts (trained persons) in the field of marriage
and family life who could be able to teach and counsel such people and
who could produce useful educational materials. Post marriage counseling
shall be conducted to strengthen the marriage life.
3. The church, rather than condemning them (the divorced people), should
have close contact with them, counsel them, pray for them and with them,
and teach them the word of God so that they may repent and able to come
back to their faith.
4. The church may try to remarrying them after they have forgiven each
other and accepted each other well. For this, the church has to re-educate
them in the field of marriage before they consider their remarriage.
5. The church has to re-think whether theologically and practically remarrying
  3. Separated Women from their husbands
1. There are people who have not gone into legal divorce but are
living being separated from each other. These people could live in
different places/countries or could live in the same house but in
different rooms. This means they are not living together as
husband and wife any more. This is also a disaster. They are
experiencing hatred, loneliness, grievance, and sadness. Their
children are also experiencing the ill feelings of their parents.
2. What the church should do in this case?
3. The church should re-educate these people what marriage is all
about and bring them together before they go apart.
4. The church has to counsel them so that they may forgive each
other and be able to live together as husband and wife again.
5. The church has to encourage them to attend church programs
regularly and be able to develop their spiritual maturity.
6. The church should look for them and visit them where they are and
pray for them and with them. In fact, it is not easy as some of
 Widows
 There are many women who have come to lead a single life due
to the death of their husbands. For many of them, this could be
a normal death.
 There are also some husbands who died because of HIV AIDS.
But, for a few of them, it could be by car accident or due to war
or by other incidents.
 These women could have children whom they take care of them.
Due to this, they are called single parents or widows.
 These women, as a result of the death of their husbands, could
face many challenges.
 This could be experiencing loneliness, economic crisis, spiritual
crisis, and depression.
  What the church should do to help them?
1. The church should have special sensitivity to their situations and
needs
2. The church should teach them the word of God and how they
could coup up with their situations, encourage them, and pray
for them and with them.
3. The church should have financial and material resources to help
them.
4. The church should encourage them to participate in different
activities of the church so that they may remain mature in their
Christian faith.
5. The church should encourage or counsel them so that they may
get married, if possible, and be able to live with their new
husbands rather than leading a single life all the time.
6. The church should design and launch self-supporting projects to
help them with.
 Christian Education for Marriage and Family life

 Through marriage, a husband and a wife become one flesh means

to leave their fathers and mothers, other relatives and to be
united (Gen, 2: 24). This means the two become one flesh. In
other words, it means that those who are united by marriage do
not need the interference of family members. The word of God
teaches us that nobody should come between them. Without
coming between the married people, it is possible that the family
members and others may support them through their prayers
and advices, so that both of them may lead a good Christian
marriage. The family members have to be careful from siding
either of them. If they do it, it is interference. Then it is wrong.
 Becoming one flesh also means to live together sexually. This
means sex plays a significant role in marriage. Both of them have
to meet their sexual needs. In other words, it means that they
should not refuse each other (1Cor. 7: 3 – 4). Rather, they are
expected to live together faithfully by satisfying their sexual needs
(1Cor. 7: 5).
 Christian Education for Marriage and Family life

 In a marriage, a wife is a good gift of God to her husband.

