Dear Parents
One of our greatest challenges in Student Ministries is achieving knowledge in our students that rests in their long term memory. The vast majority of learning experiences that youth (and adults) have in a church environment will lead them to a familiarity with truth, but not necessarily an ability to know content well enough to repeat it. For the sake of this small letter I will refer to it as recognizable knowledge vs transmittable knowledge. Recognizeable knowledge allows our students to discern between true and false statement. Transmittable knowledge allows them to actually present truth to a person. Depending upon what our topic of instruction is, we determine which level of knowledge we are hoping for in the lesson. This determines the depth and breadth of the information we will present. It also determines the format and exercises we will use to teach the lesson.
Right now, our focus is the Gospel. The adult connect groups just spent 3 weeks focusing on it and reading through “The Cross-Centered Life”. We are attempting to help our students know the Gospel in a transmittable level. In order to accomplish this, we have coached them over the past week (SH has completed this/ JH is in process) to find their own wording and explanation through the individual elements of the Gospel. They have written it down a couple of times. We are encouraging them to write it permanently somewhere, maybe on their existing blogs, Myspace or Facebook pages or other locations where others can read what they believe. Plus, this just enforces the learning process.
We would encourage you to ask your student to share the Gospel with you. Listen for clarity. Listen to what they understand and what they hope to communicate. In the greater process of parenting, we all hope that our kids will be able to share the Gospel of Christ effectively, but, even more, we hope they personally understand it and place their trust in nothing but the Cross of Christ. They can’t believe what they don’t understand. Ultimately, what they can’t explain, they don’t understand. Their and your explaining and refining of the Gospel will help them and others in your family more clearly understand the heart of God in His Gospel. In fact, break out “The Cross-Centered Life” again and read it with your family. It could be a great experience together.In His GraceScott Burns
