[micah6v8]

If we look at the education sector, one would also note that lectures, tutorials and seminars have different roles to play. To deride lectures for being a passive experience is to misunderstand its intended role as giving an introduction of a topic to be discussed later on in tutorials.

We could have a church model where on Sundays, a sermon is given to explain a portion of scripture (for example a chapter of Galatians). Subsequently on a weekday, in the small group meetings, the believers can discuss/muse more on the said chapter of Galatians, with a focus on application to their daily lives. In the weekdays, the believers could also read a Bible Study guide on the said chapter. If you missed out on the sermon, you could catch up by hearing an audio recording on the church’s website.


In turn, the LSM’s model focuses on active participation by all members during both the weekly Sunday meetings and the weekday Small Group meetings (To a point where they would encourage you to stand up and just read out a portion of the Weekly Reading). And to supplement these they have these intensive periods of “Messages” (equivalent to sermons) which are conducted over 3-5 days in conferences. Each “Message” in turn supplements one Sunday’s worth of prophesying meeting. If you were not able to attend the conference or watch a recording of the conference, you could pick up a copy of the “Ministry of the Word” book which is a written version of the conference messages.

It reminds me of my university days where a rival university distinguished itself from my university and other universities by stating that its students would not attend lectures or seminars. Rather, their students would attend small group seminars with a focus on active participation by the students. The difference between LSM and this rival university, was that that this rival university had implemented this model to encourage its students to express their own opinions more.