What’s it take to build an effective Christian education program these days?
That question is being asked in virtually every Christian education committee in every church everywhere. Curriculum publishing companies are asking it as well. Their answers could help congregations become centers of vital Christian education.
That first question is the biggest: So how do you build an effective Christian education program these days? The one word that arises repeatedly is relevance.
Connecting is key
Karen DeBoer is a writer for the Kid Connection, a new curriculum developed for small churches by Faith Alive Resources (the publishing arm of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church.) She makes the point with passion. “It’s got to be relevant. … It’s got to be fun, aware of their sense of humor, attentive to their environment, the Bible story must be presented in a way that reaches the kids of today.”
Betsy Ensign-George, associate for curriculum development for children at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and editor of the We Believe curriculum, says that C.E. programs need to clarify that they aim for “… the people you are serving to know God and love God.” Toward that end, she says leaders need “… to know who they are and what they bring to their journey of faith as a congregation. So much of what we are doing denominationally is to find out who the people are, trying to explore together what God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are doing among us.”
Deb Bernard, senior marketing manager for curriculum at Group Publishing, affirms that thinking. “To be effective it (the curriculum) needs to be relevant and applicable. … We also need to learn how to build relationships. Jesus built relationships with disciples. We need to learn to build relationships with God and people, too. We need to know how to make the message of God relevant to people to learn and develop. Whether its children, youth, or adults, the lessons we lead need to be experiential, engaging the learner, engaging the emotions because with the emotions the learning sticks.”
Joyce Claus, who with husband Bob, developed the Potter’s Publishing rotational model, says it simply, “Sunday school has to change to meet the needs of children and how they learn.”
Content is central
On the other hand, each curriculum writer was quick to clarify that the content is tried and true.
Carol Bechtel, professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Western Theological Seminary and Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Reformed Church of America is a major writer for Kerygma and the featured writer of the Presbyterian Women’s Horizons study for 1997-98.
The basis for the curriculum should be the Bible, she says. “But obviously once you say that, then you need to figure out how to teach the Bible in an effective way to connect with people. We can’t just hope to pour information into their ears.”
While all agree with the focus on Bible content, each one highlights a different angle.
The rotational model emphasizes the broad themes of Scripture. Joyce Claus explains, “We try to provide a more biblical concept base. What are the spiritual tools needed to journey through life? … What are the stories that best convey those stories? This is not so much how to cover all the stories, but to cover all the spiritual concepts the students need. It’s more in depth on the concepts than a complete coverage of all stories.”
Bob Claus, a Presbyterian Minister of Word and Sacrament, gives an example, a lesson on the covenant. “We discuss that at some length, … We use spiritual journeys to help them think critically about what they have learned.” The results have been gratifying. “In my church in the past, these kids were so much further ahead of other kids coming into confirmation.”
DeBoer stresses the students’ daily engagement with God. Students “need to be able to look back and ask ‘Where is God at work in this story? Where is he at in this?’ You know, it’s all about seeing God’s redemptive plan.”
Elevating theology but also connecting to worship is a PC(USA) goal, says Ensign-George. “What we teach is how we worship God together. It’s biblically based, and it includes the catechetical content, … Curriculum ought to provide knowledge in all of those areas, to know more, to want to know more when we are gathered in all age groups in worship,” she explained “How do we use what we’ve learned in worship in the home, and classroom and life to glorify God there?”
Methods matter
All teachers wonder, “Are the students getting it? Are they learning what I’m teaching?”
In recent decades, educators have abandoned “teaching goals” in favor of “learning goals.” The focus has moved away from the role of the instructor to those of the students. In particular most all the curricula developers are building upon the research of Harold Gardner, who propounded the educational theory of multiple intelligences. Some students perceive best through linguistic data, while others are logical/mathematical; some are musical while others are spatial; some are bodily/kinesthetic, while others are naturalistic; some are interpersonal (tuned in to others), while others are intrapersonal (tuned into one’s inner self).
Ensign-George explains how their curriculum incorporates such thinking. “We try to speak to all the types of learning. … We’re aware that people learn in different ways and experience faith in different ways. We read and hear the Bible. Then we help them act on that faith by interacting with other people, doing mission opportunities, helping others, telling others about the good news of the gospel.”
In order to work in small churches, DeBoer explains that in their curriculum, the Bible study is presented in a large group format. The story is the same for all groups, but how it is presented changes. “The editors and writers pay special attention to multiple intelligences. Some children learn best by music, by contemplation, by moving their bodies, all those other ways. … After they hear the large group story, they break off into smaller groups, where they are mentored, and work with their leaders, from cutting and pasting, to making a Web page, to acting it out.”
