What Do We Need to Know in
Classrooms & Congregations?
Between college graduation and my first day of seminary, I was a summer youth minister. When I arrived at the church for the first day, I could describe in detail what the next three months would look like. I had full calendars ready to send out and sign-up sheets waiting to be filled. I had session plans that were sure to make Bible study a crowd favorite. Our mission projects would be life-changing. Summer looked amazing on paper. Then I met the youth group for the first time. By mid-week I had reworked the calendar and adapted our Bible studies. The sign-up sheets for our four mission projects contained a few names, but the beach retreat list for mission participants needed a second page. By the end of week one, I had no idea what the summer was going to look like. I just knew I had much to learn about ministry. Our preparation for ministry and our context for ministry need to inform each other. The Center for Teaching Churches knows that what we learn in the seminary classroom and what we learn in the church are significant for both. From Classroom to Congregation tells about students who took an idea that they received in a McAfee course and tried it in congregational ministry. We hope that these stories encourage other seminary students as they look for effective ways to share with churches what they learn in the classroom. We also hope that these stories encourage faculty as they consider how their disciplines address the questions, experiences and discussions taking place within congregations. We particularly want this publication to encourage churches in their teaching ministries and invite them to join the growing conversation about what it means to be a teaching church. What we need to know in classrooms and congregations is that we need each other. _Carol Davis Younger Writer/Editor Center for Teaching Churches
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