Dark Glasses

Why did the teacher wear dark glasses? Because her students were all so bright! For all of us who "finished" our education recently or long ago, perhaps this is the year to rethink our truancy and develop a plan for continuing education. Thomas Rollins remembers the grind of Harvard Law School and recalls being surprised by one of his professors who said that one day they would wish to be back in a place like this. As he later crammed for a Federal Rules of Evidence exam, Rollins felt woefully unprepared and managed to obtain videotaped lectures of a noted authority in the field. "I dreaded what seemed certain to be boring," Rollins said, planting himself in front of the TV and playing all 10 hours nearly non-stop. To his amazement, the lectures "were outrageously insightful, funny, and thorough." When he felt the wisp of educational nostalgia resurging, in later life, Rollins founded The Teaching Company (www.teach12.com), capturing the best university lecturers in many disciplines on audio and video recordings. My friend and I first bought "Great Minds of the Western Intellectual Tradition" together (I think we each paid $20 to get it on sale), and I thank Rollins ever since, every time I'm in my car. These stimulating lectures have broadened my horizons and deepened my understanding of so many dimensions of human existence as I drive. Religion, history and philosophy are my draws, although I constantly dabble in all disciplines. Professor David Zarefsky's final lecture on "Abraham Lincoln: In His Own Words" brought tears to my eyes. I've since added The Modern Scholar lectures of Recorded Books (www.modernscholar.com) to my ear candy collection. Though the lecturers are less consistently out-of-the-ballpark-great as those of The Teaching Company (and sometimes there are obvious editing mistakes), these on sale are also more than worth the price. Listening to Timothy Schutt recounting the "Wars That Made the Western World: The Persian Wars, the Peloponnesian War, and the Punic Wars" is about as fascinating and intriguing as human communication can get. Marvelous! While these two companies are my favorites for educational stimulation, a host of resources can be found free of charge online. YouTube, the great video broadcaster, has created a separate address (www.youtube.com/edu) for college and university lectures. The sheer volume of presentations available is daunting, but any beginners will quickly find fascination simply by clicking on the "Most Viewed" videos. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is to be commended as a leader in the field of online open classrooms. While the focus is obviously largely on the sciences, the courses found at http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/are incredibly interesting, even for non-scientists. Most engaging for its truly broad diversity of scintillating presentations of all kinds on all topics, with none over 20 minutes in length, is TED.com. A dose each day will make you the most interesting conversationalist on the block. Even if you find yourself on a summer break from education, true learning never ends. That is what we know at CLC. We are in the business of training in season and out of season. Year round. Every month. In all places. Learning cannot be confined to a few classes in a few schools. It is a life discipline. Especially when it comes to learning the wisdom and ways of the Kingdom of God. Partner with us. Church Leadership Center works in partnership with pastors, churches, and other ministry groups to prepare congregational leaders for advanced levels of service. We do this by means of assessment interviews and reports; personalized training plans, classes, and certification so that participants are able to increase their effectiveness in all areas of church life. Click here for more information. To view videos about Commissioned Pastors and those who support them, click here. To read previous blogs, click here. Special thanks to Dr. Wayne Brouwer for writing the above article. He is CLC's theological editor, professor at Hope College, and adjunct professor at Western Theological Seminary.