Children’s Curriculum That’s Not Afraid of Blood
— Thursday, June 2nd, 2011 —
Children’s Sunday School literature in American evangelicalism is often bloodless and boring. A while back I wrote here about one particularly maddening instance of a gospel-free curriculum. But there’s good news out there, and here’s one example.
Steve Wright, pastor of family discipleship at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, is heading up Treasuring Christ Curriculum, which he says “desires to see children and youth biblically grounded, seeing God as the hero of every story, with a Gospel-centered worldview.”
At their website you can view some sample curricula, learn more about what makes this material distinct, and even see their pricing. (One thing y’all might want to know is that any church plant in the United States under seven years old will receive the curriculum for free, and is free as well to missionaries and their churches on the field.)
I hope this curricula (and others like it) are a first wave of a new movement of equipping parents and teachers to disciple our kids, and to disciple them to not be ashamed of the blood of the cross.
GREAT! not an easy find these days.
Dr. Moore, don’t forget Connie Dever’s which is complete and all FREE to all online @ http://www.praisefactory.org/
I read Steve Wright’s reTHINK a couple of years ago and thought it was an excellent way to think about children’s and youth ministries. I’m sure this curriculuum will be excellent as well and look forward to checking it out.
As the good book says, “the life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:14). It’s good to see there is curriculum that doesn’t shy away.
People don’t want their kids hearing violent stories. I can understand that. They probably don’t let their kids watch rated “R” movies either.
We make it a point both in our home and in our Sunday Morning/Wednesday Evening children’s classes to include everything the Gospel is about. If they are not taught a Christo-centric faith when young how can we expect them to have a christian worldview when they get older.
It is our job as parents and teachers to raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord and that includes the every bloody aspect of the Gospel.
As a pastor’s wife who has been teaching children’s Sunday school for about twenty years now– I’ve run into this problem before. In our first church, just out of seminary, one of the matrons of the church chastised me for talking about the cross and the blood in preschool Sunday school. I was young and very surprised at her attitude.
Regarding SBC literature itself, I have been disappointed for years. The story of God saving Moses in the Nile River is entitled “Miriam is a Helper.” The feeding of the 5,000 is entitled “A Boy Shares.” Lifeway has the amazing ability to take any Bible story about God’s sovereignty and/or power and reduce it down to a simple moralistic lesson. The lack of any attempt to teach the Scriptures in a chronological fashion is more than frustrating. I just don’t understand how the curriculum arm of our convention is so sub-par when we have so many great men leading in our seminaries and in our convention. It is so frustrating.
Just a few thoughts.