You can read articles by Dr. Paul Dorsey, Joni Gibson, and George Steere in this issue. But before you do, I would like to challenge you with some observations and concerns. We still do not recognize the important role of lay persons who teach in our churches. Weekly, teachers communicate Bible knowledge, theology and doctrine, teaching at least 30 minutes to two hours. Most sermons are 15-30 minutes.
Some teachers spend more time teaching than the pastor does.
And, although we require most of our ministers to have college and seminary degrees, the lay persons who teach regularly often have no training. Sadly, many trained ministers have no idea how to equip the laity to teach, even though they themselves feel competent to teach and preach and counsel. Churches are satisfied with mediocre Bible teaching. Men and women, members of the church, who in their community demand that their children receive the benefits of every advance in educational theory, technique, literature, and equipment, will allow the church school to limp along little different from what it was a generation earlier. A friend of mine with a Ph.D. in preaching was called to pastor a small church in West Texas.