Many churches offer a Sunday morning "Adult Forum," a large class with a speaker who addresses an issue or community concern—sometimes theological, but often-times a public concern (like housing or racism) that may not have any direct spiritual or theological instruction. While the Adult Forum may be a venerated style of many mainline congregations, it developed in the 1940s and 1950s—when clergy could assume a greater level of theological and biblical knowledge and could treat Sunday morning Adult Education as a town meeting. The cultural assumptions behind the forum style no longer exist. Although the style persists in congregations, theological educators now agree that this "town meeting" format is the church’s least effective adult formation style.

Continuing classes last from two weeks (capsule two- to four week courses around particular themes provide great flexibility) to a year (longer courses give greater depth) and provide more time to explore a topic and develop community than do Adult Forums. Medium- to large sized congregations can run several classes simultaneously—or several during a week.

Special events typically include retreats or workshop around a single subject that run a half-day to two days in length. They may be held at the church or at a local retreat center.

Special series may be multi-evening or multi-week events focused around a particular theological theme or time of the church year.

Small groups are one of the most successful forms of Christian spiritual formation. They take a myriad of forms: content (a Bible or book study), practices (prayer, hospitality, parenting), outreach (those who work in a homeless shelter or who go on a mission trip), special interests for support (mothers with young children or cancer survivors), or the times and days that they meet. They may be:
·  formal or informal,
·  congregationally sponsored or hosted,
·  meet at the church or in homes, or
·  have trained leaders or organic leadership.

Clergy and education directors often (and wrongly) assume that small groups need to be formalized through the congregation. It is good to keep track of the small groups influencing your congregation, but the very dynamism and lack of centralized structure provides much vitality for such groups. The most successful strategy for small group formation may be that formal church leaders provide resources, support, and some training for groups and their leaders—enabling the grassroots processes that lay people organize themselves.

Book or film studies are popular ways of introducing congregations to theological ideas and teaching biblical reflection on culture. Often called "Novel Theology," or "Popcorn Theology," some churches have book or film groups that meet monthly. Others pick a congregational book that may last several months. If you choose to read a book together as a congregation, that book becomes the basis for a common congregational conversation across services (if you have a multi-service congregation), across meetings (the board and the Sunday school teachers are reading the same thing), across generations, and across the clergy-lay divide.

Guest speakers are a powerful way to introduce new ideas, handle controversial issues, or move a congregation ahead on particular practices. Guests may be used in any of the above formats (my congregation experimented with a "Winter Book and Author Series" during Epiphany one year).

Round Table Discussions provide opportunities for congregants to share from their own insights and experience—and often serve as part of a vision process or conflict resolution. Every Lent, my parish omits the formal sermon at the 9:00 a.m. service. Instead, we conduct the Eucharist and then cross the courtyard for "Dialogue Sermons" in which parishioners sit around tables with the morning's texts and create a communal sermon.

Online formation is being used with increasing success in Web-savvy congregations—especially ones with large numbers of GenXers and Millennials. Small groups and classes may be conducted in cyber-space. Such learning experiences may be more powerful than traditional ones in some instances. In addition to online small groups and courses, congregational chat rooms, e-mail prayer lists, and daily Bible studies can provide opportunities for formation when congregants are at work or on the road. A good Web site, full of spiritual formation links and resources, connects shut-ins, busy working families, stay-at-home parents, teens, and college students in a community beyond the walls of your building.

Adult formation should have a dedicated online corner in your congregation's Web site that includes clear information about programs, spiritual reflections, resources, links to retreat centers, and a book nook. Many congregations still think of the Web as an elaborate advertisement. It is more than that—the Web is your key to reaching all those who cannot come to church on a weekly basis. The better you connect in cyberspace, the more possibility you have to create a learning community.

Questions to consider: