This weekend was our second Thelogical Education by Extension (TEE) class. We had some new students, so our numbers are rapidly approaching the expected 24. Never having taught like this before, I felt that I wanted some of those tools that my own teachers have had over the years, like an attendance roster, a grade sheet, and a nice picture roster so I could learn our student's names. The picture roster has proven to be especially popular since the TEE students come from all over Uganda and the vast majority of them didn't know each other before this class. We're doing more than teaching theology here! We're uniting the lay leaders of the LCMU and bringing another level of cohesion to this great church body.
Since fellow missionary Reverend Gillard took up most of the teaching at our first TEE, I had the honor of presenting the meat of baptism theology this weekend. All told, it was probably about 5 hours of presentation on baptism. How in the world would I try to convey baptism to this group? I started with my own research using Pieper's "Christian Dogmatics," a 3-volume work (plus volume 4 - the index, which, by the way, I asked for for my birthday in April) that we use extensively in Seminary. I paired that with Luther's small and large catechisms and the remainder of the Book of Concord. From that solid (very solid - in fact downright heavy) theological background, I tried to approach baptism in a practical and logical way (according to my western ideals of logic). My actual presentation of the theology of baptism didn't include any of those heavy resources, of course - those just helped me formulate my thoughts and solidify my understanding. For references during my presentation I used only the Bible. Our teaching style for this class has to be interactive, dynamic, and practical. We're meeting in a tent, after all, with guys who may be taking all-night busses back to their home town to reach their congregation on Sunday morning. No quoting from Pieper in my class!
I'd love to be skilled enough to adopt the Ancient Greek method of teaching, where the teacher leads his students to the intended conclusion through questions he asks - the students discover the truths through their own thought processes that way. Maybe someday I'll be able to do that. But for now, I ask plenty of questions of them and when they ask a question of me I encourage them to work out the possibilities out loud. Finally, I concluded my instruction with some case studies that the students worked out for me. Their responses were promising - I think I managed to convey something of value! We'll find out at our next TEE when they take the test! -Shauen
Shauen & Krista