A Christian attorney was appointed to chair the adult education program. He was perfectly willing to oversee the program. He was willing to teach. He was a good teacher. But he was completely unwilling to take a course offered in that church. I asked him why.

"I learned everything I need to know about the Christian faith when I was a kid in Sunday school," he replied. "Now I'm an adult, and the challenge is to live what I already know."

To him, adult education was remedial, for adults who somehow missed getting a Christian education when they were younger.

This not-uncommon view arises, in part, from a common attitude toward education in our culture: schooling is for the young. At a certain point you graduate, and you are all done with education.

Often our Sunday schools, confirmation classes, and youth programs send the subliminal message: Education is for children. The sooner you're through with it, the better.

But that attitude can be turned around. When I came to one church, fewer than ...