If we read Proverb.18: 22 we find: “He who finds a wife
finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.” By
her noble character she could make her husband a person
who could receive favor from the Lord (Proverb 12: 4).
 She could also be somebody like Ruth who could bring
honor and joy to her husband (Ruth 4: 9). This does not
mean that there is no disgraceful wife who is like decay in
her husband’s bones (Proverb 12: 4). This is not what is
expected of her. She is created and be given to her husband
to be a helper (Gen. 2:18), and to do good to him, not to
harm him.
 This shows that a wife is an important person for her
husband as well as for the whole family. She is also called a
mother by giving birth.
 What about a husband? A husband is also a gift of God to his
wife. He is a person who loves and takes care of her as part of
his body (Eph. 5: 25 -31). He is a person who shows his
concern to her in all matters. So, he is expected to live with her
faithfully by sharing with her the financial resources and other
resources he has. She should also do the same thing. Whatever
they have is for their common use.
 Marriage is also meant for procreation and rearing of children.
God wants that married people might have children and
increase their number (Gen. 2: 28). Through having children,
they would be blessed and could gain the privilege of
becoming a family. This means their status is changed to a
family from a married couple. With this, their number is also
increased.
 As the Bible says children are the gifts of God to their parents
(Ps. 127: 3). This tells us that all the family members are gifts
of God to each other.
 Children are therefore expected to respect and obey
their parents according to the word of God, so that
they might live long on this earth (Eph. 6: 1- 4).
 Parents are also made responsible to teach, to guide,
and to discipline their children so that they may grow-
up in the fear and love of God (Proverb 9: 10 – 11). Not
only this, they also need to grow and become mature in
their Christian faith to be responsible people of God on
this earth. In this way both parents and children live
together for the glory of God.
 As a Christian family, they will have a stabled institution
where the love of God is expressed - in words and
deeds and attract others to become Christians (Matt. 5:
13 – 16). In other words, all of them could be the
witnessing family members on this earth.
 Family is the most important institution for human
socialization. It gives stability to social order. For this
reason, the social institution of family should
function well in order to strengthen stability of the
whole community of people.
 It is where individuals feel accepted and secured and

cared for in the process of socialization. This means

family is where:-
 children are being reared and are receiving necessary

education for their later life,

 the sick and aged people are being cared,

 division of labor, cooperation, and collective economic

development are taking place

 According to our culture, it is very rare to have nuclear family
where only a husband and a wife live together with their own
children. Like in other African countries, our people have
extended families where father–in-law and mother-in-law or
other relatives could live together with their son-in law or
daughter-in-law.
 Culturally, the mother-in-law is the one who gives hard life to
her daughter-in- law.
 On the other hand, she is also the one who, with the father-in-
law, gives care, love, and education to their grand children. In
spite of all this, the husband has to side his wife and rescue his
marriage (see Gen. 2: 24).
 All the members should give enough care and love to each
other and foster one another as people of God. By any means
they should not harm each other.
 For the confirmation or legality of their marriage, most people
would like to have their wedding ceremony in the church, while
others have it in public hall or at home. Some of them could be
registered at the Municipality. Despite the places, this time
wedding has become so expensive, specially, in urban settings.
For wedding, people require many things: wedding dress, suits,
flowers, rings, food, cakes, gifts, cards, special car, etc. It looks
that many people cannot afford it.
 The aim of Christian wedding is to make the marriage legal in-
front of the believers according to the word of God and church
constitution, not that people should have expensive wedding.
The expensiveness of the wedding has not become the concern
of the church yet. But it has become a discouragement for many
people.
 The church, therefore, has to deal with it seriously and teach
people that it should be done with fewer expenses.
 The wedding time or hour also needs some considerations.
Nowadays, most weddings do take place outside of the fixed
time. The bridegroom and the bride initially agree when and at
what time they would have their wedding. For example, if they
agree to be at 2.00 P.M, normally, they would come to church at
4.00 P.M. This means after 2 hrs is already passed. In addition,
the church program may take 1.30 – 2. 00, after that
refreshment may also take 2.00 -3.00. Totally, about 5.00 -7.00
could be wasted on one wedding. More or less, this has become
the culture of the Ethiopian wedding these days.
 The pastor who is blessing the marriage, the preacher, and the
invited people waste their precious time for nothing. Why? What
the church should do to correct this? People from other parts of
the world know that time is commodity or a valuable thing.
 But we are wasting this valuable thing out of our ignorance. But
it should not necessarily be so. The church should teach people
the stewardship of time. This means God gave us time to use it
wisely and properly. He did not give us to waste it.
 The people should know this and able to respect church program
and their own wedding time. If they do not come at the registered
time, the church should teach them in a hard way. This means,
by not conducting their wedding. In this way people could be
able to know the stewardship of time.
 The people who are going to get married and the already
married people need to know all the details mentioned above as
far as marriage and family life is concerned.
 The church has to give marriage and family life education to the
members from time to time. The practical problems that are related to
marriage and family life should be dealt with as a case study. People
can learn a lot from case studies and be able to shape their own
marriages.
 In the previous chapter, we have seen that the stability of marriage and
family is attacked due to divorce. One of the reasons for this, is lack of
sexual satisfaction of partners. This can tell us that sex education is
necessary to be given to partners. But people see sex as a private
matter. So, to talk about sex or to give education on sex as a subject
matter is not yet known in the part of our world.
 However, the situation is forcing the church to train or specialize people
who could do further studies in the field of marriage and family life and
could be able to help our people so that they may get necessary education.
In this field, sex education should also be one of the areas of their
concentration.
 The church is even not using the qualified and experienced ministers
for this sensitive purpose. Sexual life can affect all aspects of human
life, either in positive or negative way. This can be observed in the
current ministry of the church.
A better marriage is when
husbands and wives are content
with what they have and able to
live together according to God’s
will and meet their mutual needs,
including their sexual needs.
 The church should, therefore, teach her members,
not only giving them sex education, but also all
matters related to marriage and family life as
mentioned above, and as when people need to get
married (the right time for marriage).
 The ages which could be suggested here are: between
20 and 30 years. These years tend to be
recommendable as people say “they are safe,
particularly, for women to give birth without facing
major problems”. For various reasons, women are
advised to get married when they are young
compared to men (This also requires further research
work).
 - Marriage and family life is foundational for
the life and development of Christian faith.
So, the church should seriously think about it
and give education to all age groups of her
members by specialized people.
 In this way, the spiritual, social, psychological,

