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Within the core SEAN courses, each lesson has two main and separate stages: the written home study and the group meeting. Many lessons also include suggestions for practical assignments (indeed all the lessons should naturally lead to practical fruit), for example in the Life of Christ (Compendium of Pastoral Theology). Each stage has its own distinct objective:
The written home study, although of great value in itself, has clear educational goals and ensures that everyone coming to the group meeting is essentially at the same point of understanding. The home study is, as it were, the springboard for the group meeting. (Leaders: how much time in Bible study meetings have you spent before ‘finally’ reaching the point of the study, and then having to admit lamely that ‘we haven’t time to...’ at the very point that the discussion starts to become valuable?)
Newcomers to SEAN materials, and especially those who happen to pick up a home study book without any other explanation, all too often conclude that the material is beneath their intellectual level - to make this instant judgement is both erroneous and short-sighted, to say nothing about the degree of arrogance displayed!
If you have never seen any SEAN home study material, please click here for an attempt to recreate the experience on a keyboard (not so good as physically writing).
In essence, deep truths are learned through a method which is neither threatening nor tedious. Whether gardener or graduate, tea-lady or teacher, you will enjoy its gently approach which speaks as strongly to the heart as to the head - therein lies the secret of this material. SEAN makes no claims of originality in using a well proven method of learning, but its application within the context of Christian discipleship in the small group setting gives it its explosive potential. All this, of course, precedes the...
The group meeting takes, as its starting point, what has already been learned in the home study, and explores it further through discussion in the familiar small group setting. Moreover, the group leader is provided with structured guidance (ask for the separate group leader’s leaflet for this specific study), making both the preparation and the meeting itself more effective than it so often is if we rely on our own resources.
It is essential that the group leader who has not experienced the dynamics of SEAN groups follows the structured guidance given.
The ministry (or practical) assignment seeks to apply what has been learned, and to bear fruit. As in so many learning experiences, it is the final ‘doing’ that cements together the whole process of any life-changing education. In several courses, the group leader’s material offers the group leader guidance for practical assignments while at the same time leaving room for applications that may be better suited to local conditions etc.
And, of course, all the courses aim to produce fruit in the student, regardless of whether or not actual suggestions are built into individual courses.
Click here for more detailed information on TEE and SEAN. Back to About TEE and SEAN
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