Session: Today's Adults

Preparation

• Look through the comic strips in newspapers and magazines to find funny illustrations that answer the question, what does it mean to be an adult? Cut them out and prepare them for sharing with your participants.
  
  
• Ask your pastor or a staff person to let you borrow a copy of demographic studies that have been done for your church community. Prepare a summary of information from the report that has implications for adults. If your church does not have such a study, assist your pastor or staff person in getting a study from your Baptist state convention office (ask for the Scan US office).

Reflect and Practice

1. As participants arrive, share the comic strips with them.
   
   
2. Open the discussion with prayer.
   
   
3. Ask, "How does the concept of maturity fit your group of adults?" After a brief discussion, ask, "As a teacher or leader, what can you do to foster growth in the maturity of your learners?" Base the discussion on the article "What Does it Mean to be an Adult?"
   
   
4. Distribute copies of the summary of the demographic study of your church community. Ask, "What implications do you see for our adult classes and groups?" Continue the discussion about what your study group could do to help your church respond to the church community. For example, did you find a nearby ethnic group that needs a church family? Did you find that your community has a significant number of single adults?
   
   
5. Take a few minutes for the group to identify experiences in their lives that have influenced their own mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual development. Refer to the article "Adult Development" as a discussion starter. Ask, "How have these experiences affected your personal development?" Discuss ways of discovering developmental issues in the lives of people in their classes or groups.
   
   
6. Conclude this session by making a list of implications for teachers and leaders to consider for their classes or groups as a result of this session.
   
   
7. Close in prayer. Remind your participants to read the section for the next session