economical and sexual needs of the members

could be met. As a result of this, decent
Christian marriage and family life could be
able to exist.
 Christian Education for New Believers

 - New believers could be from other churches or from other

religious background, while some others could be from none-
religious background. The church, therefore, needs to treat
them according to their background and the rules and
regulations she has.
 Those who come from similar or the same denominational
churches and have membership certificate/card need to be
treated differently from others. The church may accept them on
transference basis and help them with their faith development.
This means that the church may offer them confirmation class
for those who are not full-members yet
 - Others, after they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior, need to know the meaning of church membership, what
Christian faith is all about, how to lead their lives as followers of
Jesus Christ, and so forth. To this end, the church needs to have
educational plans by which she could equip them and bring them
to the level of Christian maturity.
 In this regard Tidwell says the following:
 “They (new believers) need to learn of their own, its covenant, its
beliefs, its history, its governance, its ministries, its organizations, and
its leaders. They need to be prepared educationally to become involved
(at the level of their readiness) in the church’s life and work. They need
guidance in discovering and developing their gifts, and in finding ways
to exercise them for their good, for the good of the church, and for
others.”
1. The church, therefore, needs to give orientations and membership
education to the new believers as follows:
2. The church should introduce to them her doctrine, her history, the order
of her worship, and the services that she gives in week-days so that they
may orient themselves with the life and ministry of the church. This can
help them to socialize themselves with the members.
3. The church has to treat these new believers (new comers) according to
their ages and sex. This means, if some of them are children, they have
to be assigned to the Sunday school children program so that they may
able to learn the word of God with them. If some of them are young,
they could be with the youth. If some others are women, they could be
with the women’s group.
All these are the programs of the church in which groups of members
develop their spiritually gifts and able to minister to their church.
 4. The church should also assign them to prayer group and Bible
study group, according to their interest, so that they may be
able to learn with them and grow spiritually and in knowledge
wise.
5. After the new believers have got 3 - 6 months orientations or
membership experiences, the church should teach them
confirmation class (membership education) so that they may
become full members.
 Their ages need to be qualified for this class according to the

rules and regulations of the church. For this membership

education, Luther’s Small Catechism, which is being used in
the EECMY, is an excellent teaching material. It consists of the
Ten Commandments, the Creed, Lord’s Prayer, Holy Baptism and
Holy Communion.
 Here, the new believers could be able to learn in a more

