Non-formal, christian religious education for adults at a local Charismatic church on the Witwatersrand
Date
2014-05-30
Authors
Mitchell, J
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Abstract
The case study, presented in this report, is concerned with a particular form of adult
education, namely, non-formal, adult Christian religious education - a form of education
associated with local churches and which is provided by certain of them, usually on a parttime
basis, throughout the year.
More specifically, the case study examines the non-formal, adult Christian religious education
provided by the Christian Life Ministries Training College, Freeway Park, Boksburg, in an
attempt to answer the two overarching research questions, contained in the case, namely : "To
what extent does the Christian religious education provided for adults by an apparently
successful local church-based Bible school conform to the current theory and practice of this
form of adult education, as discussed in the literature?" and "What factors are necessary for
the successful establishment and continued existence of a local church-based Bible school on
the Witwatersrand?"
The research approach adopted was essentially qualitative, participative and collaborative in
nature, and included three steps: Step one consisted of a literature review, to highlight the
current thinking on non-formal adult Christian religious education at local church level. Step
two consisted of the actual case study - the interviews, the surveys and the identification of
important policy documents and action plans, to obtain the required information on the
school, and step three consisted of an analysis and synthesis of the information thus obtained,
in order to compare the findings with the theoretical model, provided by the literature review,
and to answer in the process, the research questions referred to above.
A review of the findings suggest that the school does, for the most part, compare fairly well
to the current theory and practice of adult, Christian religious education and that it does owe
its successful establishment and continued existence, in part, to the prevailing local conditions
in the country. However, it does not appear to owe its establishment or continued existence
to any prevailing local conditions on the Witwatersrand - none of which were identified in the
research.
After presenting the findings, the report concludes with summaries of the research approach
and research findings, and with some final thoughts on the case study. It ends with some
recommendations regarding the use of the findings and with suggestions for future research
into the theory and practice of local church-based adult Christian religious education in a
South African setting.