The world of today differs greatly from the world of St. Paul. Man, an earthbound traveler on foot 20 centuries ago, is covering distances at speeds greater than sound. With rockets and missiles now exploring outer space, Paul at one time was having difficulty sailing in a wooden ship safely to Rome.
Man power and horse-power have given way to the power of atoms and nuclear fission. With modern equipment one person can do the work done by thousands in Paul’s day. Epistles, laboriously written on parchment and delivered weeks later by personal messengers, have been superseded by communications media delivering messages across continents in seconds.
The Human Factor
All these advancements do not mean that man himself has improved and become morally better. He is still the same sinner, in need of the same Saviour of whom Paul preached. And the basic purpose and program of the Christian Church still flows from Christ’s command: “Go ye therefore, and teach.”
It is in preaching and teaching the unchanging truth of sin and the Saviour in a constantly changing world that the Christian Church finds its great challenge. To meet this challenge effectively, the Church has in each age made use of improved media of transportation and communication. Through the centuries, God has been with his Christians, as he has promised, to provide the necessary tools with which men might carry out the Great Commission.
For the early Christian Church, God provided a common world language. He used the Roman Empire to develop a highway and sea route system which was greatly advanced for that day. At the end of the dark and sleepy Middle Ages, God provided the printing press so that it was ready when the Reformation came. Today the car, the train, and the airplane are being used to speed the Word of God to all the world.
God has also provided special teaching tools for an age that is complicated, confused, and complacent. Radio and television are being used to tell the good news of salvation across land and sea. With multicolor printing presses, God has given us a whole kitfull of new and powerful teaching tools of audio-visual aids which include the slide, the filmstrip, motion picture, tape recorder, and record player. Thus, as radio and television are being used to reach the masses, audio visual materials are helping the local church consolidate the gains, and train the children, youth and adults placed within its care.
The Audio-Visual Aids
In industry, government, science and public schools, slides and filmstrips, motion pictures, and tape recorders, three-dimensional pictures and record players are being used as never before. Without audio-visual materials these units in our society could not function effectively. The age of space requires the use of space-age teaching tools.
Specialists in the field of Christian education have come to see the value of audio-visual methods and materials in teaching. And alert teachers are seeking to produce teaching situations in which the pupil will respond with interest, participation, and experimentation. It is audio-visual teaching, the appeal to the eye and ear, that bridges between teacher and pupils.
Nonprojected audio-visual aids have been in use for many years. Object lessons are as old as the art of teaching. Fifty years ago specialists were demonstrating that a child learns more through “the eye gate” than “the ear gate,” through blackboard illustrations, maps, charts and diagrams. These, they said, illuminated what might otherwise be abstract teaching. Reproductions of biblical art in full color made lasting educational impressions. The action picture strip, so familiar in comic supplements and magazines, were utilized to tell Bible stories or deal with life problems. And phonograph recordings added music and drama, an emotional thrust, to story telling or teaching situations.
Use Of The Projector
It is, however, in the field of projected visual aids that the greatest interest is now being shown. Tremendous progress has been made since the discovery of the opaque projector or the old-fashioned stereopticon. Particularly effective is the combination of projected film strips with phonographic narration. The large picture makes it possible for a whole class or audience to see the same picture at the same time. The teacher, always in control of the program, may introduce his special interpretation of the pictures, and questions may be raised by the pupils. In no way does a teacher abdicate his position in favor of a mechanical device; rather he uses the device to achieve his ends.
The motion picture adds the dramatic element of motion and action whereby the viewer is transported to the actual time and place of the lesson experience. Sound film adds dialogue and sets the mood through music or other sound. The fusion of sight and sound are tremendously effective for intellectual and emotional response. Distinctly educational films may show social situations illustrating need for Christian action. Or they may serve as vocational guidance. Others may demonstrate how to lead a worship service, teach a class or conduct a Vacation Bible School. In fact, the possible use of films and film strips is almost endless.
While some churches are utilizing the latest and best in visual aids, most educational leaders are failing to take full advantage of them. Part of the problem is the availability of sufficient quantity, quality, and variety of aids when needed. Production, distribution, and projection equipment are involved here; however, so much progress has been made in recent years by suppliers that it can be said responsibility for failure to use audio-visual aids in religious education lies chiefly with the churches and church schools.
Putting Tools To Work
Aggressive steps must be taken to put the power of the projected picture to work. Complacency at both the national and local church level must be replaced with the development of proper methods for better use.
Local pastors and teachers should learn how to use the projected picture in the local church program. Capable audio-visual aid directors should be added to church-school staffs.
Writers of Sunday School lessons should become better acquainted with teaching methods that involve projected pictures. Editors might do well to integrate and correlate available audio-visual materials with other helps in lesson manuals and teachers’ guides.
Colleges and seminaries should introduce courses that deal specifically with the application of audio-visual materials in church programs. National and local church budgets should include the best in audio-visual tools. Very few churches have a regular audio-visual aids budget, and many of these budgets are totally inadequate for the purpose intended. Industry and government find it worthwhile to invest huge sums of money in the development of this sort of thing. One wonders why the Church cannot see its value also.
Teaching Program Primary
The teaching program of the church is primary. The Christian Church has the greatest of all missions. Certainly, then, every God-given teaching tool should be brought into the service of the Christian Church. Throughout the ages God has provided the necessary means of communication for his Church to carry out his commands. In our day the power of audio-visual aids should be fostered widely in the preaching and teaching of “all things whatsoever he has commanded.” The Church must meet this challenge.
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