1st Lady’s Blog: Teaching

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Church Decorum Series: Teaching

Lesson Twelve: Teaching
Lesson Eleven: Being Committed | Lesson Ten: Discouragement | Lesson Nine: Punctuality
Lesson Eight: Visitors | Lesson Seven: Fasting | Lesson Six: The Dress Code | Lesson Five: Altar Ministry
Lesson Four: Presiding | Lesson Three: Prayer | Lesson Two: Learn To Be A Student | Lesson One: Be Observant

Let’s say you visit a church, find that you really like it, and are extended the right hand of fellowship. You meet with the Pastor and agree to abide by the rules and regulations of the church. But then you start asking yourself, “What rules am I supposed to keep?”

Have you ever found yourself in this predicament?

When I went to the first Church Of God In Christ International Holy Convocation held in St. Louis, I was impressed, but a little disheartened, by a book that our Presiding Bishop and Mother Blake wrote about how the saints should deport themselves. While the information was very useful, I was surprised that we needed to be told some very basic things.

Then I remembered when I first came to the holiness church. Can you believe I did not even own a dress! I did not know what to say or what to do. I felt so inadequate those first few times I visited.

For those of us who have been in the church for a long time, we tend to assume that everyone knows the basics of church decorum. But over time, I’ve come to realize that there are just some things we won’t know – unless we are taught.

Well have no fear, this year I am here to help! It’s 2013, a brand new year, and I will be focusing on church decorum – those things we wished someone told us so we wouldn’t have felt out in left field while everyone else was in right. I’ll be covering lots of topics, including presiding, speaking and teaching; praying for different occasions; dressing modestly; altar work and laying on of hands and more. I’ll also be taking topics from you! Simply email your suggestion to Blog@holinesstabernaclecogic.org and you just may find your idea as the focus of one of my monthly blog posts.

Before we begin, I would like to start with a disclaimer: RULES AND REGULATIONS DIFFER FROM CHURCH TO CHURCH. IT IS ALWAYS WISE TO FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE PARTICULAR CHURCH YOU ATTEND.

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Teaching is my passion. I would rather teach a class than give a sermon any day. I thrive on the participation you get in a class setting – standing and talking without having someone responding is not exciting to me. I especially love teaching from my favorite book, the Old Testament. I love the stories, the people, the history and culture. I especially love bringing those people to life and applying their situations to our 21st century.

While others may be inspired by music, I am inspired by a good class. I love to see an enthusiastic teacher! I teach the adults at my church and I try to inject my excitement into my students – asking them thought provoking questions to place them in the Bible setting. The following are few tips I use when teaching adults:

  • Give the background – Paint the picture of the setting of the lesson through words. This will help the students use their imagination and understand why some of the people in the Bible made the choices they made.
  • Tell the story – Our brains have a knack of remembering stories. Think of some of the stories you were told as a child and still remember. Tell your students the story before you begin the lesson. They need to know the story before the can apply it to their lives.
  • Mute talkative students – I have some students who religiously read and study their lesson. Unfortunately, not all students do this and you still have to engage them in the discussion. Don’t allow one student to do all the talking or dominate the discussion. I usually mute these talkative students for a couple of minutes to give others a chance to participate. Or I’ll save the student that I know has the right answer for last.
  • Engage late students – In a perfect world everyone would be on time. Since we know this is not the case, one way to engage late students is to invite them to sit up front to keep them distracting others. Another way is to quickly recap the lesson. This should take no more than a minute, however, because you don’t want to bore the patience of your other students.
  • Support poor readers – You will encounter adults who are poor readers (or can’t read at all). At no time do you want to embarrass them. One way to help is to read part of the scripture for them. For example you can say, “Sister Smith can you read the scripture that says, ‘In the beginning God created…’?” Some scriptures are very difficult for poor readers (especially genealogies). Look up the pronunciations before class so you can help with those names. By all means, do not ask a poor reader to explain the scripture they just stumbled over reading.
  • Establish a setting where only the teacher corrects – Related to supporting poor readers, even though other students think they are being helpful, you need to let them know that only you will correct another student. It embarrasses students to have several people correcting them especially when they themselves are an adult.  
  • Control your class – You must have a good command of the class. Speak with an authoritative voice so they understand that you are the teacher (especially since you may have other “teachers” in your class).
  • Side bar conversations – When students start side bar conversations, I usually stop talking until they realize that they are distracting the class. I may even ask them to share what they are discussing with the class – they usually get quiet after this.
  • Stay on task – It is frustrating to students when you don’t teach the lesson. They took the time to read and study. Don’t allow a student to take you off topic. Kindly let them know that you can talk to them about what they brought up after class.
  • Take the journey together – My students often hear me repeat this “famous saying” of mine. This is how I prevent my students from getting ahead of me. This also keeps us on task and prevents us from straying far from the lesson.

I hope these tips are helpful and will inspire you to teach a great class. Above all, make sure as the teacher you have studied the lesson and come prepared to teach. All the tips in the world, can’t substitute for just having a good grasp of the lesson yourself.

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Well another year is passing and it’s time to say goodbye to my series on church decorum. I have truly enjoyed writing it. Next year, I will write on a series called “Women of the Bible” and I will try to bring some of the women in the Bible to life. I thank you for reading and commenting on my church decorum series and hope you continue to read. Many times I thought of quitting, but when I heard comments from my blog readers, it encouraged me to keep writing! I thank you for that!