Going off on a tangent. Chasing rabbit trails. Veering off course. Whatever the terminology, all teachers are familiar with the reality that discussions often get off topic. What's a teacher to do when that happens? Go with the flow, ignore the off-topic comments, force the conversation back to the main topic, or something else entirely? Knowing how to deal with tangents is a skill that is acquired with experience.

Sometimes, tangents take the conversation in a more serious or personal direction, such as when a youth group begins to open up and share personal stories and raw emotions. When that happens, the wise teacher may, if time allows, set aside the planned conversation in favor of the more pressing need. At other times, tangents are clearly superfluous, and a good leader will recognize that and redirect the conversation.

But often, teachers may have a valid reason for wanting to keep a group on topic in order to keep discussions from becoming frivolous or argumentative. In addition, tangents can take a discussion in a direction for which a teacher has not had adequate time to prepare, such as when someone brings up a question about a biblical passage or topic that the teacher has not studied.

In the minds of many, Christian Education is synonymous with Sunday School. Certainly Sunday School is one place that Christian Education takes place. But many more opportunities for Christian Education exist! Besides the Sunday School classroom, where else does Christian Education occur?

To consider this question, it may be helpful to begin by defining what Christian Education is and reviewing its purpose. It is likely that every person involved in Christian Education would offer a slightly different definition and purpose. Here are my ideas. (I invite you to offer your own ideas by posting a comment.)

Many churches give their Sunday School teachers (and other volunteers) a gift at Christmastime. If your church does this, now is a good time to begin thinking about the gifts you will give this year. If your church has not given Sunday School teachers a Christmas gift before, this year is a good time to begin. By Christmas, your teachers have been giving of their time on Sunday mornings for four months. Christmas is a good opportunity to remind them their efforts are appreciated!

In this final part of this series (if you missed them, here are part 1 and part 2) I'll offer some tips for engaging men in educational settings, in a quick list form. As with any ministry, there is no one approach or ministry that will work in every setting or with all men. This list hopefully will get you thinking about your own educational ministries—both what you're already doing and what you could easily add.

• Use physical educational methods. Give men opportunities to be active.
• Don’t call your Sunday morning learning opportunities “Sunday school.”
• If something is going to be longer than 60 minutes, consider adding an “intermission” in the middle. Likewise, remember that men tend to have shorter attention spans than women.
• Don’t be afraid of competition.
• Encourage mentoring relationships with youth, young adults, and new Christians.
• Emphasize projects more than programs.

In the first part of this series, I provided some discouraging statistics about the gap in presence and participation between women and men, and I encouraged you to begin thinking about your own Christian education ministries and who you most reach. This week, I'll touch on the theological concepts that might undergird your men's ministries. Obviously this space is limited, so I encourage you to do further reading on your own in the recommended books listed below.

There are not a lot of Christian education books that adequately address gender differences between men and women and how to effectively minister equally to both groups. Those who go looking for information on male spirituality will undoubtedly quickly come across David Murrow's Why Men Hate Going to Church, a book with some interesting and useful research and ideas but a rather simplistic theology about gender. Murrow contends that the decline in men in the church is because the church has been "feminized" and that the best way to get men involved in the church again is to emphasize risk, reward, accomplishment, heroic sacrifice, action, and adventure in its programming (which of course derive from his simplistic understanding of Jesus' life.)

One of the defining characteristics of progressive Christianity is its inclusiveness. Following Jesus’ example, we attempt to remember that God’s love is extended to everyone, regardless of gender, race, age, political affiliation, economic status, sexual orientation, intellectual ability or any other classification that we, as humans, use to describe ourselves. All means all. Finding resources that reinforce this message can sometimes be challenging. (See Questions to ask your curriculum to evaluate how your current curriculum measures up.) Today and tomorrow I will be sharing two excellent resources that are available for use by congregations and Sunday School teachers to encourage acceptance of persons with special needs.

Like many children, I grew up with a masculine image of God. For the first twenty years of my life, I only heard God referred to as Father or He. It is true that God is like a loving and forgiving father. The image of God as a father figure allows us to understand a part of God. Yet God is so much more! God is an incomprehensible mystery; no image can adequately describe all the characteristics of God.

Sunday School is now underway. The flurry of activity to find enough teachers, rooms, curriculum and supplies has calmed down at least a little bit. As Christian educators, it may be tempting to settle back and let the Sunday School teachers take it from here. Of course, you will continue to be available if they come to you with a question, but unless you hear from them, your work here is done…

Yes, it’s tempting, and in the short-term it may be a viable approach. Long-term, however, your job will be much easier if you continue to check in on Sunday School teachers.

One look at the statistics is likely all you'll need to realize we have a significant problem in the church today: there are a lot of absent and disengaged men. According to a study of churchgoers by Gallup, 28% of women are fully engaged in church life, vs. 21% of men. 24% of men are actively disengaged, while just 16% of women are. Andanother study found that 65% of the people in church on Catholic churches are women; 64% in mainline protestant churches; 61% in conservative protestant churches. As one author has noted, men are more often absent from Christian churches than is the case in all of the other major world religions.

In coming weeks, I'll be sharing some other research and a few resources available for engaging men in Christian education, and some ideas that have worked in other congregations. However, this is a topic where there are not a great deal of good resources for spiritually progressive congregations. So, I'd like to invite you to be part of the dialogue and give your feedback on the reasons men are absent or disengaged from churches today, and your experience of what has or has not worked in your own congregation.

Dear Sunday School teachers,

We appreciate the time you take each week to prepare a lesson for our class. Hopefully, some of the things you teach us about God and Jesus and the Bible will stick with us as we grow. What we will definitely remember is having you as our teacher.

We appreciate the “little things” that adults do to make us feel special, such as: