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Resource Center Walk-Thru on Wednesday @ CPC 2012

January 12, 2012 in CPC 2012, Curriculum 0

CPC is known for their Resource Center. They’ve got a lot of publishers, content creators and services.

Before the first General Session, they opened the Resource Center to the masses that are attending this conference, and I did a preliminary walk-thru. Here are some things I came across that I liked:

The Gospel Project

Lifeway has created a 3 year, chronological curriculum series through the Bible for children. Their emphasis throughout the curriculum is:

…showing how Christ fits into the entire gospel story, pre-creation to eternity. And where each one of us fits into it, too.

This brand-new Christ-centered curriculum follows a chronological timeline of the Bible. Using this approach, children connect biblical events to God’s ultimate plan of redemption through Christ–resulting in a transformed life. His plan then… His plan for them today.

In Main Street, we also do a home-grown 3 year, chronological cycle through the Bible (and it’s neat that many publishing companies are doing this as well!) and I’m always looking for ways to augment this curriculum trajectory and content that we use.

Website: The Gospel Project

Holy Moly

A little over a week ago, I shared about the re:form curriculum I just recently acquired and have used a little @ Hayward Wesleyan.

Here at CPC, I was telling the people at Spark House (the people behind the re:form magic) how much I appreciate what they did with re:form. Then one of the representatives told me about a project they are working on for children and it’s in the same vein as the re:form videos.

It’s called Holy Moly and they are currently working on, if I remember correctly, a 3 year chronological curriculum through the Bible. I got a sampler pack with the story of David and Goliath materials. I can’t wait to see what they’ve got planned!

Website: Holy Moly @ Spark House (site is active but not updated, as this content is still being created).

Easy Risers

Really neat stadium seating option. These risers are expensive, but they are durable and extremely easy to move around and consolidate.

Easy risers is a 4 in 1 seating system featuring an amphitheater, music risers, discussion centers and craft stations all in one product. The entire system sets up in seconds and stacks together easily with minimal effort in a minimal space. The Amazing advantage of this product over chairs is the aspect of an elevated sight line for each row, giving the audience an unobstructed view which greatly enhances attention span.

Website: Easy Risers

Pure in Heart Ministries

Another author did purity study guides on the books The Princess and the Kiss (for girls called: Life Lessons from the Princess and the Kiss) and The Squire and the Scroll (for boys called Life Lessons from the Squire and the Scroll).

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about rites of passages and tradition-kinds of things that we should introduce and possibly implement in the rhythm of our faith community. These are neat ideas to contemplate.

Pure in Heart Ministries also puts on a purity conference.

Website: Pure in Heart – Planting Seeds of Purity in the Next Generation

Scripture Lullabies

I have not listened to this music yet, but I know that our church needs to update the Lullaby CD we give to new mothers. I want to look into this music that was highly touted.

Website: Scripture Lullabies

re-form: a sort of confirmation/sunday school curriculum

January 3, 2012 in Curriculum, Youth Ministry 1

I recently came across this resource and wanted to look into it. After using one of their samples in my small group of 6th grade boys, I’ve concluded that this is great stuff!

They target this curriculum toward 5th and 6th grade students and it worked beautifully. The video segment is memorable, full of information, and done in a middle school “goofy” sort of way. The boys were able to not only remember the content, but also laugh at the silly parts of the video and it made it engaging. The anti-workbook and the activities contained within really connected the ideas in the lesson we piloted: Who wrote the Bible? God or humans? The leader guide was helpful for the uninitiated and guided me through the various options for activities as well as informative regarding the topic and theological issue.

If you’re looking for a fun, engaging confirmation curriculum, or a year-long Sunday school curriculum (for middle school students), you’ll be thrilled with the engaging and extremely age-appropriate content.

It’s called re:form and it currently comes in a few different varieties:

re-form

This is a 40-week confirmation-type curriculum:

“re:form features two DVDs with 40 hilarious animated short films that frame the theological questions that youth really ask, an Anti-Workbook that’s chock full of individual and group activities, and a fully reproducible Leader Guide.”

It address the following questions:

Bible
Who wrote the Bible, God or humans? Is the Bible true? Why does the Bible contradict itself at times? Is the New Testament more important than the Old Testament? Why are there so many versions of the Bible?

Creed
Can it be proven that God exists? Is God male? How can God be “three-in-one”? Does God still create stuff today? Am I really supposed to believe Mary was a virgin? Why did Jesus go to hell? Is the Holy Spirit a person or wind or fire or what? Why do we say we believe in “the holy catholic church” if we’re not Catholic? Do cremated people go to heaven?

Discipleship
Why should I follow Jesus; can’t I just say I believe in him? Why should I pray when God doesn’t answer all my prayers? Why should I pray the Lord’s Prayer when it feels like I’m just going through the motions? Can someone lose their salvation? Can I be a Christian without going to church?

Jesus
Was Jesus of Nazareth God? Did Jesus know he was God? If Jesus was God why did he have to die? Do I have to believe Jesus performed miracles in order to be a Christian? Why did Jesus get baptized? Is believing in Jesus really the only way to get to heaven?

Other Beliefs
If there is only one God, why are there so many different religions? Why do Christians believe Christianity is the best religion? Why are there so many different Christian churches?

Tough Questions
Is it a sin to think about sex? How do I stop doing things I know I shouldn’t do? Is divorce a sin? What does it mean to be “born again”? What if my friends aren’t Christian? Is it okay to be angry at God? Did God create the devil? Can you accept the theory of evolution and still be a Christian? Why does God let bad things happen? Can I do something bad enough to make God stop loving me? Does Revelation really describe how the world will end? What does God think about war?

source YouTube

re-form: Traditions

“Traditions gives your youth the tools they need to deeply explore their particular faith tradition with witty videos, engaging individual and group activities, and an online forum for sharing what they’ve learned along the way. Traditions is designed to be used alongside the core re:form curriculum, or your current curriculum, in settings like confirmation classes where additional denominational-specific material is preferred or required.

“We assembled the dream team of Methodist, Reformed, and Lutheran theologians, pastors, and practitioners from across the country to create re:form Traditions. Together, they provided historical accuracy, a theological framework, and translated it all into fun activities and language that speaks to today’s youth.”

source YouTube

re-form: Ancestors (Old Testament)

“re:form Ancestors is a youth Bible study that explores the ancestors of our faith by exposing the real, unpolished and unexpected personalities of Old and New Testament Bible characters.

“With re:form Ancestors, youth discover similarities between themselves and the many unlikely people selected by God to do extraordinary things.”

Which “ancestors” are included?

Adam & Eve: The lovable screw-ups
Noah: The obedient eccentric
Abraham & Sarah: The ordinary patriarchs
Jacob: The conniving survivor
Joseph: The virtuous dreamer
Moses: The frustrated leader
Rahab: The faithful opportunist
Deborah: The exasperated matriarch
Samson: The raging prima donna
Ruth: The tenacious outsider
David: The flawed and beloved king
Solomon: The ambitious son
Elijah: The get-r-done prophet
Daniel: The invincible visionary
Jonah: The passive-aggressive coot

source YouTube

Tempting Stuff | msy series

January 2, 2012 in Curriculum, Youth Ministry 0

I purchased a year’s worth of curriculum series through Simply Youth Ministry for msy on Wednesdays during 2011-2012.

The third series was called “Tempting Stuff: Helping Teenagers Battle Everyday Temptations” Here’s the description for the series:

Temptation is something everyone experiences—even Jesus was tempted! And one of Satan’s most devious tricks is to use temptation not just to get students to sin, but to separate themselves from the body of Christ because of guilt and shame.

Lessons include:

  • The Temptation Story
  • Selfish Temptations
  • Do Nothing Temptations
  • Dishonest Temptations
  • Cruel Temptations

These small group series from Simply Youth Ministry have been really successful for our Middle School Youth Wednesday environment. We divide the large group into about 8 small groups and show the video segments in the large group and then have the small group leaders (adults) talk through the questions with the students in between the two video segments. That’s it. The series are focused, simple, concrete, and easy for middle school students to understand. It is digestable and memorable.

It’s been a great first part of the school year using these various small group curriculum teaching series.

I created a msy series landing page for our various series this year as well as previous years (although I have not retroactively updated our previous years teaching series yet, but I hope to do that in the future). Any elements we add to the series or want to communicate further we add to the individual series page on Tempting Stuff series @ hwcyouth.org.

The Red Stuff | msy series

January 1, 2012 in Curriculum, Youth Ministry 0

I purchased a year’s worth of curriculum series through Simply Youth Ministry for msy on Wednesdays during 2011-2012.

The second series was called “The Red Stuff: Exploring the Words of Jesus” Here’s the description for the series:

Students get to dig in to the words of Jesus himself, the “Red Stuff”. They’ll take a look at five of Jesus’ parables, uncover what His message was, and see how it still applies to their life today.

Lessons cover what Jesus said about:

  • The Bible
  • Our Talents
  • Pride
  • Persistent Prayer
  • Eternity

This series worked really well with our students. The series did a great job teaching about parables and other teachings of Jesus. One really neat side benefit was the discovery that the words of Jesus were colored in red in most Bibles. They thought that was really cool!

