It is a real thrill to see others go out to work in Christian education. (Brown) My work is as Christian Education Director fo r the First Baptist Church o f Van Nuys, Cali fornia in addition to part time teach ing in Talbot Theological Seminary. (Hilty) My ministry is teaching full-time on the faculty o f Biola College. Q. Why did you go into the field? A. (Brown) My call was because o f the overwhelming and obvious need. I graduated with an MRE de gree, thipking I was going to go into the pastorate. Having been trained in the field o f Christian education, however, the demand was so great, I have never had time to get into the pastorate. (Bynum) My call was a definite one to teach. My first thought was to go into p u b lic school education. Graduating from Biola College in 1952, I went on to Los Angeles State College to work on my master’s. I was thinking also o f the pastorate, which is a pulpit-teaching ministry rather than an individually-centered approach which the field o f Chris tian education offered. The Lord really spoke to me through II Tim othy 2 :2 in relationship to a Chris tian vocation. Because o f this I went on fo r my doctorate. (Hilty) My feeling is that I real ly entered the field during my senior year here at Biola College when I was encouraged by both Rev. Ed Hayes and Dr. Bill Bynum to con sider this important ministry. See ing the need fo r adequate prepara tion, I pursued the field fo r my mas ter’s at Conservative Baptist Semi nary in Denver, Colorado.
reading, science, etc. We do not re quire this o f Christian education students, but rather teach them a broad view o f techniques which are applicable to the educational pro gram o f the church, not necessarily public schools. There is, o f course, a great deal o f similarity, but the sub jects are taught in the distinct man ner in which they will be applied. Q. How can Christian education pro fessors, pastors, and others interest more young people in this vital spir itual ministry? A. (H ilty) Through interpersonal relationships on whatever youth may be counselled. There should be a continuing program of education so that the Lord can use the dissemi nation o f such information to chal lenge the hearts o f those whom He would have work in the field. As professors, speaking in churches and meeting those desiring to prepare fo r the Lord’s service, we have a real opportunity o f communicating with them relative to these matters. (Brown) We believe th a t the church is an educational institution, and that God has commissioned us to teach the Bible completely. To carry out such a program necessi tates a good education program. If people are going to live the Christian life, which we believe the Bible has instructed us, it requires good teach ers in the field. Q. As a graduate of the Christian Education major, how are you serv ing now in this field? A. (Bynum) To me, the tremendous challenge has been in teaching and multiplying myself through others.
(Hilty) Two things should be em phasized as to the value in graduate school preparation: the discipline in volved and the maturity it will bring. As to prescribed tests, we have not had a vast field o f written material offered on a graduate level, not to mention the fact that there is a dearth o f faculty members who have both education and experience to adequately meet the need. (Bynum) Men with doctorates in the field are extremely scarce, be cause this is a new field. Here is another g o o d opportunity in the teaching field, both in the Bible col lege and seminary level. We should again mention that journalism is a wide-open area, not just in the writ ing o f Sunday school curriculum, but also in research, keeping Christian educators abreast o f the times with up-to-date methods. A. (Bynum) There should be some clarification here. First o f all, what do we mean by liberal arts colleges? No doubt this question means a Christian liberal arts school. Then, there would be a great deal o f dis cussion on this “ one course.” This would need a careful study and evaluation. One o f the major ad vantages o f offering a required in troductory course in Christian edu cation is that it will challenge more young people to consider the field vocationally. There are only two- colleges I know which have recently required all liberal arts students to take on e introductory course in Christian education. The main gener al offering should be a survey course which treats the materials, the meth ods, the programs and organization. This will reveal to the young people that the ministry is more than just a Sunday school program. They need to get the broad scope o f the over-all ministry. Q. Do the courses in Biota’s Chris tian Education Department overlap those in the Education Department? A. (Bynum) No, they don’t fo r they are actually correlated rather than overlapping. Students in both ma jors are required to take a course in Educational Psychology w h ic h is taught through the Education De partment. Other courses are taught distinctly and for related specialized fields. Education majors study meth ods which deal with math, spelling, APRIL, 1966 Q. What advantages might result from more liberal arts colleges re quiring at least one Christian educa tion course for all students?
Mr. Lowell Brown is director o f Christian Education at the First Baptist Church o f Van Nuys, California. A graduate o f Biola Col lege, he also teaches part time at Talbot Theological Seminary in the field o f Christian Education.
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