Bad Theology Is Still Not Okay

• "We don't like the activities in our publisher's material."
• "We can't afford the printed leaflets."
• "The pictures in the material don't reflect our culture or community."
• "The material is over my students' heads."
• "I share space with two other classes, and we can't make too much noise or move around."
• "I can download lots of free resources from the Internet."

All of these can be accurate, legitimate statements and critiques. But that does not make it okay to use material in your classroom that teaches bad theology. Teaching moralism, decision theology, or works righteousness is still not okay.

Complain to your publisher. Adapt and revise freely. Write your own material. Mix and match from other acceptable materials. But don't use material that contradicts the theological views of your church body. That is not okay!

God's blessings as you teach His children His Word.

What Needs to Change?

Nearly every teacher and leader in Sunday School that I talk to these days shares the same concern. Their Sunday School is not as good as they would like it to be. Something needs to change. All too often, the assumption is made that a new curriculum is the solution to our Sunday School ills.

I was struck then by this quote from pastor, Christian educator, and blogger Pete Jurchen: "I'd go so far as to say that a teacher could have a very dry curriculum, one that doesn't seem 'relevant' or 'fun' and doesn't have a lot of videos or activities, and could still make it an engaging learning experience if the effective learning techniques were employed. How we choose to interact with learners and teach material, it would seem, has a vastly greater impact on overall improvement then what we use to teach."

It is wonderful, of course, when our curriculum has relevance, fun, videos, activities, and engaging learning experiences. The truth is that "engaging learning experiences" are more about the interactions between the teacher and students, the relationships, than about the material. I and the other editors on my team spend the bulk of our time creating the best material we can. But we know that the material is only half of the equation. The teacher is the other half.

We pray for Sunday School teachers who will spend a little time each day preparing for his or her next class, who will work to know the personal story of each student, who will tailor the lesson activities we provide to be of maximum benefit to the students they teach.

Thank you for time you spend creating engaging learning experiences for your students as you teach God's children His Word.

The Value of Pictures

(Thanks to my friend and colleague, Ed Grube, for including a January 18, 2014, blog post from FreeBibleImages.com in his weekly tips for parish educators. The post provides some helpful tips and sparked my own thinking on the value of pictures in the Christian education process.)

Some of those who read this blog may be aware that Concordia Publishing House invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past decade on new biblical art for use in our Sunday School curriculum. The resulting paintings are a rich library of authentic biblical images. The Bible accounts they illustrate were studied carefully for clues about the settings and contexts for each account. The details included in the art were carefully researched to be appropriate and likely. The artists were chosen based on their ability to convey the culture and people of the Bible well. And the images were reviewed through our in-house doctrinal review process for theological accuracy. The results are often stunning.

These paintings are truly worth studying in class, exploring the details and nuances that will inform the students' understanding of the biblical text. The setting and culture of the Bible is unfamiliar for many students; pictures are a simple way to bridge the gap, The pictures can be used in a variety of ways in the lesson.

Before, During, and After 

Pictures can be used before the presentation of the Bible account in the lesson as a kind of formative assessment (a pretest of sorts).

• Study this picture and tell what you remember or discover about the Bible account.
• Who was present? 
• What happened before the moment depicted in this picture?
• What happened after?

They can also be used as a hook to draw the students in to the Bible account.

• Why do you think these people are smiling or angry?
• What do you think will happen?

During the presentation of the Bible story, pictures can be used to unpack the cultural and practical details of the account.

• Who are these men wearing fancy clothes?
• Why are they walking?
• Where is this taking place?

After the Bible account has been presented and discussed, pictures can be used to review the lesson (another formative assessment). Let the students use the picture to tell the story again. Use this "before, during, and after" strategy for that review.

• What happened before the moment of this picture?
• What is happening here according to the Bible test?
• What happened after this picture?

Why and How?

The process of Christian education, all education really, is taking students from where they are in their understanding of the Bible's message, providing experiences and information that add to their understanding, and deepening their knowledge of God's Word. Pictures provide a simple way to provide new information and experience. What the children discover as they study and hear about a picture gets added to what they already know to build knowledge.

