The Church As Learning Community: A Comprehensive Guide to Christian Education Paperback – July 1, 2002

Helps congregations realize the importance of education for all ages and provides guides to help them.

This book has help me to formulate a understanding of what a learning community is suppose to look like. I would recommend this book to go along with Teaching today's teachers to teach and African American Church. These three books will vastly improve the Christian education of a church.

Norma Cook Everist has written a good book for those who would like to create a learning community in your church for your members as well as non-members. Loved this book. She is extremely knowledgeable in her writings.

I found myself getting frustrated. The author makes excellent points but continuously will explain her point and then say "in other words" and explain it again. Once is plenty!

Just what I needed for class

no problems

This book will make you significantly smarter at your next education committee meeting! Ok, well...maybe not at your next meeting- as it is a dense and detailed, idea packed book close to 400 pages- but it will expand your ideas about education in a church environment. I hate to be caught using the phrase "something for everyone", but it really does apply here. Not only that, Everist includes many things for anyone: most of the material seems likely to enrich any person involved in church education (a group of people which is expanded to include everyone who walks in the doors of the church, by the way.) It is a vast storehouse of practical methods and ideas for every age group, some of which are laid out in a convenient diagram format. Norma Cook Everist explores life stages, ways the community is organized, who is included in the community, and sets out many ideas for education in all of these contexts. One criticism I have involves the flip side of this book's great strength- the volume of the material presented. It is very detailed and expansive. If you are looking for an easy-read manual that can be thumbed through at meetings when an educational issue arises, don't buy book. In order to utilize its riches, one needs to commit to it and spend time slowly becoming familiar with the content. Trying to skim through or read quickly may result in frustration, and abandoning the effort. (So, you may not have anything for your education committee meeting tomorrow... but next month? Watch out!!) Another characteristic that might be a problem is the congregational ethos it quite obviously springs from. Parts of this model include church functions (committee structure, liturgy, curriculum, sacraments, the use of the word "parish" and the sometimes-assumption that there is a community of connected churches) that are found more often in mainline, liturgical churches than in a more fluid evangelical or non-denominational approach in which those elements are less important or not present in the same way. However, there are only a very few theological assumptions that affect the curriculum in ways that might cause a problem. The way that baptism is part of Everist's foundation for our congregational responsibility to educate one another might change meanings or create a stumbling block for congregations that practice only adult baptism. Other issues, such as the emphasis on community and civic involvement as part of our educational process (which is an emphasis found more often in mainline churches) add a wonderful richness to the book in taking our responsibility for educating outside the church walls. These differences in perspective are certainly nothing to fear. The sheer volume of information and diversity of the resources within this book (the great majority of which carry no denomination-specific doctrinal claims) assure that it will be a rich resource for anyone. Overall, this is a wonderful book for those serious about education in a church setting.

As a lay leader in my church's adult education ministry, I found Norma Cook Everist's book to be an excellent handbook and guide for my continued faith journey as both a teacher and learner in my congregation. I wish I had discovered this book a few years ago - but as they say - better late than never.As the author states, "The purpose of this book is threefold: to put forth a vision of the entire parish as a learning community; to help faith communities create and maintain learning environments that facilitate us being different together in a pluralistic world; and to provide a comprehensive guide for religious educators leading a congregation toward fully becoming a learning community." I'm pleased to say that Norma delivers on all three fronts!This is not the type of book that will sit idly on your shelf collecting dust. It's a wonderful resource that Christian educators will find themselves using time and again. It truly is a comprehensive guide to Christian education. I really enjoyed and appreciated the opportunities for reflection in the various chapters. The graphs, tools and strategies are extremely useful - this book is packed with tips and advice that's both practical and applicable in today's communities of faith. I especially enjoyed chapter three - Eight Facets of Learning: Methodologies for a Diverse People.As the author states in chapter three, "How we teach teaches as powerfully as what we teach. The method a teacher chooses to use does not just convey content; it becomes the experience." The Church As Learning Community is truly a rich and wonderful guide to helping all of us involved in Christian education become powerful teachers to the body of Christ.