Educational Ministry is Changing
In recent years, educational ministries in the local church have changed in significant ways. These changes impact not only what is taught, but also when and how. Additionally, there are now a number of ways churches refer to this ministry, including Christian education, discipleship, enrichment, growth, religious education, and spiritual formation.
Meet Bruce Stewart 
Bruce Stewart is a Church of Christ minister who currently serves as Preaching Minister at Port City Church. He is the author of three books: A Call to Faith: A Commentary on 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus; Follow Thou Me: The Life and Teachings of Jesus; and A Cry to Heaven: The Book of Job – Seeing the Light in the Midst of Suffering. Additionally, Stewart is an adjunct professor at Amridge University.
Forming/Reforming Educational Ministry
In unpublished material, Stewart suggests that to be effective in the twenty-first century, the local church must make significant changes. Specifically, he encourages churches to consider moving from doing ministry a certain way because of tradition to doing ministry that will lead to growth. His suggestions for educational ministry are shown below and contrasted with my own view, which is labeled as a third way.
| Tradition | Growth | Third Way | |
| Focus of Education | Knowing | Doing | Transforming |
| Educational Ministry | Academic | Action-oriented | Praxis |
| Educational Environment | Sunday School | Small groups | Both (SS & SG) & More |
| Adult Groups | Age | Interest | Both (A & I) & Geography |
| Curriculum | Standardized | Not Standardized | Both (S & NS) & More |
| Christian Maturity | An End in and of Itself | For Ministry | For Servant Leadership |
| Children’s classes | Verbally oriented | Visually Oriented | Multiple Intelligences |
| Doctrinal conformity | Insisted | Diversity Allowed* | Diversity Encouraged* |
| Meetings Occur | Sundays | Different Times & Places | Different T&P & Intervals |
| Stewardship Emphasis | Promotion | Education | Engagement |
*(in non-essential matters)
So What?
The ministry of educating/forming disciples is central to the mission of the church. It is essential that every congregation form this ministry and remain open to reforming on a regular basis in order to remain effective.
- Does your church provide adequate attention to and resources for this ministry? If not, how are you working to address the deficiencies?
- Which of the three categories (tradition, growth, or third way) do you believe is most appropriate? Why?
- Which of the three categories describes your current educational ministry? Is this the same as the one you selected in question 2? If not, how will you begin to move toward that option?