A good picture, then, is always worth studying. Encourage children to look both at the big picture, the event that is taking place, and at the details, the small things that add meaning. This kind of study takes time. Make sure that the students can all see the picture well enough and long enough to absorb the details. This is why the biblical art is always prominent on our leaflets, so each student can see and learn. If you are using posters, display at eye level and encourage the students to stand close enough to see the details, even if it means getting them up out of their seats. If you are showing pictures from a picture book display the pictures fully (turning so all students can see them) and move it very slowly (slower even than you think is possibly necessary) so that students catch the details.

A good picture is truly worth a thousand words!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word — through pictures!

Video Options for Junior and Senior High

Are you looking for videos to supplement your youth Bible study lessons on Sunday mornings?

YouTube (www.youtube.com), with more than 65,000 new videos added each day, is a rich source of video material, but it may seem an impossible haystack in which to find that one video needle you're looking for.

Have I got a deal for you! The Junior High and Senior High Growing in Christ Bible studies, available each quarter at cph.org/sundayschool, now offer a suggested video resource for each lesson. You can find the lists at the beginning of the teacher guides, but you can also scroll down on the Sunday School Web site to the tools at the bottom of the page and click "Jr/Sr High Videos" for a direct link to the playlist. The guides also provide a shortened URL that can simplify the task of finding these videos.

The videos have been screened for objectionable content or theological errors. The teacher guides offer specific language for connecting these videos to the study.

Here's what the teacher guides advise:
Go to the YouTube playlist online at bit.ly/1knXwnU to play any video in this quarter. Find the correct playlist for your level and quarter. Click “View full playlist.” Choose the video you need. To use the videos, you need an Internet connection and a tablet or other computer. Skip any ads and cue the video."

A word of caution: YouTube recently changed how they display our playlists, so older URLs may not take the user all the way to the playlist page. Look for the "Playlist" tab.

God bless you as you teach His junior and senior high "children" His Word!

What Are You Doing This Summer?

Have you chosen your Summer Sunday School curriculum yet?

Be sure to check out "H2Oh! God Keeps His Promises."

Sample materials will loaded to cph.org/sundayschool next week (click on either "Growing in Christ" or "Cross Explorations" and then click on the word "Summer" near the middle of your screen).

Dive into these Bible stories to discover the promises God made to His people in the Bible and to us! Young explorers will jump into the Bible to learn more about Noah, Moses, Elijah, Jonah, Naaman, Lydia, Paul and others as they discover how God has poured out His love for His people in these fourteen Old and New Testament stories:

H2Oh! Everywhere (Noah)

Walking through H2Oh! (Crossing the Red Sea)

Miraculous H2Oh! (Water from the Rock)

H2Oh! Survival (Elijah at the Brook Cherith)

Fire and H2Oh! (Elijah and the Prophets of Baal)

Cleansing H2Oh! (Naaman Healed)

H2Oh! Ride (Jonah)

Revealing H2Oh! (John the Baptist)

Changing H2Oh! (Wedding at Cana)

H2Oh! Safety (Built on the Rock)

Servant H2Oh! (Jesus Washes the Disciples’ Feet)

Meeting at the H2Oh! (Lydia is Baptized)

H2Oh! Rescue (Paul’s Shipwreck)

Living H2Oh! (The River of Life)

(Five other "water" Bible accounts will be used in CPH's 2014 VBS, "Gangway to Galilee!" It's a summer to share God's rescue.)

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Theology Matters (Reprise)

Curriculum choice cannot be just a matter of which publisher promises the least amount of preparation time, the flashiest promotion material, the coolest gadgets, or the lowest price. If you choose material based on prep time, printing, gadgets, or cost, you may miss the essential purpose of Christian education.
 
The goal of a Lutheran Sunday School is not to entertain the children or go easy on the budget. It is to share the truth of God's Word through balanced teaching of Law and Gospel. We want to proclaim forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation through Jesus Christ every week. If we want a curriculum that gets the job done, theology matters.