Bob Claus says, “We promote a ‘learn with teacher’ concept. Somewhere along the way the kids ‘get it.’ Their lights go on.”
In the development of adult studies, they try to help people understand is that the lesson is not a story, but our story. “It makes a huge difference to hear the biblical story’s message when you’re inside the story, not an outsider listening in. I can see it on the students’ faces when they realize that it’s about them when they hear that God is leading us out of Egypt. That dynamic of appropriation across the generations is built into Scripture itself, for example when in the Passover, it asks, “Why do we do this?”
Students’ experiential feedback provides a key vehicle for learning, Bernard explains. “To us, it is experiential learning that engages the emotions. Then again, we use debriefing questions that help the students see that it’s relevant … and how it’s relevant and what to do about it.”
Distinctives
In spite of some commonalities, these curricula differ significantly.
The Kerygma course is an intense program of study that does not fit into the Sunday morning one-hour format. It usually is taught in classes some morning or evening during the week, each session taking a couple hours, and each student having homework assignments to prepare. “Kerygma does well by giving attention to how to teach. This whole idea of having not only a resource book but a leaders’ guide really recognizes the fact that the learning process is not an automatic. You have to be intentional and wise about how to facilitate that process. It happens in community,” says Bechtel.
Group builds its whole curriculum around the acrostic, REAL (article link).
Barnard summarizes: “Our focus is on making things relational, experiential, applicable, and learner based. That combination we believe helps church leaders have effective educational ministries. And we do a lot of research and testing with real people and real churches to make sure we are delivering that.”
Kid Connection, the newest product developed by Faith Alive, will be available for first use this next fall in small churches. DeBoer highlights three distinctives it offers. “It has great Reformed theology. Second, it really is fun. … There are cool things happening in this curriculum. Third, it builds relationships. In every lesson there’s a few minutes for the teacher and children to talk about their lives, like ‘what happened in your soccer game this week.’ Ultimately, it helps kids move one step closer to God.”
Ensign-George makes clear that their curriculum is “by Presbyterians for Presbyterians. We’ve made a commitment to the denomination to provide curriculum that is just what it says it is. It preaches and teaches what we believe, … How we explore that together makes it distinctive and very, very strong.”
Perhaps the most distinctive among all these curricula is that of the rotational model. Joyce Claus explains, “We have a concept that runs through a whole unit, so if a child misses a week, they will still be on track with that point. Our lessons are scripted, so it helps the lay teacher know where this lesson is going, and (they) won’t get sidetracked.”
Bob Claus points out that the workshop model requires broad congregational involvement. “It is built around the body of Christ. It is more involving of other people. It takes more people to do it. … We need to be educating lay people about their spiritual gifts and abilities. We Presbyterians seem to think we only need to do that with our officers and let everybody else be spectators.”
The magnetic factor
One other big issue presses upon educational leaders. How can our program become magnetic? What will it take to draw in new visitors and keep folks coming back week after week?
Those questions have become all the more perplexing in this post-Christendom era, where children’s sports no longer treat Sunday mornings as sacrosanct. Many a child feels the tug of Little League, ballet, gymnastics, and computer games.
One key to magnetizing a program is simply creating excitement. Group sponsors summit conferences titled, “Creating a Magnetic Culture in your Church.” Barnard says, “I think when your learners and leaders are engaged in it, it’s hard not to get excited about it. You want to become a part of it.”
Kerygma emphasizes the principle of the happy customer. “The most effective method of advertising is word of mouth,” says Bechtel. “Get a few people in on the ground floor who can speak from their own experience. That personal invitation is the best way to go.”
An enthusiastic Joyce Claus says of the Potter’s rotation model, “It is magnetic for the children. They understand this model right away. It becomes magnetic to all as you do the job of casting the vision in the church.” Church leaders and parents are the driving force, Bob Claus says. “Groundwork and vision-casting has to be done in advance.”
Ensign-George says, “With small class size, it’s the relationship between student and teacher. … God loves us, and that someone here cares for us. You are drawn to a situation where what’s being said is being acted upon in the way I’m welcomed, cared for.”
DeBoer’s response crystallizes it: “The biggest thing is for leaders to treat that program big even though it’s little. Whether you have five kids or 50 or 250, you give it the same effort because God led that child thru the doors for you to minister to.”
