Beyond Christian Education: The Future of Nurturing Disciples in the Local Church - Paperback

by R. Ben Marshall (Author)

Beyond Christian Education is about raising up committed servants of God's Justice and Peace. Our present efforts at nurture in the local church are suffering from ineffectiveness. The time has come to go beyond what we have known as Christian Education and bring about a more effective approach called Christian Nurture. This book is a call to nurture a deeper connection with the source of the power in the person's relationship with God as well as what it means to be a loving servant.

Through solid grounding in theology and a functional understanding of the dynamics of nurturing Christians, the Nurture approach brings together teaching and essential spiritual guidance. The approach emphasizes the role of the whole congregation in nurture and a stronger focus on the place of the home as a foundational locus of nurturing Christians. It proposes a balanced curriculum including inner formation, traditioning, prophetic sensitivity and servanthood. These emphases become a source of creativity in the congregational environment, the home, intentional nurture experiences and servanthood immersions. Beyond Christian Education is important reading for local churches concerned about the future of their efforts at nurturing Christians.