Squeezing Into Education

In Norma Cook Everist's The Church as Learning Community, she describes various factors in establishing learning environments, two of which include physical and emotional factors. In considering these two elements, I am compelled to share a couple reactions.

First, my most recent home congregation in Red Lodge has to literally think outside the box when it comes to creating effective physical learning environments. The spaces available for learning within the confines at Messiah Lutheran are limited to the sanctuary and the basement underneath the sanctuary. The limits to these spaces have certainly handicapped even the traditional Sunday School and Sunday Adult Forums. I have to wonder how many potential participants choose not to participate regularly because the spaces are not appropriate to the needs of learning (too cramped, too public, too noisy, inaccessible, interfere with other activities, etc.).

On the other hand, I do feel that our congregation has a strong history of establishing an appropriate emotional setting for learning to take place. I have felt an intentional commitment towards respect of differing opinions. This behavior has definitely been modeled by the pastor and other congregational leaders.

It's interesting to note that this congregation is taking steps towards re-visioning their physical space needs in order to alleviate current limitations and better accommodate desired growth in ministry. Already some of the non-Sunday morning study groups are finding it more effective to gather in spaces away from the cramped church. Working from within a culture of respect should give the congregation the strength to head down a path of facility redesign or possibly the construction of a whole new facility.