07542
August 31, 2007

Learning to listen

Gardner tells elders good Bible teaching creates space to hear truth

by Mike Ferguson
Presbyterian News Service

NASHVILLE — Freda Gardner couldn’t attend the PC(USA)’s first-ever National Elders Conference, but her manuscript made it.

Instead, Valerie Small, manager of General Assembly nominations and moderatorial staff services for the Office of General Assembly, read on Thursday (Aug. 29) for Gardner, who’s professor emerita of Christian Education at Princeton Theological Seminary and in 1999 was General Assembly Moderator.

Gardner’s talk helped the 330 elders in attendance learn more about their role as Bible teacher.

She recalled educator Parker Palmer’s definition of what constitutes good teaching: teachers “create a space where truth can be known.”

Not making the list: Gardner’s high school algebra teacher, who made her stand at the chalkboard — with the class silently staring at her — until the bell rang because young Gardner couldn’t solve the problem the teacher had given her.

“Learning requires space to try and fail without harming the learner,” Gardner said. “And you can’t stay open to God’s word, either, if you’re feeling mortified by what you don’t know.”

Gardner said she likes Harvard University chaplain Peter Gomes’ definition of the Bible found in his book “The Good Book”: It’s “the living Word from the living God for a needy people.”

“We approach the Bible expectantly, hesitantly, hopefully, eagerly — sometimes angrily,” Gardner said.

It’s a book many people like to quote bits of, she said, to suit their purposes.

“Using one or two verses to defend a position near and dear to your heart” is a common but unhelpful approach to debate, she said.

“We all find security in things that are nailed down and not debatable,” but “each of us gets stirred up when one of those topics comes up in a social setting. We say, ‘I know where he or she stands, so I don’t have to listen.’”

Oh yes you do, Gardner said.

“It’s about opening yourself to what God might be saying to you or saying to us,” she said. “And the teacher’s role is to create a space for opinion to be aired.”