Introduction
God made the world before he made
man Gen1:24-25. This has made man to be
in continuous search for knowledge about God, His creation and
relationship. Although it appear as if the
more we know is the more there is to know, man and especially Christians must
take teaching and learning process very seriously for the purpose of
1. Sustaining what we already know and believe,
2. Spreading the good knowledge to all, Mt.
28:19-20
3. Improving on what we already know and how we
make use of them to better fulfill the purpose of
God for our lives.
4. Discovering more new knowledge. Prov. 24:3-5
EDUCATIONAL MINISTRIES IN THE LOCAL BAPTIST
CHURCH
Many of our Church Organisations
are educative in nature but the following are some specific educational
ministries.
1.
Sunday School – This is the arm of the Church where the
Bible is taught to its member in a setting that is less formal than the sermon
in Worship Service on Sundays.
2.
Church Training Programme (C.T.P) This is a programme
of the Convention designed to train members of the Local Church
on doctrines and principles of the Baptists and contemporary issues in the
society.
3.
Adult Education Programme – The Church attempt at
giving adult members the opportunity to learn to read and write.
4.
Children Training Programme – This is the Church School
designed to bring Children up Spiritually.
5.
Family life Education – The Church arm designed to
educate the members on marriage and family issues.
THE CHURCH EDUCATION MINISTER
A minister is one who has a
ministry. Teaching ministry is an
important ministry in the Church. Sunday
School teachers, C.T.P. Directors, Children Education workers and Adult education
teachers are involved in teaching ministries of the Church. They are expected to exhibit the following
traits among others to be effective.
1.
Committed and consistent Christian life. Eccl.
12:12-13 II Tim 2:19.
2.
high quest for knowledge (study Bible, and other
Christian Books)
3.
Faithful to God in discharge of their duties. ICor. 4:2, Jer. 48:10
4.
Deligent in preparation and delivery of his/her
lessons. II Tim. 2:15.
5.
Self improvement through seminars, workshops and other
training programmes.
6.
An example within and outside the Church in
punctuality, regularity, morality etc. I Tim 4:13-14.
7.
Understand the word apart from the letter and do what
he/she teaches. IICor. 3:6.
ORGANISING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES OF THE CHURCH
The Education Minister should
mind the following areas in organizing Educational Ministry in the Church.
1.
Class grouping – It could be by age or by status
(literacy). It must be appropriate.
2.
Class size – The fewer the better. Maximum could be 20 people in a class.
3.
Sitting arrangement - The class should be arranged such
that all members could see themselves.
Female members should be guided not to sit carelessly.
4.
Allocation of teachers to classes – Teachers should be
carefully screened in terms of maturity and experience.
5.
Meeting date, meeting time, meeting duration, timing of
the programme should suit majority of the people. The class should not be too long to bore
members and time should be well managed.
6.
Teaching the teacher(preparatory class) – It is not
good enough to allow any teacher who is not part of the preparatory class to teach. Preparation includes study, planning and
praying. All teachers are to have
programme books of their own.
APPROACH TO TEACHING/LEARNING PROCESS
Teachers should carefully select
method of teaching particular lessons.
The method should by dynamic and appropriate to the lesson. The common “talk – talk” method should not
dominate other methods that can be used include: Chalk-Board method, Demonstration
method, Drama, use of resource persons, group discussions, paper presentation
like of electronic aids such as Radio or
video etc., other aids can also be used to illustrate the lessons. These include, Charts, Maps, real objects
etc., Baptist people should be encouraged to make notes for reference after the
class.
CHURCH EDUCATIONAL MINISTRY: A GROUP WITHIN A GROUP
On no account should a Church
Education Minister work against or completely independent of the Pastor or the
Church. We are a group within a large
group. Sometimes teachers are blessed by God with special Grace. This is not to lead us to destroy the
Church. We ought to beware of
antagonistic tendencies. Members must
not tempt us to rebel against Church leadership. Num.12:2.
Church Educational Ministry has
been found to bless the teachers as much as it blesses the members. God will always reward faithful workers. Gal. 6:8 Rev.22:12-13.
May the good Lord help us to be
effective Education Ministers in Jesus Name.
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