Monday Reflection for Week 10 March 7, 2007

The church consumer cycle: we provide a spiritual product which the masses consume for a price. It’s spirituality for sale- but not too much.

Just enough to make those sitting in the pews feel good enough to get through another week. Just enough to put a bandaid on the gaping chasm of desire for real community, real significance, a real connection with the Creator of our hearts.

“In exchange for 10%  of your income (or more if you are particularly holy) and a monthly rotation in the nursery, we will provide you with an excellant spiritual experience weekly, complemented by your choice of programs and methods of voluntary service. Are you a wife, father, newly married, been married for 50 years, 5-year-old, teenager, scrapbooker, mountain climber, new Christian, old Christian? Our church has just the program for you! Want to assuage your guilt and uncomfortability over the homeless you pass everyday on your way to work? Volunteer once a month to feed the homeless in the convenience of our own church basement! No need to deal with the messiness of encountering them on the actual street. Hurry, or you might miss out on one of these unique opportunities!”

Are we missing God in the midst of consumerism?

Wednesday Reflection for Week 9 March 5, 2007

I was intrigued with the discussion on the changing pedagogy and instructional methodologies at Fuller. It’s interesting to me to hear the same “new” ideas for teaching as those presented in Kindergarten trainings I’ve gone to in the past as a teacher. Experiential, constructivist, interactive learning is definitely at the cutting edge of teaching these days, at all levels apparantly.

Looking at the history of teaching, I think we need to be cautious about swinging the pendulum too far to any extreme. It’s easy to get excited about the “newness” of ideas, especially if they are backed by research. I think there is definitely a lot of validity to all of these techniques.

But we need a balance. Plenty of cycles have happened within teaching delivery- many ideas are just old ones re-packaged.

Whether teaching Kindergarten or grad school, both content and experience are important. And change does not happen overnight. People need time to adjust to new ways of learning, especially adult learners who think they are the experts in how they should learn!

I did appreciate the time spent in class discussing this. And I’m glad Fuller is on the cutting edge of teaching and learning- another reason why I’m glad to be here!