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Activating Spiritual Growth: Moving Beyond Passive Learning in Churches

Writer's picture: Joycelyn LewisJoycelyn Lewis

Updated: Jan 14

This is a part of the Preparing the Church Series.


What I love to do more than anything is to teach. Teaching for me is not about standing in front of a group of people and sharing my knowledge; I love teaching because I have the privilege of holding space so that others will share what they know and what they've heard from God. This exhilarates me! Why? Because I love seeing the joy on the faces of those who are sharing what they've learned, or read, or experienced with others. This is how we connect with God and with one another.


The truth is, when I show up, my primary purpose is creating space for the real Teacher to show up, and then I become a facilitator of allowing God's wisdom to be heard in the room. I can tell you that this is not always easy because I have to talk less to create such a sacred space! Dr. Beverly Johnson Miller, the professor who taught me how to teach transformatively, taught us that if we are to "teach" well, we should talk about 20%, and the participants should do 80% of the talking! What? It makes no sense, but it makes good sense when growing people into spiritually mature Christians.


A few years ago, when visiting churches for a class, I discovered that I could attend church, midweek service, prayer meetings, etc., and never get to share what I know. I promise I do not mean this in a prideful way of wanting people to know what I know. I'm an introvert, so I have to talk myself into speaking up in public. I discovered that most Bible Studies, Sunday School/Christian Education classes, and even small groups are "lecture style," where the "teacher" stands/or sits in front of the people and shares their knowledge and sprinkles in a few questions. It's not conversational.


I had an aha moment. Perhaps many in our churches struggle with becoming spiritually mature after being in church for many years because all of the learning done in the church is "passive. When a person is experiencing a lecture, they only retain 5% of what they’ve heard; if it’s reading, it’s 10%, audiovisual 20%, and demonstrations 30%. Lecture-style learning retains the least, yet this is how most “classes” in our churches are done. If we want those who attend Bible Study, Sunday School, Small Groups, and any other “learning” activity to become spiritually mature, We must engage in “active learning” through discussion, which helps them to retain 50%, practice /doing 75% retention and teaching others 90% retention. This is why I love teaching; I learn MORE when I teach, not just in my preparation but in what the students share.




Active learning makes room for the real Teacher to show up. Active learning requires the teacher to set the stage for the students to engage in lively discussion and become “teachers” in the room as they share and by allowing them to wrestle with their beliefs. There is a quote by someone who says, “You know that you have created space for the Teacher to show up when a person can speak their heresy.” We can’t fear someone disagreeing or sharing another perspective in our “class.” How can we help someone understand Truth if they never get to talk?


Transformative teaching requires letting go of our egos; it’s not about being the keeper of knowledge and letting everyone know what we know. It seems counterintuitive to thoroughly prepare for a lesson only to do 20% of the talking, but the purpose of the preparation is to be a guide, a facilitator. Let the student(s) bring out what they’ve learned in the lesson, AND let the Holy Spirit take the lead. The lesson may go in a direction you had not prepared for, but that’s when, as a teacher, we must not quench the Spirit; sometimes, the Teacher has something else to say that isn’t even in the lesson. This is where discernment is essential. Teaching is not about “controlling” the class but cooperating with the Holy Spirit.

Lastly, the arrangement of the room is also essential for active learning. When possible, position chairs in a circle or make sure the seating allows those in attendance to sit across from one another to engage in conversation with one another. When the seats are positioned stadium-style (rows of chairs one behind the other), this hinders participation.


I will be offering a course called Teaching to Transform, named after one of my favorite seminary courses. If you are interested in taking this class, I will share the teaching method I use to engage participants, which facilitates space for the participants to engage in conversational learning. If you are interested in taking the class, email joycelyn@joycelynlewis.com Subject Line: Teaching to Transform, and in the body, state you are interested in the class along with your email address.


If you are looking for a great book on teaching, read Parker Palmer’s book, The Courage To Teach.


Next Topic Coming Up: Why Having a Disciple-making Process is Necessary

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