classes
THE JOHNSON AVE FIVE YEAR ADULT TEACHING PROGRAM
By Brent Hunter, Evangelist for the Johnson Avenue church of Christ
“An exciting teaching program is more than just filling one’s pail; it must also light the fire within!”
We have a quarterly elective Bible class program filled with a variety of meaningful choices
To accomplish this, beginning October 2011, our Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters will no longer be divided up based upon age groups. Instead, the new focus will be on giving our members a choice to study topics and Bible books they feel will best meet their needs. We want the young and old to benefit from each other’s perspectives.
Sunday AM we will have three choices: One OT, one NT, and one topical.
Wednesday PM we will have two choices: One textual and one topical.
We have put together a balanced curriculum with flexibility to meet current needs.
Long-term planning has many benefits, but a good teaching program also needs flexibility. On occasion, we might decide to have one class on Wednesday night if the topic covered is deemed by the elders to be especially important or critical for everyone. There will be open slots to decide later what needs to be taught given the congregation’s current status.
The summer will maintain the current format of two men on Wednesday night giving 20-minute talks, and having separate men/women’s classes for Sunday AM.
Potentially 35 different topics over the next five years!
This means we will potentially have slots for seven different topics in a year –over five years that means up to 35 different topics may be needed. (We probably will not need that many because we will want to repeat some topics). We want to first and foremost meet our member’s needs and at the same time have relevant classes that will be likely to attract the community to attend.
Two important on-going classes to maintain a soul-winning culture
There will be an on-going “Foundations” class for new Christians (in addition to the classes mentioned above). Also, once a year, beginning in 2012, one quarter we will offer the Personal Evangelism 101 and Sharing the Big Picture material for new members and new Christians. New members will be told about the importance of taking this class as a part of our “New Member Orientation.” This we hope will help to maintain a “soul-winning culture” at Johnson Ave and encourage wide-spread participation in our efforts to reach lost souls.
Choosing the “Best of the Best” of materials.
One of the reasons Johnson Ave has not offered this many “options” in the past is the feeling that the congregation had to put together our own material. Though this may happen on occasion; we want to get and use the very best material available and present it to the assigned teachers months in advance. This will save hundreds of man hours and the end result should be superior to “reinventing the wheel.” This will also allow lots of lead time for teachers to prepare many months in advance using the five year curriculum.
Meaty topical studies for serious Bible students
Some of the “topics” would still be textual studies. For example, “Flesh and Spirit” from Gal 5, and the “Sermon on the Mount” from Matt 5, 6, 7 would be an occasional topic so that any choice would be a substantive one. We would also seek to provide appropriate names for the textual studies. For example, instead of the study of Colossians, it would be entitled “The Supremacy of Christ.”
Congregational input and feedback is critical to good decision making and enthusiasm
The congregation received a questionnaire asking for their input as to the topics they had the most interest in studying. The congregation will be polled periodically to make sure that our curriculum is meeting current needs. Our current topics were selected and approved by the elders with the congregation’s input in mind.
Sunday evening studies
Everyone wants to maintain flexibility for Sunday evening services to make them as edifying and meaningful as possible. Beginning in October 2011, tentative plans are to offer several different options for studies. For example, we might have one class on parenting, one on advance song leading, and one on a study of heaven and angels. These would last for about 35 minutes before our worship services begin. Members would sign up in advance for which ever class they felt best suited their interests. Ideally, classes would be designed so they would end at the same time. This way, everyone would be prepared to switch and be able to choose which class offerings they wanted to be a part of during our next set of Sunday evening class offerings.
Check this website for our current class offerings and the Morning Messenger where each quarter’s offerings will be listed at least a month in advance.
The church of Jesus Christ is to be a teaching institution as it serves as “a pillar and support of the truth” ( I Tim 3:15). May we all apply ourselves to study and learning so that we may “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” ( 2 Peter 3:18).
Download the 5 year curriculum
2011 Class Material