The Religious Education of Adults

Book excerpt: Increasingly, adults do not see the church as a credible provider of quality religious education. This revision by R. Michael Harton of the classic work by Leon McKenzie addresses the foundational issues of what constitutes such an education for adults and how ministers and teachers can determine and understand the needs of learners. It also offers ways to involve learners in the planning and execution of their own religious education. A must-read for ministers and seminarians who care about the religious education of adults. Leon McKenzie is a retired professor of adult education at Indiana University, where he also served as Director of Human Resource Development for Indiana University Hospital. He received his Ed.D. in adult education from IU. and has authored several books, including Adult Education and the Burden of the Future and Adult Education and World View Construction. He lives in Indianapolis. R. Michael Harton has authored several articles on local church adult education, and contributed to A Church's Ministry to Adults and Handbook on Adult Religious Education. A former congregational educator and seminary professor, he now serves the Virginia Baptist Resource Center in Richmond, Virginia, and teaches adjunctively at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. He received his Ed.D. in adult education and instructional systems technology from Indiana University.