A good analogy for what we experience in our congregations today is the analogy of a military base located overseas. When a military family is relocated to a base in a foreign country, although the language and culture outside the base may be different, the base provides a safe haven where families are able to shop, go to school, and church in a setting where they speak the language and recognize the products and systems. 

For many military families adjusting to living this lifestyle can be challenging. In most cases they do have a choice whether or not to leave the base, but many choose not to. The foreign language and culture presents too much change and a level of discomfort. For those who do take the steps to leave the base and learn to shop and get involved in activities different from their own, the benefits are immeasurable.

I believe what happens when you venture off the base and get to meet others is that they begin to know you. There must be an interest shown in getting to know all about their language and their culture  before they even begin to question you about your own background. 

As relationships build and you get to know one another, there is a level of trust that solidifies. Those from the other culture thirst to know more about you. From love and respect, the opportunity to invite someone from the other culture on the base to see how you live presents itself. 

As a result, there is a comfort and feeling of safety in sharing one another's lifestyles and respecting them. The end result is love and trust. It is not until these two important feelings are part of a relationship that love grows. and out of love grows more questions about one's lifestyle and ultimately one's faith. 

It is not only a challenge to gain a person's trust in a foreign setting, but without first taking steps to know one another, taking steps towards inviting someone to your faith community is nearly impossible. What benefits might your congregation glean if you used this analogy ?

Reader's Digest phrase of the month comes from "No Regrets Parenting" by Harley Rotbart, MD: "940 Saturdays - The number of Saturdays between the day your child is born and the time he or she turns 18. The phrase might serve as a reminder to cherish the time you have with your child and use it wisely." 

Parents, like it or not, we ARE the primary role models for our children in life. How we love, how we practice faith, how we interact with others, how we spend our the hours given to us in a day,etc.

I hope and pray this day that we can reflect on those 940 Saturdays and SUNDAYS! And realize in our hearts, it is never too late to make a difference. How many hours do you have left? Is there something different you can take the time to do with a child/grandchild that will make a difference?

A friend of mine recently shared that he'll be teaching a class titled "Kill Sunday School" at a seminary. I do not disagree that Sunday school is struggling in many places, but then again, the entire church is struggling! And I can understand the need to perhaps redefine how we approach Christian education, but there of those of us who see the word kill as a bit strong for the point to be made here. 

Recent research on faith formation continues to point to the importance of involving parents and other adults in role modeling faith for children. Vibrant Faith Ministries, Lifelong Faith, Search Institute, Children's Ministry magazine, and Faith Inkubators are a few of the organizations producing great resources, research, and consulting to help congregations. Change is eminent. It's one step at a time.

My top ten reasons to not kill Sunday school:

1. Death is permanent. Resurrection, renaming, reclaiming the way its’ done makes more sense.

2. Kill sounds like a sentence to carry out. The history of Sunday school alone affirms it had and continues to have a valuable place in the congregation.

3. This is one of the few places where lay persons get involved, equipped, and get tools to grow in their faith in leadership roles. If it’s gone, and decisions remain in the sole hands of the ordained, what will become of Christian education? What about the body? How does it recognize the sense of a call?

4. Want a new name? Christian education is the heart of the church. Just call it what it is and go from there. Start with Faith Formation.

5. It’s not really dying. It is in true need of a little care and attention from church leadership. A new look and way to do it would help too.

6. Many pastors have not attended nor do they participate in Sunday school. It normally means Children’s Ministry, an important place (if not the most important place) to start! Shouldn’t there be a requirement to go for a while and experience it first before you kill it?

7. Seminaries require a minimum of one Christian ed course to earn a divinity degree. Doesn’t that mean it has very little priority? Let’s rethink how we teach in seminaries.

8. Google “Sunday school” and you will encounter hundreds of faith-based resources and publishing companies providing tools to teach the Christian faith. People continue to seek the resources. They know Sunday school means Christian education.

9. If you told the average lay person sitting in the pew on a Sunday morning that you were going to kill Sunday school, they’d be in shock. Most know no other terminology. For some it would be evoking powerful memories and may be the very reason they are sitting there in the first place.

10. It’s the number one place in the congregation where adults of all ages are role models for the young. It provides a place for the lay to feel called. The relationships built there are lifelong and vibrant. Think twice before you kill the one thing that can actually grow the church!

I believe many who enter our doors every week are very uncomfortable speaking faith. From my experience, the parallel between what it involves to teach English as a Second Language (ESL) and what it takes to involve adults and children in faith formation programs is astonishing. As a result, Faith as a Second Language (FSL) is the best analogy I can use to describe how we may begin to think as we address the challenges in our congregations.

