Things You Won't Hear from a Lutheran Educator

Lutheran educators are those who truly understand Lutheran theology and care about teaching the Bible accurately according to the Lutheran Confessions. You will not hear them say . . .

• "This is good material, but use your Lutheran filters." Material for Lutheran Christian education will be fundamentally Lutheran, created with a Lutheran world view.
• "I use XXX Publisher's material, but I tweak it to be more Lutheran." Lutheranism is not a tweak. Heterodox material with a little Lutheranism added is still heterodox material.
• "The material we use is not Lutheran, but it is solid Christian material. It is good enough for Sunday School." Where will Sunday School students learn about discerning Law and Gospel, understanding their vocations, and the benefits of the Sacraments? What will they gain from a steady diet of moralism and works righteousness?

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Do You Know Where Your Sunday School Material Comes From?

(Immediate aside: If you use CPH's Sunday School material, you know your material was written by experienced Sunday School teachers, edited by called church workers, and reviewed by theologians all of whom are members of, and proficient in the doctrines of, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It's a given that the material will be rooted in a conservative view of Scripture and reliance on the Means of Grace for our faith and life. It will be educationally and scripturally sound. You will not have to answer embarrassing questions about the material's content from your Sunday School parents or your pastor or board of education. It is material that definitely will NOT pass "the Temple test," and that's a good thing!)

All too often, I hear Sunday School leaders or directors of Christian education speak openly of the non-Lutheran material they use in their Sunday School, and I wonder, "Do they know where that material comes from?" How can material that avoids or denies the central role of God's Word and Sacraments, the teaching of justification by faith, be useful in a Lutheran Sunday School? The basic message I get is, theology doesn't matter. Let's use material that is trendy and cute!

It makes me sad.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

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.

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!

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.

The Best Material for Lutheran Congregations

The best Sunday School material for a congregation is material that is aligned with the beliefs and practices that the congregation confesses to be true and valuable. An LCMS congregation that uses material from a different denominational publisher will encounter teachings that are contrary to our understanding of Scripture, teachings that are deeply embedded in the central premise of each lesson and supported in each of that lesson's elements. These errors are not easily removed or covered over with a layer of correct language. The best material is material in which such errors do not exist.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Bad Language?

Thanks to my friend, Ed Grube, for this helpful reminder (and clever title) to our colleagues on the Parish Educators Network of the Lutheran Education Association. Ed's weekly tips are available only to LEA members (LEA.org), but his reminder is a good one; it reads in part:

"If you’re using resources from various Christian publishers, you need to look out for bad language. One example is the inclusion of phrases like 'invite Jesus into your heart.' This may reflect 'decision theology,' popular in some circles but definitely not reflective of biblical Lutheran doctrine. . . . Don’t assume volunteer teachers will discern such things; help them to grow."

Bad language has its root in bad theology, at least when viewed from a Lutheran perspective. Decision theology, for example, flows from a flawed understanding of our fall into sin; it rejects the total depravity of mankind (see Romans 7:18). Instead it suggests that we only "fell partway," that we have, in and of ourselves, some ability to contribute to our salvation, to "work our way back toward God." This contradicts our Lutheran convictions of salvation "by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone." It's the child's mantra, "I can do it myself." It rejects our reliance on God.

Is it just a problem of language, though? No! If it were, we could fix a decision theology lesson by editing a few words or adding a couple of Lutheran sentences. The problem is not just with the language, but with the theological basis, with the heart and core of the lesson.

The bad language is a warning that the central premise and the resulting Bible discussion and lesson activities come from a unLutheran unstanding of Scripture. A little clean-up or even minor surgery may not be enough to save this lesson; major surgery or a whole-body transplant is required.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word.

Value versus Cost

What is the connection between the value we assign to something and its cost?

Some might think that the more something costs (a diamond ring, for example, or an oil painting), the more valuable it will be to the person who possesses it.

For all too many Sunday School leaders today, I fear that the reverse is true: the less the Sunday School material costs, the more value it will have for the leaders in question.

