Changing the Method not the Message fulfills our Mission. Adult Ministry and Learning Dynamics.

As a former Adult Education Vocational Computer Instructor, and Pastor I find this subject very interesting and important, as it is a subject that at times is not well understood. The following is a few of my observations over the years and I hope it will in some ways be helpful.

In teaching adults I often found that many were truly interested in continuing to expand their knowledge base. It is always a hoot to see ones eyes light up when a new fact or skill was acquired. Most of my class roster consisted of senior adults. Many were very much older being in their 80’s and even older in some cases. These people were delightful for the most part. I was touched by how warm they often were with me. Knowing the life many of them had lived, being a part of World War 2 for example, really made me very sober minded regarding the honor I felt in having influence in their lives. For this reason understanding how adults learn and having a strong adult education processes in the church is crucial to over all discipleship. Understanding how adults learn best will help raise the bar of biblical knowledge and application.

I observed during my 5 years teaching in Adult Public Education and later 3 more years working as a customer trainer & technical instructor for the Canon Semiconductor Division, and later still as a Pastor, a number of interesting dynamics concerning human behavior. Here are a few of my personal observations.
1. People learn better when they are encouraged and not made to feel dumb when the learning curve is steep.
2. People excel when praised.
3. People’s motivation drops if the environment becomes dry and sterile. It is better if the material is interactive and fun.
4. Testing is not a true measure of an individual’s knowledge of the subject.
5. Everyone does not learn at the same pace.
6. Demonstrating mastery of a skill, results in better retention.
7. Humor relaxes the class.
8. Course and teacher evaluations help the instructor develop better teaching aids.
9. Student evaluations keep order and discipline in force
10. Some adults are visual learners others learn and retain from lectures.
11. Maturity is not necessarily a natural result of age.
12. Experience and age generally correlate.
13. The older the generation the deeper the moral virtues (though there are exceptions).
14. Lowering the difficulty in learning without lowing the standards yielded better results.
15. High academics do not always translate into intelligence and vice versa.

My observations are based primarily on personal interaction with my students over the years. I have come to believe most Adults have a short attention spans. This is an important understanding because if it is true and if it can be verified through empirical data than it might change how we minister and teach biblical truth in the church. For example if a person’s attention were to wander say after 20 or 30 minutes might it behoove us to create shorter sermons? Perhaps but I will caution here that we do not want to create 30 minute disciples. We must be discerning on this matter.

This leads us to explore how we are teaching spiritual truths. Perhaps we would discover that there are better methods than just preaching to teach the bible. I am convinced that people want to participate in the process of learning. I would explain this as an experiential approach. Get the listener into the story. This could happen through methods such as Q and A sessions. Worship painting as a visual aid; other things might be using smells, light, sounds, etc. Touching the human senses to stimulate the mind to learning might be highly effective. It is interesting that children often learn this way and if you think about most of us adults are nothing more than big kids we are after all God’s children.

I find it interesting as well that in the bible much teaching and fellowship happened around a meal. Could it be that we are more receptive to teaching when the pleasure centers of the brain are activated. Food makes us feel good, but more importantly it makes us satisfied and relaxed. When we are relaxed we enjoy life more and community and fellowship are enhanced as a result.

Have you ever noticed how music makes us feel better also? Just look at a little toddler. Often when the music is playing they just can’t help themselves they start moving and bopping about. In adults we tend to want to stomp our feet or get up and move or dance. It stimulates a pleasure center of our mind. We use music in worship. Could it be that it makes us feel better and more open to the presence of the Lord. I think it does, for that reason also It can be a way to teach about God and his character.

As an educator and now as a Pastor I have learned one important truth, for people to learn they must be motivated. *One study by Stephen Lieb, Senior Technical Writer and Planner, for the Arizona Department of Health Services and part-time Instructor, at South Mountain Community College made the following observations.
*At least six factors serve as sources of motivation for adult learning:

• Social relationships: to make new friends, to meet a need for associations and friendships.

• External expectations: to comply with instructions from someone else; to fulfill the expectations or recommendations of someone with formal authority.

• Social welfare: to improve ability to serve mankind, prepare for service to the community, and improve ability to participate in community work.

• Personal advancement: to achieve higher status in a job, secure professional advancement, and stay abreast of competitors.

• Escape/Stimulation: to relieve boredom, provide a break in the routine of home or work, and provide a contrast to other exacting details of life.

• Cognitive interest: to learn for the sake of learning, seek knowledge for its own sake, and to satisfy an inquiring mind.

I believe these are some excellent points. As churches we must make sure that we “bore no more”. If people are not having a good time in church, if we are working them to hard, not making it fun, not showing them we value them than how will they be motivated to listen to our message? Will we kill the motivation or encourage it? If we are willing to look at how we can change while maintaining our purity and biblical integrity we can change our methods without changing our message thus fulfilling our mission.

** In Michael J. Anthony’s Book “Christian Education” contributor James A. Davies writes concerning Adult Ministries that the bible is predominantly an “adults oriented book” “It was written by adult for adults”. So it follows that we might want to understand better how to teach and preach to adults. Again it is interesting to me that Jesus taught in parables. Stories to help reinforce his simple yet profound truths. Now I will admit that in Jesus day many were probably uneducated. In some ways however that is still true if not in a broad societal since certainly in a spiritual one. Ironically many believe that Christianity is of little or no value in gaining spiritual truth. It is analogist to driving around in ones car saying to yourself how much you wish you had a cup of coffee and on each street corner is a Starbucks yet you believe you cannot find any coffee to drink. People are doing the same thing saying, “by golly I need a spiritual shot and pick me up” and they walk or drive by the First Baptist, Methodist, Assembly of God, Lutheran, Church of Christ, Foursquare, Presbyterians…well you get the idea. They say, “nah surely I cannot get what I need there, A church…certainly not”. How sad that most adults are so susceptible to the influence of the world. Yet the church is not so influential, why? Could it be the world does it better? Is what they offer better? What could possible be better than Jesus? I would suggest that they do not do it better really; it is just that we are so resistant to change that in the eyes of the world we look out of place. This is why it is necessary to understand how people learn and how they are influenced. It is by accident that Satan used a piece of fruit to entice Adam and Eve. Look we need to understand that he used something very familiar to them. He used an object that looked pleasing and tasted good. If Satan gets how humans work, than don’t we think that attractive methods will work today for the church? I don’t mean compromise our message. I am talking about making our self and the church, more relevant by making what we have more attainable and delicious. We know already that Jesus is the tastiest thing of which we will ever partake. The world needs to see that as well; and it might take unusual methods for that to happen. Understanding again how people learn can help. The church must be so passionate about people that nothing will stop us from reaching them for Jesus. We must make hard choices in the church today and not be afraid to throw the box away. Can the church teach the world? Yes…can the world teach the church…you bet? The better question here is who is teaching whom with more influence?


Sources:
* http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2.htm
** Michael J. Anthony “Christian Education” contributor James A. Davies Chapter 24

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