Thrive! Journal - Edition 4

​Adventure Catechesis:
You're Already Doing It!

This is article #2 in a series on Adventure Catechesis

First article in the series

People learn from their experiences. This simple fact is why I suggest to people that they use experiential education to evangelize and catechize. I go one step further, however. I contest that you are already doing it weather you think you are or not. If you are working to pass on the faith, then you are doing experiential education in one of three ways:

1. You are providing an experience to your audience that they perceive* as lame, dumb, boring, and/or stupid while teaching them about God. They learn your lesson: God is lame, dumb, boring, and/or stupid.
2. You provide an experience that is exciting, engaging, fun, etc. and then when that is over you take a moment to tell them about God. This is often done in an attempt to avoid option #1 in many youth settings. People are perceptive and have learned your lesson. There is time for fun/exciting/engaging things and then there is time for God; There is Saturday night and Sunday morning. 
3. You provide an experience that engages people in an enticing adventure while not separating the adventure from the faith. 

Whatever our intentions going into an event, to the degree we offer option 1 or 2 we let those down that we are working with. 

In the next installment we will look at some educational theory involved in making number 3 the more common reality and start sharing activities to start putting it all into practice
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* Note: you probably don't intend the experience to be perceived that way, but people own their experience. While truth is not relative, experience is and we cannot dictate to someone their experience. How they perceive the experience is their experience. 

Written by Shawn Madden from components of a forthcoming book.
Shawn@BishopHodges.org