I'd love to be proved wrong, but I don't believe that trends toward black and white reproducible student material and free curriculum available on the Internet are all about improved educational experience for the students. It seems to be about cost.

No one needs multi-carat diamonds or Van Goghs to teach God's Word. The ideal, it seems to me, is to find the best material (in theological and educational terms) that you can afford.

Sacrificing educational and theological quality for lower cost has significant negative potential.

God bless you with wisdom to make good curriculum choices as you teach His children His Word.

Doctrinal Review, a Huge Asset

From time to time, I am asked about the impact of doctrinal review on the products we produce at Concordia Publishing House.

For those who are unfamiliar with the process, every thing that we publish at CPH is reviewed to ensure its faithfulness to the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions before it is published.

• The reviewers are appointed by the office of the president of the synod. They are chosen for their theological credentials and assigned reviews for material that is within their area of knowledge and expertise; the reviewers for children's material are different from those who review our Concordia Commentary Series, for example.
• The process is completely anonymous; the reviewer is not given the names of the authors or editors of the material they review and the editor does not know who the reviewer is. All communication is handled through a highly discrete doctrinal review clerk at CPH. 
• Material can be determined to be "in agreement with Lutheran doctrine," "in agreement, but here are some suggestions for improvement," or "not in agreement" with specifics noted, suggestions made for correction, and a requirement that the reviewer see the material after it has been corrected.
• Material is never subjected to "second opinions." Once approved, the material (a hymn text, for example) may be used many times, but it is not resubmitted each time; reviewers are not invited to critique one another.
• Finally, a reviewer's decision can be appealed, but only to Synod's doctrinal review commission. Such appeals are very rare and are almost never made by the publishing house. Our goal is always to bring our material into compliance with the reviewer's decision.

It can also be noted that CPH has an internal "doctrinal review" system for artwork we commission for use in our curricula and books. Editors familiar with biblical culture ensure that illustrations depicting biblical or liturgical people and scenes do so accurately.

I've worked under this system for over twenty years, and have grown to appreciate it. On a few rare occasions, I have chaffed at having to revise an activity to accommodate a reviewer's concern. Far more often, I have given thanks that a reviewer helped me speak clearly or rescued me from putting material in print that could mislead someone or teaching something in error. The doctrinal review process guarantees that what our material teaches is the truth according to God's Word, not the truth according to Tom Nummela.

Far from having a negative impact on our ability to produce excellent material, the doctrinal review process guarantees that the material you purchase from us is the best we can make it.

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

Another Once-a-Year Sunday School Building Task

Here's another step you should take to build up your Sunday School, and other schools as well.

Once a year, you should take a close look at the Sunday School material offered by your denomination's publisher.

• If you don't use their material already, you should give them an opportunity to win you over.
• If you already use material from your publisher, you should check out other material that you don't currently use, and you should look closely at the material you do use, asking how this material could be improved to serve you even better.
• In either case, you should write your evaluative comments into a letter or e-mail and send it to the publisher.

Why should you do this?

• Your Sunday School will grow through the new resources you discover, the discussions you have about what's important in your material, and the conviction that your curriculum is the best you can find.
• Your publisher is part of your church family. They are your friends. They deserve your support if you are able to give it, and they deserve your help in improving their product.
• Things change. The material you checked out in 2006 or even last year has certainly changed, hopefully for the better, based in no small part on feedback just like what you will provide.
• If the publisher is missing the mark, they deserve an opportunity to improve.
• You will almost certainly see something great that you hadn't noticed before.
• The material they publish will teach the theology that your church believes and will avoid the errors your church body seeks to avoid.
• The improvements you suggest will help your congregation. They will also help hundreds of other congregations who have the same needs.

Will they listen?

• If your church publisher is Concordia Publishing House, they will!
• Your feedback will be acknowledged within twenty-four hours.
• Your suggestions will become part of our "Voice of the Customer" database, used to guide product development.
• While not every idea can be implemented immediately, every idea has impact.

