Teaching Like Jesus A Practical Guide to Christian Education in Your Church

Teaching is our ministry. Jesus is our model. People are our passion.Transformed lives are our product. And heaven is our goal.This is the essence of Christian education.My journey into the ministry of teaching in the local church isactually rooted in my childhood. My hero-my dad-was our pastor.As the dutiful daughter, I assumed the task of teaching Sundayschool to our handful of children, training the teachers, and givingleadership to our youth ministry.Ours was a very small church, a storefront to be exact, just twoblocks from 125th Street in New York City. Dad was an evangelistat heart, and he was creative about building a congregation. He hadrigged a loudspeaker to the street outside and connected it to thepulpit microphone so that passersby could hear the preaching.An additional benefit of our loudspeaker system was thatpeople on the sidewalks could also hear the choir, which my motherdirected. Admittedly, ours was a small choir, but under her tutelagewe sounded as voluminous as any mass choir, and in choir com-petitionswe either won or came in second.Grandmother knew how to pray. "It''s me again, Lord," was thepersonal familiarity with which she addressed her God. And shecould sing. Her operatic voice had been featured on the RefugeTemple radio program, and although she no longer performed, herpraises bellowed from the pews.Mother Inniss, as she was lovingly known, was ever the faithfulmother-in-law. She had left the glamour of her thousand-memberWhat Is Christian Education?A Philosophy of MinistryAnd the things which you have heard fromme in the presence of many witnesses, theseentrust to faithful men, who will be able toteach others also.2 Timothy 2:2 NASBchurch home to help her son-in-law pioneer his ministry. She passedher musical talent on to her daughters, Leanore, Lorraine, and Esther,who were known as the Inniss Sisters. And my mother, Leanore,conveyed all that she had learned to the choir. So the combinationof a preaching-teaching ministry coupled with good ol'' gospel musicpromised to be an excellent foundation for the building of a church.But it was hard work, and despite the influx of new members,the congregation never grew beyond a few handfuls of dedicatedpeople. If success is measured in numbers, then the impact of ourlittle church is questionable. But if success is measured by changedlives, what a crown Daddy received when he saw Jesus face-to-face!Because we were small, losing a member was major. Perhapsthe biggest exodus came when one of the single women in ourchurch had become pregnant.The newly converted wallowed inrighteous indignation. They demanded that my father throw thisyoung woman out of the church. His calm response came in theform of a question: "Why would I throw her out now when sheneeds us the most?" Dad''s sensitive, compassionate ability toembrace those who were suffering emanated from his own life soovershadowed with pain and disappointment. Like Jesus, my fatherchose understanding rather than condemnation.My dad''s passion was to see his members "set free." Sister Gadson,for example, had a phobia of riding in cars and busses. She wasterrified at the thought. Consequently, she never traveled beyondwalking distance of her apartment in the projects. But Dad was convincedof the reality of Scripture, "If the Son sets you free, you willbe free indeed" (John 8:36)."Get in the car," he demanded one day. "No, pastor," SisterGadson meekly refused. But because of her respect for him, sheeventually obliged. Dad drove her and her husband around Manhattan,and she loved it! The fear of traveling was gone.________Entering the MinistryPersonally, I had no intentions of entering the ministry. In fact, I hadpromised myself that I would never marry a pastor. I had no illusionsabout the work involved. Up close, the demands of pastoring seemedoverwhelming.On call day and night, Dad was often summoned from sleep toan emergency at the hospital, or to a home to calm disputes, or to the jail to help a member''s chilTolbert, La Verne is the author of 'Teaching Like Jesus A Practical Guide to Christian Education in Your Church', published 1999 under ISBN 9780310223474 and ISBN 0310223474.