Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Kristen (JUPAK)

The Role of Storytelling and Bible Story Discussion Learning Methods in Enhancing Material Comprehension and Its Implementation in Modern Life

Hendry Sinaga — 2025-06-30

In the world of education, it is necessary to study innovative learning methods to achieve better education. Without innovative and creative learning methods, the goals of Christian religious education cannot be achieved properly. Because the success of Christian religious education actually lies in the cooperation of teachers and students in maximizing the desired teaching. Learning to understand the contents of the Bible requires innovation and appropriate methods to produce good quality learning and be able to improve understanding of the material and its implementation in today's life. It is known that the author examines the role of storytelling and discussion learning in understanding the contents of the Bible for students and how to implement it in today's life. The objectives of studying the role of the storytelling learning method and discussion of Bible stories are (1) To see the significance of increasing students' understanding in understanding the contents of the Bible, (2) To evaluate the increase in students' ability to implement Bible stories in today's life. The results of direct observation research in class carried out in 2 research cycles can be concluded as follows: (1) Students' ability to understand Bible story material can be improved through storytelling and discussion learning models. In the pre-cycle, students' ability to understand the material was 15%, increasing in cycle I by 78%, while in cycle II it was 85%. Thus, the application of learning to understand Bible stories through storytelling and discussion learning methods is very effective in improving students' ability to understand the material presented by the teacher. (2) Students' learning achievements also increase after implementing learning through storytelling and discussion learning methods. This can be seen from the results of the percentage of learning completion, both during the mid-semester evaluation and the final semester evaluation.

The Key to Mental Health: Social and Semantic Domain Analysis of Sesoken in Matthew 9:22

Julius Stefanus Sibagariang — 2025-06-06

Mental health is an important issue and is one way to achieve a golden Indonesia in 2045. However, in Indonesia, the issue has not received much attention. The authors in this study try to discuss mental health by linking it to the health of faith. The authors found that having healthy faith is the key to mental health. Through social analysis of Matthew 9:20-22, it can be seen that the story of the bleeding woman is about mental health. Even though she is experiencing very heavy suffering, a bleeding woman can still have mental health because of the faith she has. The healthy faith that she has already has a big impact on her mental health. This is clearly seen through Jesus' expression towards her, "...your faith has saved you..." (Matt. 9:22). The word "save" in the text apparently has various translations. Through semantic domain analysis of the words "save” or “sesoken", it turns out that they contain the meaning "to heal". In this way, through social and semantic domain analysis of the word “sesoken” in Matthew 9:22, it becomes clear that healthy faith is the key to mental health.

First Communion Celebrations in Manggarai Flores and The Pastoral Implications on Faith Family Education

Fransiska Widyawati — 2025-08-13

The Eucharist, one of the seven sacraments in the Catholic Church, holds a central and pivotal role in Christian life. Through this sacred ritual, Christians find communion with Christ, who is presented in the consecrated bread and wine. The celebration of the Eucharist is fundamental to the spiritual journey of believers. When a child receives their first communion, the church marks this significant milestone with great enthusiasm. Simultaneously, parents also take part in the celebration. This article explores the diverse ways in which Flores parents in East Nusa Tenggara celebrate their child's first communion. This research employed ethnography as the research methodology, with observations and interviews as the tool to collect data. Our findings revealed various ways of celebrating the first communion within the community. Among then, parties were the prevailing mode of celebration. Each celebration carried both positive and negative implications. While parties fostered familial prestige, they could also be wasteful and fail to prioritize child-friendliness. Regrettably, these festivals often lean more toward adult-oriented gatherings rather than child-centered or spiritually enriching events. As the conclusion, the First Communion ceremony among the Flores people transcended their religious practice; it transformed into a joyous occasion that involved the entire family and served as a social gathering. Given the potential drawbacks of excessive partying, the church should implement a pastoral strategy that emphasizes comprehensive family faith education and eucharistic understanding.

Integration of Learning Models in Curriculum Development: A Theoretical and Practical Review

Benyamin Metekhohy — 2025-09-04

The curriculum is a major component of the education system that determines the direction and quality of the teaching and learning process at various educational levels. This study aims to analyze the stages of curriculum development in Christian education and to identify its relevance and challenges in the current social and cultural context. The research adopts a qualitative descriptive method, utilizing literature review and document analysis to explore theoretical frameworks, best practices, and contextual applications. The findings indicate that effective curriculum development in Christian education involves three main stages: formulating content aligned with the vision and mission of Christian education, designing learning activities that foster students’ active participation and spiritual growth, and determining evaluation methods that comprehensively measure the achievement of learning objectives. Results also show that integrating Christian faith values with learning materials enhances contextual relevance and holistic student development, although challenges remain in adapting to the rapidly changing social and cultural environment. This study underscores the need for continuous curriculum review and adaptation to ensure that Christian education remains transformative and impactful.

Implementation of the Flipped Classroom Learning Method in Rural Areas

Yohanis Banamtuan — 2025-09-12

The flipped classroom method is a very effective learning method applied in emergency conditions such as the pandemic that has just passed. However, in general, this flipped classroom method is only applied to schools in urban areas because of the very supportive facilities such as strong internet networks, other electronic facilities such as computers, laptops, smart phones and so on. While the condition of schools with various limitations of internet networks, electricity, computers, laptops and smart phones is very difficult in the application of this flipped classroom learning method. That is why the researchers agreed to discuss the implementation of the flipped classroom method especially for schools in rural areas. Various limitations owned by rural schools often hamper the teaching and learning process so that learning objectives cannot be realized properly. The purpose of this study is to present practical steps in the teaching and learning process using the flipped classroom method in rural areas, find the obstacles and solutions so that it can help teachers and students in rural areas. The method used in this research is qualitative with a library study approach. The result of the research on the implementation of flipped classroom method in rural areas is that the flipped classroom method can be implemented in rural areas with all its limitations and constraints.