CPH has samples of both Growing in Christ and Cross Explorations available through our Web site, cph.org/sundayschool. If you want an even boarder look, a full set of samples can be sent to you for examination. We want your business; even more, we want your feedback. Click the envelop icon on our Web page, write to sundayschool@cph.org, or write to me: tom.nummela@cph.org.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

The Problem with Non-Lutheran Material

I'm sad at how frequently I hear leaders in Christian education---directors of Christian education, pastors, even synodical and district folks---freely admit to using or recommending non-Lutheran Sunday School material. Their admission is usually coupled with the assurance that they "correct the theology" in the material before allowing it to be used.

I wonder what that "correcting" looks like? Do they write a document pointing out the theological errors and suggesting ways the teacher could include the Gospel and teaching about God's Word and Sacraments? Do they hand-write clear Gospel statements onto each of the student leaflets? Do they use a black marker to cross out each activity that teaches moralism or points students to a source other than God's son as the answer for sin and the power for Christian living? Do they conduct training sessions with each of the teachers to show what is specifically wrong with the material? Do they re-write the teacher guide material so that the heterodox material is not available for the teacher to use?

I know from twenty-plus years of experience how difficult the task of correcting theology in curriculum material can be. I suspect that the assurances I hear about such correction is more wish than reality.

My advice? Don’t put non-Lutheran material into the hands of your volunteers and, for heaven’s sake, don’t send it home with children. You know the proverb that says, "One picture is more powerful than a thousand words." Non-Lutheran printed material (the picture) placed in the hands of teachers, children, and families will speak more loudly than any “theological correction” (the words) you give verbally or in other written material. It will actually teach them bad theology both in the classroom and afterward as the material finds its way into the home.

God bless you as you teach His Word, His clear Law-and-Gospel Word, to His children!

Is This Material Age Appropriate?

That's an important question, both for the curriculum writer/publisher and for those who teach the material.

Several things deserve to be considered.

• Age-appropriateness is a sliding scale; material that is too simple for some kids among its target group may be too advanced for others.
• This scale will slide even within a class of 4 students.
• Age-appropriateness can be physical (reading level, eye-hand coordination), social, or even cultural. (At what age, for example might a teacher feel comfortable teaching students about David's sin with Bathsheba? For some teachers and classes, the answer might be "never.")
• It can create as many problems for the teacher for material to be to simple as may arise when material is too difficult for the students. Discipline problems increase when students are bored rather than challenged.
• The publisher, by necessity, is shooting for a hypothetical average class; that class quite simply does not exist. Each teacher has a very specific set of students (as well as a specific room, and access to other specific resources) about the publisher has no knowledge.

What does this mean?
The teacher is in the driver's seat. He or she is going to be the final editor of the lesson. That will mean decisions about necessary adaptation of every aspect of the lesson.

Sure, you can shop around for a curriculum in which the theology is exactly what your denomination teaches, the material always bright and cheery (or thoughtfully somber) as you desire, the activities always doable in your classroom and building, the supplies required always just what you have on hand, and the level of difficulty always spot on for all of your students. And, you should know, that we editors here at Concordia Publishing House do our best to make this happen for you each week; we really do! But, in my heart, I know that you will have to make some choices and revisions.

So what can you do?

• Be thoughtful in your lesson planning. Note the alternatives offered by the publisher. Think back to what has worked for your students in the past. Be alert for the ways you can revise your lesson.
• If your class is consistently frustrated by "too hard" or bored with "too simple," consider moving down or up a level in the curriculum.
• Don't sacrifice theology, the very reason you are teaching Sunday School classes in the first place, in a chase for the "perfect lesson."

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Can Non-Lutheran Material Teach Lutheran Students?

Does the publisher of your Sunday School material teach that God creates saving faith in Christ through the Word and water of the Sacrament of Baptism? What a blessing for those little ones who face temptation or guilt over sin to be reminded that "I am baptized!"

Does the publisher of your Sunday School material teach that we cannot earn our salvation or merit God's favor though our human effort? What a comfort for your students to know that Jesus has paid the full price for our sin and earned forgiveness, life, and salvation through His work! God loves us despite our sin and sees us as saints, righteous in His sight, because God sees us clothed in Christ.