I created a msy series landing page for our various series this year as well as previous years (although I have not retroactively updated our previous years teaching series yet, but I hope to do that in the future). Any elements we add to the series or want to communicate further we add to the individual series page on The Red Stuff series @ hwcyouth.org.

Messy Stuff | msy series

December 31, 2011 in Curriculum, Youth Ministry 0

I purchased a year’s worth of curriculum series through Simply Youth Ministry for msy on Wednesdays during 2011-2012.

The first series was called “Messy Stuff: finding hope in the midst of everyday struggles”. Here’s the description for the series:

Ever watched a TV sitcom and wished that your life’s problems could be fixed and answered in just 30 minutes, too? Unfortunately, the real world doesn’t work that way. Life is messy. You and I are broken—and so are the students in your youth ministry.

We’re broken physically by sickness and disease. We’re broken emotionally by painful life experiences and hurtful words that others have spoken. Our relationships with God and other people are broken, too.

In this 5-week small group video series from Heather Flies, your students will examine the reality of our messy lives—and discover how valuable they are to God, despite their messiness. They’ll investigate the wrong ways and the right ways to handle the stuff that makes life messy and causes our pain and brokenness. And they’ll be encouraged to invite God and other people into the process of change in their lives.

Help your students discover that despite life’s messiness, we can be healed and made whole.

Topics for this series include:

  • Me, Valuable?
  • Um, What Happened?
  • How To Handle The Hurts
  • Finding Hope in the Messiness
  • Remember, Life’s Pain Isn’t Permanent!

I created a msy series landing page for our various series this year as well as previous years (although I have not retroactively updated our previous years teaching series yet, but I hope to do that in the future). Any elements we add to the series or want to communicate further we add to the individual series page on Messy Stuff series page @ hwcyouth.org.

This was a good series for us to start with and was useful for some topical conversations with the students as well as for us as leaders to figure out how to structure the small groups @ msy.

Evaluating Curriculum? Here Are Some Tips…

September 14, 2011 in Curriculum 0

Recently, I’ve written about curriculum here and here.

Choosing and evaluating curriculum is tricky. In some ways it is an evolutionary process (at least that has been my experience). What I’ve used in the past, I wouldn’t necessarily use again. Our curriculum and programming needs at Hayward Wesleyan Church are changing and deepening each year. What worked 8 years ago might not work in the same way now. I’m maturing and different. Our community in the same way. Curriculum needs to be retooled, added to and subtracted from. And curriculum needs to be continually contextualized. What’s written in a cubicle at a publishing house or submitted over Wi-Fi at coffee shop, does not transfer to a particular church in a particular community in particular region of the country. Local leaders, teachers and volunteers must do that.

Choosing curriculum is a huge decision. There are so many options and there can be so many different facets to consider. Publishers always put their best foot forward, but how do you know if their materials are best for your church? Here are some important questions to ask as you evaluate curriculum.

Read more: How to Evaluate a Sunday School Curriculum

via ministry-to-children.com

Elevate Curriculum

August 10, 2011 in Curriculum 4

I’m sitting in my office right now working on choosing curriculum for Followers 2011-2012. I’ve used a couple of Elevate 8-pack series in the past and really enjoyed them, but that was a couple of years ago. Since then they have exploded the series they have produced. If my count is accurate they have 27 series (with 8 lessons in each)!

I went to each of the 27 series and printed off the scope and sequence pdf for each one and I laid them on the floor of my office to preview them.

How Are Your Ministry Plans Coming?

August 9, 2011 in Children's Ministry, Curriculum 0

back to school

I wrote another article for WesleyanKids.org about the ministry planning season and back to school ideas. You can check it out here:

How Are Your Ministry Plans Coming?

Curriculum?! Where Do I Start?

August 4, 2011 in Articles, Curriculum 0

Last month I wrote my first article for The Spiritual Formation Department’s Children’s Ministry Blog/Email Newsletter. It was entitled: Curriculum?! Where Do I Start?

It’s a story about a ministry couple that struggled (like many of us) in the pursuit of good, usable, biblical and contextual curriculum. Check it out.

Shouldn’t Church Be Fun?

July 10, 2011 in Children's Ministry, Curriculum, Youth Ministry 0

Growing up, I loved going to McDonald’s. I loved the play area, the Happy Meals and the Happy Meal toy. In other words, I wanted the “Mickey D’s” experience because I knew it would be fun, I would get fed and I would leave with something. Shouldn’t the church be the same way?

Jelani Lewis on ministrytodaymag.com

via Children’s Ministry Magazine July/August 2011 pg. 22

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