Christian Education: Eight Essential Elements to Foster Spiritual Formation and Christlikeness

Effective Christian education in the church setting should be a process that stimulates growth. The problem is that without the provision and engagement in the essential elements of Christian education, believers can attend church for an entire life span and never grow into Christlike maturity. This research project provides a paradigm to foster the demonstration of Christlikeness by the individual maturation toward spiritual formation and the operationalizing of the community of believers as a life-giving organism. The research approach includes the examination of recognized models of Christian education, spiritual formation, and Christian community development. Additionally, pastors of fifteen churches in eastern North Carolina of each congregational size–mega, large, medium, and small–are surveyed regarding the model of Christian education used