Does your publisher teach that all of the Bible is God's inerrant Word, that God has the power to do all the wonders the Bible describes, even those that we cannot comprehend in our limited human brains? What joy that the children you teach do not have to guess whether this miracle of God is one that really happened!

Does your Sunday School material teach that Jesus is important because He is the Son of God and our Savior from sin, death, and the devil? How wonderful that your students don't see Jesus as just a moral example of how they should act and live, or a wise teacher, one of many.

If your Sunday School curriculum comes from Concordia Publishing House, you can be sure of these things. If you use material from a non-Lutheran publisher, no matter how good their marketing or flashy their material, then you have no guarantees. Why would you expect a non-Lutheran publisher to teach accurate Lutheran theology?

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

Broken

I am in the middle of reading one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time: Broken: 7 "Christian" Rules that Every Christian Ought to Break as Often as Possible.

In this book, Jonathan Fisk (RevFisk on YouTube.com) examines seven counterfeit rules that many churches today teach as doctrine but that have no basis in Scripture.

Others have lamented the drift of young people away from the Church. Fisk lays out some of the false promises some churches make to their young people and explores God's Word as it touches on each area. You will find these teachings in churches near you, or perhaps even in the glitzy material someone has chosen for your Sunday School.

None of these false doctrines is new; they have been around for centuries. But all of them find expression in contemporary American religion. You will learn to identify and avoid:

• Mysticism
• Moralism
• Rationalism
• Prosperity
• Ecclesiology
• Lawlessness
• Worship of Self

God's Word clearly teaches that He comes to us in the Word He has inspired and preserved for our instruction, the Bible, and the Sacraments He ordained for our good, Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Fisk's discussion of authentic Christianity in Broken is truly worth your time to read.

Where do you see one or more of these seven "rules" at work in your church or community?

If you agree with Rev. Fisk's assessment of the false doctrines we need to oppose, how will you change how and what you teach?

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

One Size Does NOT Fit All

How big is your Sunday School? How does its size influence its structure and your choice of curriculum?

Small Sunday Schools
Two-thirds of the congregations of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod report an average worship attendance of less than 125 people. Assuming that Sunday School attendance is likely fifty percent of that figure or less, we're talking about a lot of congregations with less than 50 children age 3 through grade 8 in Sunday School.

The small Sunday School faces significant challenges. Among them is fewer paid staff (a pastor and a part-time secretary?), so little ability to customize curriculum. My guess is that the small church organizes Sunday School along traditional lines and purchases a traditional curriculum, adapting as needed for their local situation. That's good!

Large Sunday Schools
A couple of larger Sunday Schools in large congregations have come to my attention recently. The congregations are significantly larger than average (2500 and 5,000 members; worship attendance reported at more than 1,000 and more than 1700 people respectively). Sunday School statistics are not published but attendance for threes through grade 8 is likely 300 to 500 students.

The large congregation also faces significant challenges. It is more difficult to motivate members to participation beyond the Sunday morning worship service. As a percentage of worship attendance, Sunday School attendance is usually smaller for large congregations. There are more paid staff, however, some of whom have specific responsibility for Sunday School. The Sunday School is often structured along less traditional lines; a large group opening and Bible presentation followed by small group discussion is a frequent pattern. Material may be prepared locally from scratch or heavily customized to meet the specific needs of this one large congregation.

Theology Matters
It is to be hoped that both large Sunday Schools and small ones will give equal attention in their choice of curriculum materials to theological content, especially the faithful teaching of God's Word, Law and Gospel, sin and salvation.

Cross Explorations
CPH now has a curriculum designed for a less traditional Sunday School structure. It will work well in small Sunday Schools and large ones. It adheres to the doctrine expected by confessional Lutheran congregations. I hope our large congregations will check it out! (And our small ones, too.)

Would you describe your Sunday School as large? Small? Somewhere in between?

How does your size influence your structure? Have you made some unique adjustments?

How has your size influenced your choice of curriculum?