interactive way. This means they may learn through asking

questions and getting answers, discussions, and personal
involvement in the class. Beside this, basic Bible knowledge,
personal faith development, stewardship, and witnessing could
also be introduced to them during this time.
6. The church should also teach them what their duties are as full members
of the community of saints. This means to teach them the need of
supporting the Gospel ministry of the church in paying for Sunday
collections, tithe, and other contributions, willingly. If human power is also
needed for church service, they have to be taught to volunteer
themselves. As the church has different working committees, they need
to be introduced to them too, so that they may able to give different
services by participating in them according to their gifts and interests.
7. As the church has a number of choir groups, it is necessary to introduce
to them so that they may join them according to their gifts and interests
and learn different songs to sing for the church. Choir groups are small
cells in which the members are helped to learn the word of God and able
to grow spiritually and qualify themselves to serve their church. It is
good to know the place of music in the church worship, and the
significant role that it plays in the ministry of the Gospel of our Lord.
8. If the church has a Night Bible School or Bible School Extension Program
or Theological Study Program, it is necessary to give them opportunities
so that they may able to learn the word of God better and qualify
themselves for the better service of God’s work. Through such
programs, it is possible to empower them for the task of discipleship and
for full time ministry.
Christian Education for developing voluntary Leaders

 - Christian education is the most important

church program to qualify these voluntary
leaders through informal or non-formal
training program for the different services
they are called to do.
 This means Christian education is a good

instrument in providing them with different

training programs in order to develop their
Christian faith and their spiritual gifts so that
they may become mature enough to give
effective services to their church and to the
people around them.
  What kind of Christians should they be?
1. They should be people who have confirmed their faith and have strong
stand in their Christian faith. Due to this, they need to know their
Bible and why they have given themselves to the work of the Lord
(1Cor. 15: 58; 16: 13; Eph.4: 15-16).
2. They should be people who lead a holy life. The people whom they are
serving are those who are made holy by our Lord Jesus Christ. So, to
serve the community of saints, the leaders have to be free from
unclean things and immoral or sinful life (Isa.52: 11 – 12; Col. 3: 5 –
14; 1Tim. 3: 1 - 7).
3. They should be faithful people. This means who are faithful to their
Lord, to the community of saints, and to the service they are called to
do (1Cor. 4: 1 – 3).
4. They should be committed people. This means those who are devoted,
dedicated, and submitted themselves to the Lord (Rom. 1: 1ff; Phil.1:
1ff). This can qualify them to serve God’s people as much as possible.
5. They should be people who are willing to serve others. The work of
our Lord requires self-giving, not force or persuasion.
Other benefits or positions should not have places in the house of God
 6. They should be people who are quick in listening to
the word of God, but who are slow in speaking (James
1: 19). This can tell us that we should listen or hear
the word of God than we speak about it.
 As our service is based on the word of God, we should
have a good understanding of it and able to serve
people accordingly (Rom. 10: 17). It gives us an advice
that we may take care of the word of God as the first
priority. Otherwise, we are not doing the right thing.
Proverbs 10: 19 says, “When words are many, sin is
not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.”
 So, we have to be wise enough in holding our tongue
from speaking many words which are not necessary.
We better be good listeners, good hearers, and good
readers than speaking it. Proverbs 17: 27.
7. They should be people who are slow in anger (James 1: 20). As
James says “anger does not bring about righteous life that God
desires.” So we have to have patience and humble ourselves in serving
others. Above all, we have to love people which can help us to give
satisfactory service to them than we feel angry with them. Through
love we can win people for Christ. Love should be our guiding
principle for our service.
8. They should be people of prayer. Through prayer we will have

strong relationship with our Lord and with our fellow Christians.
Prayer has full of power. It is because of this that our Lord prayed the
whole night (Luk. 6: 12) by himself. He prayed also for his disciples.
So, the leaders of the church should be people who are praying for the
service of the church, for the community of saints, and for the
extension of God’s kingdom.
9. They should be people who attend Sunday worship and other

