Life Long - thoughts by Teresa Kaldor
Posted: Sat, 2011-03-26 18:35
Are programs in place to nurture faith from prenatal through death? It seems that in many people’s minds, education in the church is synonymous with Sunday School classes for children. Lutherans (along with many other mainline denominations) have an appalling drop-off in attendance after confirmation. Christian educators across the country bemoan the lack of adult participation in bible study or other types of educational opportunities at church. Where else in our society would we accept this lack of engagement?
Every phase of a person’s life is different, influenced by physical, intellectual, and emotional development, life experiences, personal interactions. Because of this, a person’s relationship with God, their interaction with His Word will alter, grow richer, deepen, we hope, in understanding. How can we nurture this journey? Not by accepting the current situation. We need to look to the public education sector for inspiration and be creative!
Why start at pregnancy? We know that parents are the primary faith nurturers of children. Patterns of interaction between mother and infant begin right from birth. Why not provide support for the parents-to-be and at the same time offer them ways they can start carrying out the baptismal promises they’ll make later. It becomes a first step in a partnership of home and church.
Are there entry points for new Christians all along the way? During my years as a public school teacher, I remember sitting down with specialists and developing IEPs (or Individual Education Plans) for each of the students who had some learning difficulties. We would look at what skills they had mastered, what they still struggled with, and where we wanted them to end up at the end of the year.
While we aren’t able to go into this amount of detail for each of our members (and I’m not suggesting that new Christians have learning difficulties!), we do need to recognize that not everyone comes to the church with the same body of knowledge or at the same stage of faith. There are children, youth, and adults who enter our doors with very little knowledge of the bible or Lutheran tradition. Some may be new Christians, others returning to church after a time away, and still others lifelong Lutherans who have developed a thirst for more. How do we meet their needs as well as those needs of mature Christians? We should take a look at what we offer with the eyes of these various groups. Is what we offer welcoming, encouraging, empowering? Or is it intimidating and confusing? As educators, we should be striving to provide opportunities for growth for everyone.