Review Of Donald Griggs 'Teaching Today's Teachers To Teach'

The Bible lists teaching as one of the five focused ministries of the church for equipping believers to carry out the work of Christ. Donald L. Griggs in his book, Teaching Today’s Teachers to Teach” purports that teaching must be given a high priority predominantly because it undergirds everything that the church endeavors to accomplish for God. This is not only accomplished in formal teaching opportunities but also in informal settings as well. He further states that teaching was Jesus’ first ministry and therefore it should be the church’s first ministry also. Griggs goes on to say that we teach whether we are being intentional or not. As an example, in church the usher gives the adults in the family a bulletin but ignores the children. This teaches the children that they are not valued. In my ministry context we are guilty of this very thing. I have said to ushers on several occasions, “only give programs to the adults.” This has resonated with me and I am ashamed that I have devalued our young people, albeit unintentionally. …show more content…
According to Griggs, Christian education leaders need to utilize persons’ gifts that have been imparted when they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior as a method of selecting teachers. This then, moves from recruitment to calling asserts Griggs. I agree with Griggs that teaching is a calling and Christian education leaders should seek those who are gifted to match the needs of the equipping ministry. In my context we have utilized both recruiting and how persons are gifted to fill positions in our education ministry. I must admit that the persons we recruited did not last long because they were not gifted to teach but rather accepted the positions because they were asked, not because they were