church services regularly. In this regard they need to be examples to

others too. Their participation, as leaders, is highly important in
order to observe how worship is conducted and the services are going
on, and so forth. If something wrong takes place, they are responsible
to take corrective measures.
10. They should be people who give equal values to all
members of different backgrounds or cultures. This means
they should not be people who favor or love some of the
members and ignore others. As all them are equally loved
and saved by the same Lord, they should be leaders who
love and serve all the members equally.
11. They should be people who could also serve God’s people
through other resources. This means they should not only
serve God’s people with their spiritual gifts, but also with
the financial and other resources they have as there are
many needy people in the church (Acts 6: 1– 6).
12. They should be people who witness Jesus Christ to
others. This means their ministry should not be limited to the
church- building. They should be people who could go out
and witness Jesus Christ to non-believers and able to bring
them to the church, where they could develop their
Christian faith and able to gain maturity.
 Christian Education for the Mission of God
 God used the prophets in order to do his mission. God called Jeremiah
to send him to the people of Israel to pronounce his judgment on them
because of their wickedness (v.16). Other prophets did also similar
tasks so that his people would repent and come back to God and could
be able to live according to his will (Ezekiel 2: 1ff; Hosea 2:1ff).
 When we come to the New Testament, we can read that God revealed
himself through his Son Jesus Christ. This means He fulfilled His
mission by sending him to this world (Jn.3: 16; Rom 8: 32; Matt. 27: 1-
28: 1ff). Jesus then came to this world and did the will of God. While he
was on this earth, he preached the good news of God’s kingdom, taught,
did miracles, and when the right time came, he died, buried and rose
from the dead in order to give us life.
 Our Lord wanted that God’s mission should be continued on this earth.
For this, in the first place, He used his disciples by sending them out
starting in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of
the earth (Acts 1: 8). According to this, mission means “a sending
forth.”
 Curriculum Development and Christian Education

 “Curriculum is the content made available to students.”

(Dwayne Huebner)
 2. Curriculum is the planned and guided learning experiences of
students.” (John Dewey)
 3. Curriculum is the actual experiences of a student or
participant.” (Alice Miel)
 Generally, curriculum includes both the materials and the
experiences for learning. Specifically, curriculum is the written
courses for study used for Christian education.” (Iris Cully)
 4. Curriculum is the organization of learning activities guided
by a teacher with the intent of changing behavior.” (Lois LeBar)
 All these can help us to understand what curriculum is all about
from different perspectives and practices.
 The scholars shared with us their own understandings and
experiences as far as curriculum planning is concerned.
 Christian Education and Methods of Teaching

 Lecture Method
 Question-answer Method
 Story-Telling Method
 Discussion Method
 Demonstration and Observation
 Dramatizing
 Visualizing
 Activities and Practices
 Teamwork
Evaluation and Christian Education
 we have to consider the areas of
Christian education and assess them by
raising certain questions. The areas are:
 (1) Teaching Materials
 (2) Teachers

 (3) Place of Teaching

 (4) Library

 (5) Program,

 (6) Curriculum,

 (7) Budget, and

 (8) Objectives of the Christian education.

Evaluation and Christian Education
 Assignment I
1. What are the meanings & purposes of Christian education?
2. What contributions did history make to Christian
education?
3. From among the Church Reformers, write the significant
place that the three of them gave to Christian education?
4. Why theology is considered to be a ground for Christian
education?
5. Explain the different roles that parents and the church play in the teaching
ministry of children.
6. In order to be effective ministers, what kind of help do parents and Sunday
school teachers need? Explain.
Evaluation and Christian Education
7. Identify about five needs that youth have according to
Tidwell, and justify them from your context point of view.
8. Describe the four marks that show the maturity of the
Christians. And so, in order to mature youth group, what
the church should do?
9. Explain the factors why training adults in Christian
education is needed.
10. Describe the different services that the church
should give to: unmarried women, separated women
from their husbands, divorced, and widows.
Evaluation and Christian Education
 Assignment II
1. What does curriculum mean?
2. Explain the roles that teachers and students are
playing in curriculum development.
3. What kind of teaching is lacking in your
church teaching currently?
4. Investigate and explain the methods your
church is using in the Christian education
program
5. What are the areas of Christian education we
need to consider for evaluation? And why?
The End!