In the hundred years between 1880 and 1980, one of the most widely used approaches to adult Christian education in American Protestantism was not the sermon. It was a network of adult classes in the Sunday school. Frequently, the most common lines of demarcation for defining the membership of those classes were age, gender or marital status. One example was the class for young married couples. Another was the class for single adults ages 18-30.

These adult classes served a variety of useful purposes. They provided a place for newcomers to meet and make new friends. They encouraged the retention of younger people who periodically were promoted to a new class. The slogan "The best way to master a subject is to teach it" challenged many adults to learn more about the central beliefs of the Christian community by volunteering to teach. These classes often served as valuable caring communities for members in a time of need. They undergirded the larger leadership development process. Perhaps most important of all, they offered a small fellowship environment within those big congregations that averaged 80 or 100 or 200 or 300 or more at worship.

The natural, normal and comfortable size for a worshiping community in American Protestantism is an average worship attendance of somewhere between 18 and 40. That also represents the maximum size for the fourth grade class in a public school, a baseball or football squad, a military unit in which the central organizing principle is every member is willing "to die for my buddies," the governing board of an institution, a church choir, or a discussion section that meets weekly for university students enrolled in a lecture class consisting of 100 to 1,000 students. Replace the "maximum" with the word "ideal," and that range becomes 7 to 15. In the United Methodist Church , which has a strong small church orientation, in 2002 a total of 665 congregations reported an average worship attendance of 15, while another 537 reported 12 and 430 reported 10. By contrast, only 380 reported an average worship attendance of 75, while 231 reported 100. A total of only 220 reported a number in the 326-350 range, and another 123 were in the 601-700 range. That contrasts with the 1,321 United Methodist congregations that reported their worship attendance averaged 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10 in 2002.

A useful way to conceptualize a congregation that averages 85 or 125 or 160 or 240 or 335 at worship is to think of it as a collection of cells, choirs, circles, classes, fellowships, groups, social networks, task forces, and teams. Each one provides an opportunity for individuals to feel, "This is where I belong," or more significant, "This is where I'll be missed if I'm absent," or, "This is my church family."

The Bad News
While exceptions exist, most notably in the South, the adult Sunday school is not as strong today as it was in the 1930s or 1950s. The population of the United States has nearly doubled since 1950, but many denominations report their Sunday school attendance is less than half what it was in the 1950s. One reason is a general decline in the Sunday school as an attractive institution. Another is the smaller neighborhood congregation was a more supportive institutional environment for the Sunday school than is the large regional church. An influential factor is the increase in the competition for people's time on Sunday morning. A fourth explanation is the addition of Saturday evening worship has undermined the Sunday school. The big reason, however, is the generations born since 1950 bring a different set of expectations to church than did their parents and grandparents.

The Good News
One of the most significant changes can be seen all across the American culture. This is the shift from teaching to learning. The traditional teacher-driven pedagogical model is being challenged by a question. Is anyone learning anything? The response is a change that has been taking place in the evaluation of public schools, in higher education, in the rapid growth in the number of children being home schooled, in preparing military personnel for combat, in the delivery of the news via network television, in the rapid growth of distance learning programs, and in the preparation and delivery of sermons.

One consequence is the traditional adult Sunday school classes are being replaced by peer-driven learning communities. The central dynamic is the participants begin with a common data base such as a video presentation, a biblical reference, a book, a lecture, a printed essay, a sermon, or simply a challenging question. The participants learn by thinking, talking, the intellectual interaction, being challenged to "tell us more about what you mean," mastering communication skills, questioning, and the weekly interaction with peers. Listening to the teacher interpret or explain the lesson is not the central pedagogical approach.

A common pattern calls for this group of seven to 15 people to gather for an hour or so following worship. Each is expected to come with a response to two questions: (1) What was the most valuable insight into the Christian faith you heard in that sermon? and (2) What question remains uppermost in your mind? These also can be the springboard for the discussion if the common reference point is a book, an essay, a videotape or DVD, a passage of Scripture, or a lecture. One version is designed to be the next stage after completing that class for prospective new members.

The cohesion of the group can be reinforced by meeting weekly in the same room at the same hour of the day on the same day of the week. Many meet weekly in private homes. A widely used tool is the three-minute egg timer. The person holding the timer has the right to speak, but for no more than three minutes. That individual cannot speak again until at least four other participants have had their turn. The exception is a 30-to-90-second time allowed to respond to a direct question following a three-minute comment. As the months roll by, what began as a learning community evolves into a learning and caring community.

One model is the peer-driven learning community designed for couples with the goal of providing the practice required to enable them later to discuss with one another their personal faith issues. Another version includes one or both parents plus one or two teenage children designed to prepare them to discuss these faith issues at the family dinner table. A common theme is to enhance each participant's skill and comfort level in talking about their faith as Christians with friends, colleagues at work, neighbors, and relatives. One fringe benefit comes when that congregation averaging 85 to 135 or 300 or 750 or more at worship begins to identify itself as a congregation of learning communities rather than the number of members.

One of the most common models is illustrated by thousands of nondenominational congregations. Most of their adult new members were not reared in that congregation. Instead the overwhelming majority came from one of a dozen backgrounds: (1) they are new believers in the Christian faith, (2) they were born, baptized, and confirmed as members of a Roman Catholic parish, (3) they were born and reared in a Protestant religious tradition, but "dropped out of church when I left home," (4) they were a nonbeliever who married a Christian believer, (5) their marriage brought together two Christians from two different religious traditions so the compromise was to choose a church not affiliated with either of those two traditions, (6) they were active members of a Protestant congregation, but were alienated by something that was done, said, not done, or voted on by that congregation or by the denomination with which it was affiliated, (7) they were a married couple with no currently active church affiliation, but after the first baby was born the parents decided, "the time has come to raise our child in the church," (8) they were Christian newcomers to the community who decided to "shop for a new church home" rather than automatically choose a congregation with a meeting place close to their new place of residence, (9) for one reason or another they had been expelled from the congregation where they had been members, (10) divorce or widowhood has motivated this believer to seek a new church home, (11) a friend, relative, colleague at work, or neighbor persuaded them, "You ought to come and try out our church. I believe we offer what you need. I'll pick you up Sunday morning," or (12) they have abandoned the category of "nominal Christian" to a desire to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ and are eager to learn more about the details of the Christian faith and what God expects of believers who now identify themselves as disciples.

A common pattern, with the frequency dependent on that number of newcomers, these congregations launch a new peer-driven learning community on an average of once a week or once a month or once a quarter. Some call for a commitment to participate for a minimum period of time. Others carry a sunset provision that commits the participants to continue to meet together for only six or 13 or 26 or 39 weeks, but the door is open for some to leave and for others to join at stated intervals.

Typically the design includes at least three themes. First, what is the issue, question, or concern that all of us want to address? That is more likely to be the No. 1 point of commonality rather than age, gender, marital status, education, or income. In recent years, the most obvious point of commonality is all the participants work for the same employer in the same building and that is why they meet during the lunch hour or early in the morning before the beginning of the workday.

The second theme usually focuses on how Scripture, doctrine, and tradition speak to that concern.

An optional third theme is, "This is what this congregation believes, teaches, and practices."

Has the time come for your church to recreate itself as a congregation of learning communities?

For more than four decades, Lyle E. Schaller has served as a parish consultant to hundreds of congregations and scores of denominational agencies. His latest book, From Cooperation to Competition , was published by Abingdon Press last year.

Copyright 2007 by Lyle E. Schaller