The Religious Education of Adults


Book Description

Increasingly, adults do not see the church as a credible provider of quality religious education. This revision by R. Michael Harton of the classic work by Leon McKenzie addresses the foundational issues of what constitutes such an education for adults and how ministers and teachers can determine and understand the needs of learners. It also offers ways to involve learners in the planning and execution of their own religious education. A must-read for ministers and seminarians who care about the religious education of adults. Leon McKenzie is a retired professor of adult education at Indiana University, where he also served as Director of Human Resource Development for Indiana University Hospital. He received his Ed.D. in adult education from IU. and has authored several books, including Adult Education and the Burden of the Future and Adult Education and World View Construction. He lives in Indianapolis. R. Michael Harton has authored several articles on local church adult education, and contributed to A Church's Ministry to Adults and Handbook on Adult Religious Education. A former congregational educator and seminary professor, he now serves the Virginia Baptist Resource Center in Richmond, Virginia, and teaches adjunctively at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. He received his Ed.D. in adult education and instructional systems technology from Indiana University.




Virtual Theology, Faith and Adult Education


Book Description

Online learning is a key feature of the contemporary educational landscape and has entered mainstream policy, provision and practice. But if online education is to reach mature development and evaluation, it must be open to critical appraisal. This book considers the implementation of online learning within adult theological education. This can be an area of challenge or contention, especially when established academic practices and cherished values are seen as threatened when handed over to online delivery. This opens questions about theology, pedagogy and online education. Does online teaching and learning bring or demand a new or transformed (disruptive) pedagogy or does it result in maintenance or replication (sustaining) of traditional values and existing practices? What might the opportunities and benefits be? Who stands to gain? Who stands to lose? And what evidence is there to evaluate the quality of ‘doing theology’ online? This book examines a long-standing programme of continuing professional development delivered fully online to adult practitioners working across Christian education and ministry settings. It builds upon the author’s international experience as an online educator for over a decade. Key themes relate adult learning to theological pedagogy, authority, and online community. The concept of interruptive pedagogy is presented as an interpretative model to critically appraise an approach to online education that draws on the best theological tradition yet also looks to the future.




Adult Religious Education


Book Description

Essays that contain the latest in theory and practice concerning adult religious education -- why there is a need for it, the many dimensions of it in a community and how we can improve our practices.




Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education


Book Description

Sponsored by the American Association of Adult & Continuing Education"This monumental work is a testimony to the science of adult education and the skills of Wilson and Hayes. It is a veritable feast for nourishing our understanding of the current field of adult education. The editors and their well-chosen colleagues consistently question how we know and upon what grounds we act. They invite us to consider not only how we can design effective adult education, but also why we practice in a particular socio-economic context." --Jane Vella, author of Taking Learning to Task and Learning to Listen, Learning to Teach "This new handbook captures the exciting intellectual and professional development of our field in the last decade. It is an indispensable resource for faculty, students, and professionals." --Jack Mezirow, emeritus professor, Adult and Continuing Education, Teachers College, Columbia University For nearly seventy years, the handbooks of adult and continuing education have been definitive references on the best practices, programs, and institutions in the field. In this new edition, over sixty leading authorities share their diverse perspectives in a single volume--exploring a wealth of topics, including: learning from experience, adult learning for self-development, race and culture in adult learning, technology and distance learning, learning in the workplace, adult education for community action and development, and much more. Much more than a catalogue of theory and historical facts, this handbook strongly reflects the values of adult educators and instructors who are dedicated to promoting social and educational opportunity for learners and to sustaining fair and ethical practices.




Open Minds, Devoted Hearts


Book Description

How do religious educators meaningfully engage adult learners? How do they invite adults to begin a learning journey and inspire them to stay on it? In an era of "spiritual but not religious," how can religious educators, and clergy in particular, respond to the yearnings of adults for connection, wholeness, and purpose? Open Minds, Devoted Hearts offers the examples of three outstanding congregational rabbis whose teaching answers that call to action. Through innovatively incorporating biographical portraits and educational scholarship the book provides a comprehensive exploration of how the themes of narrative, transformation, and spirituality bring adult religious educators and learners into a powerful interactive educational process. The portraits and accompanying analysis reveal how constructing personal meaning and building sacred community through study situates adult learning as a dynamic centerpiece of an energized congregational life.




Learning in the Way


Book Description

Adult Christian learning is central to the life of the Christian church, and is essential for its health, outreach and very survival. Leading Christian educators here apply the principles of Christian education to adult learning in the churches, and present the results and methods of empirical research relevant to the church's ministry of adult Christian education. This book will be of interest to all who are concerned for the ways in which adults learn to be Christian. The editor, Jeff Astley, is Director of the North of England Institute for Christian Education and Honorary Professorial Fellow in Practical Theology and Christian Education in the University of Durham.




The Power of Small Groups in Christian Formation


Book Description

Small groups continue to be a significant part of church life and Christian formation in the twenty-first century, impacting a church and society characterized by loneliness and fragmentation. As such, Julie Gorman is prompted to declare, “Small groups have come of age! They have found unprecedented acceptance and endorsement.” This is a comprehensive book on small groups and Christian formation informed by theology, church history, and the social sciences. It addresses both the foundations and praxis of groups, with a special emphasis on leading dynamic group discussions.







Ministering to Today's Adults


Book Description

Adult ministry poses a unique challenge to churches today -- a challenge that many of us fail to meet adequately. The tragic result is an exodus of the best and brightest from our pews, not because these people have changed their theology or abandoned God. They just don't find much at church that seems immediately relevant or compelling. For nearly fifty years Kenneth O. Gangel has been teaching church leaders how to do adult ministry right. In this volume he has distilled his insights into an easy-to-grasp-and-apply analysis of what it takes to capture the attention and guarantee the participation of adults in your church, including: * Specific advice based on ages, genders, and circumstances peculiar to certain ministries * Proven, cutting-edge curriculum models that can revitalize your church's adult instruction * Contemporary solutions to the most common problems we encounter in ministering to today's adults Whether they know it or not, even those who are lagging in church attendance and distancing themselves from other believers still need the time-proven, heaven-given blessings only the church can offer them. As you read this book, Gangel will give you fresh ideas about how to draw these drifters back into the fold. The real-life stories he tells and the successful strategies he outlines may strike in your heart some spark of imagination and renewed commitment that will help you to bring new life to the adult ministry of the church you serve.




Human Learning


Book Description

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