people generally) experience greatest resistance since they have deeply-rooted and powerful mental and ethical structures that come from their socialisation into the church, and around which their commitment is focused. To such people the process of learning, and potential for resultant change, can be deeply disturbing. It may be seen as a threat to their faith, resulting in responses like those in Section 3.2, presented as a profound lack of curiosity about the Christian faith, in which they are deeply embedded.
Such people may also be disturbed by a private realisation that their knowledge of the Bible and Christian teachings is incomplete, inadequate or even incoherent. Thus many Christian adults disempower themselves by avoiding situations that might bring this to light [47]. This is a serious barrier to learning in many churches. It is rightly claimed that “real learning is an exciting opportunity, and the ability to learn is a talent that both individuals and the church have been given” [48]; but many Christian adults do not see learning as exciting. Additionally, there may be a widespread feeling, encouraged by some church structures, that once a person has faith they have no need to learn. Faith and learning (or even thinking) are perceived as antagonists.
“Adult learning in the churches was prompted by the increasing involvement of the laity in the ministry and decision-making processes of the church, at both local and wider levels.” [49] But not all of the laity has become involved, and such widespread non-involvement in learning results from some broader issues of disempowerment of the laity. Aspects of certain church structures, traditions and habits create significant barriers for wider adult, and especially lay, learning [50]. • An overemphasis on authority within the church – often leading to a culture of passive acceptance of information rather than genuine learning.
• A stress on the uniformity of, rather than, unity in, belief and practice. • A failure to connect what is communicated within the church (e.g. a sermon) with the lives and experiences of its members outside of the church.
• An attitude that the church’s role is simply for refreshment, comfort and social interaction rather than learning and change.
• Leaders who feel threatened by a learning congregation, especially individual learners. • A view of learning as something controlled, rather than enabled, by the provider – who may be within the church or from outside.
• A retreat into an often quite rigid framework of beliefs or practices as a result of the Page 22 of 45
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