If you were to approach teaching faith like you would teaching a foreign language, what new methods would you use? After living in Spain for 4 years and Japan for 3 years and after teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) to both adults and children, I have come to see a few similarities: 

1. Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) is a struggle for most adults who didn’t grow up with the language spoken in their homes. Likewise, many adults in our congregations also struggle with the language of faith. It's like learning a second language. If they didn’t grow up with it spoken in their home, it seems foreign. It’s not that they don’t want to learn. It simply isn’t their native language, and learning it can make them feel uncomfortable.

2. Families coming through the doors each week may feel like they are entering an unknown culture. Immigrant parents often count on schools to teach English to their children. Similarly, parents drop their children at our church doors, counting on us to teach faith to their children. Immigrant parents do not feel qualified or equipped to teach their own children. The same is true in the congregation with the language of faith.

3. For immigrants, standard of living and income levels improve dramatically as they become fluent in English. Becoming fluent in the language of faith can also improve the standard of living in homes. Those who become articulate in English can eventually work and assimilate to a life in the community. They begin to speak English with their children in the home. Those who become articulate in the language of faith will eventually live out their faith every day in the home, at work, and in the world.

4. The most effective ways to introduce English are to teach the way the brain learns. That means with lots of visuals, games, songs, hands-on practice, motivation and fun. The most effective ways to teach faith are the same: visuals, games, songs, hands-on practice and fun. Involvement of parents and other adults as role models is important if your goal is to become fluent.

5. Those who become fluent in a foreign language know that the best way to learn is to be immersed and surrounded in a home where the language is spoken. After living in a culture and being loved into the language, you become fluent. It is not forgotten. Wherever you are in the world and hear it spoken, you gravitate towards it and thirst to be with others who speak the same language. Can you imagine what that could mean for our faith communities? A one hour session every week will not make one fluent, yet this is what we offer each week. The key to bringing parents and others on-board to become fluent in faith talk is to create an immersion experience that includes the home. 

6.When the Children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land, God gave them a clear set of instructions on how to teach their children:                                       You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. — Deuteronomy 6:5-9

Take this language metaphor to your next leadership team meeting and ask:

• How is faith taught in our church?

• Are we aware there are adults in our congregation learning the language of faith for the first time?

• If so, how are we supporting them?

After almost 20 years of being involved in youth and children's ministry as a volunteer, staff person, and consultant, I have found my three favorite words to be: Intentional, Expectations, and Accountability. It took years to understand the significance and need to define these as necessary and helpful steps as we define and plan faith formation programs in the congregation.

Intentional: Many times we gently ask for help and make suggestions when we identify a resource or way to implement something new in our settings. It's as though we are almost afraid of a negative response (and sometimes expect it) or are careful about stepping on people's toes. Bottom line, if you want a successful ministry, you need to be intentional and move forward taking one step at a time to focus on your goals. Once you have gathered thoughts, prayed about it, and feel it is right, keep moving forward. Be intentional, set goals, and don't look back. (That'll come later.)

Expectations: After you have chosen the path, and set your goals, setting expectations is a good next step. If there are no expectations, there is a possibility of drifting off the path and rather than stay focused on the goal, negative feedback can shift the focus. Setting expectations doesn't mean to give an ultimatum, it means specifically asking that certain things be done and expecting them to be done. It's giving it a chance. For instance, if you are going to ask all small group facilitators to follow the same outline each time they gather, do not divert. Expect them to do it. And help them. Make sure training is in place.

Accountability: Check in time! It is very helpful to gather leadership teams on a regular basis to invite their insights and input to answer the questions: What's working and What's not?
It is at this point you can openly discuss and share the value of helping everyone be on the same page. It allows a time to affirm that all are sticking to the expectations and giving them a chance.

I have found that keeping these three steps in mind truly helps to build the ever important rituals and traditions that are key elements of faith formation for all ages. It's just the beginning of handing our faith to the next generation and in today's world, we need to understand the importance of this.

"Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."  Deuteronomy 6:6-9

Welcome to my blog. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be sharing my thoughts about faith formation through the lens of learning a language for the first time. I believe faith is a second language for most of us. Unless you were raised in a place where you were surrounded by and immersed in a faith community, learning to open your heart and mind to God's love at work in our lives does not come natural. It's a language we should all know because many of us were raised in the church. But akin to learning a second language, one hour a week in a congregation or at the most two, is not going to make a person fluent. What does it take to become fluent? Stay tuned for some thoughts about it!