Renovating Christian Education in the 21st Century: A Wesleyan Contribution

Abstract

Contemporary attempts to renovate evangelical Christian discipleship in the 21st century include efforts to resolve the relationship between modern Christian education paradigms and the rediscovery of ancient Christian (spiritual formation) practices. One example resides in the current research on Practicing our Faith (Bass, 1997), and in age-level emphases on formational practices beginning to surface (Jones, 2003). Additional studies are needed for comprehensive approaches to Christian education in the 21st century. Evangelical Christian educators seeking new paradigms may find another example closer to home in John Wesley's means of grace. Wesleyan educators may have something distinct to offer contemporary evangelicalism if they can first embrace their own heritage and work to develop an approach that embraces the three emphases of formation, discernment, and transformation. A beginning point may be a new text currently emerging from Wesleyan educators within the Church of the Nazarene that seeks to synthesize the best of modern and postmodern education under this rubric.