An attempt was made to describe the experience of Christian religious education for its participants. This research is both ethnographic and hermeneutic. Thick descriptions gathered from ethnographic methods like participant observation, in-depth interviews, and journal keeping served as text for analysis. Weekly visits of one to four hours were made to each school, home, or community setting over the course of one school year. It became evident that for the two students (David and Rena) studied, activities in the home and school played a more important role in structuring their experiences than did activities in church, youth groups, or their community. Five themes emerged from the research: (1) Story; (2) Community; (3) Growth; (4) Meaning; and (5) God. The findings within each theme were understood as being in dialectical tension with theoretical dispositions. This relationship between findings and theory meant that two questions had to be asked: "How does the life-world of the students inform the initial theory?"; and "What has been affirmed or rebutted in the experience of David and Rena as a result of the theory?" The research is concluded with a definition formed by interpretation of the research themes. That is, Christian religious education is attending to and cooperating with God's activities with others. Such education is characterized by love, trust, responsibility, and discipleship. Its goal is to promote right relationships with God and others. (BZ)