How to Prioritize

A Sunday School teacher recently asked a question I often hear: "Why do you provide two hours of materials for a one-hour Sunday School lesson, when I have only thirty minutes in which to teach it?" (Okay, truth, this is not a direct quote, but the gist is there; believe me.)

Some teachers, it seems, feel guilty if they do not cover everything in the lesson. My goal is always to absolve that teacher of guilt.

If your class is small, your students quiet and shy, or your Sunday School "hour" really seventy-five minutes long, you may be looking for that extra material. Or if you can't play that CD, or involve your students in that biblical drama, or risk disturbing nearby classes with that exuberant game, you may be forced to omit several minutes of the original outline. You see the dilemma: the publisher is under pressure to include more than enough material, rather than not enough material, for the broadest possible range of circumstances.

The result? The teacher becomes the final editor. You will have to adapt. And that's a good thing!

I suggest though that you prioritize your lesson choices in a thoughtful manner.

Priority One
Teach the Bible account and key point. Make sure your lesson includes an engaging presentation of the Scripture text. Use the Bible. Help the students find Jesus in the lesson (yes, even in the Old Testament lessons).

Priority Two
It bears repeating: engage the students. Edit the lesson to maximize the students' enjoyment of the Sunday School experience. It is a sin to bore children.

Priority Three
Guide the student to see themselves in the lesson. Luther reminds us that the "Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith." Help the Gospel reach into the lives of each of your students each Sunday.

How long is your Sunday School lesson time?

What are your favorite ways to shorten the lesson outline?

How could your material be more helpful when it comes to adapting the lesson?

God bless you as you teach God's children His Word!

What Makes Sunday School Material Lutheran?

I am frequently astonished at the willingness among Lutheran congregations to employ un-Lutheran material in their Sunday Schools and Christian education programs. What's up with that? It raises for me all sorts of questions.

Are they saying that the material we use doesn't make a difference?

Do they not understand the central place that the Sacraments have in the life of every Christian?

What do they expect volunteer teachers to do with un-Lutheran content?

Is the material really edited sufficiently to become Lutheran? Can it be?

What happens when un-Lutheran student material is taken home? Isn't a picture worth a thousand words? Are we in fact promoting heresy?

What is the long-term impact of using un-Lutheran material on the faith and life of teachers and students?

So, how do you know if material is Lutheran? Let's start with three basics.

Lutheran material teaches about sin and salvation, Law and Gospel, and God's forgiveness.
I occasionally hear complaints about the including so much discussion of sin and evil in our CPH Sunday School material. Without an understanding of sin however, and a realization that the world is tainted by it, the students have no real need or desire for God's forgiveness and the salvation He offers through His Son, Jesus.

Lutheran material teaches that God alone is able to work salvation and forgiveness.
God is the active ingredient in our faith relationship with Him. He is the potter; we, the clay. He is the giver; we are beggars who have nothing and bring nothing. He is life; we are dead in sin and unable to act in any way to merit His grace and mercy.

The Bible is the Word of God, contains no error or contradiction, and is the means by which God makes Himself known to us and shares His gifts with us.
Lutheran material will teach more than just Bible facts. It will teaches the meaning and message of the Scriptures.

(Last year I wrote about a simple tool for judging material; it is call "The Temple Test.")

The material you use as you teach God's children His Word will make a difference in their lives now and in eternity. I pray that God will guide those who make the crucial decisions about material. God bless you as you teach His children His Word.

Pastor, Step Up!

Pastor, you have a tough job. You preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments according to God's Word. You accept responsibility for the spiritual care for dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people. You manage ministry teams of dozens of volunteers and paid staff members. You oversee a budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars, and encourage the stewardship that supports that work. Thank you, Pastor, for all you do. I don't pray for you often enough, and I resolve to do better.

I am bold, however, to ask one more thing of you. Please take the initiative to lead the processes for selecting and training the volunteers and choosing the curriculum for your congregation's Christian education programs. You are uniquely placed for this work. You have more theological training than anyone in your congregation. And you have a divine call from God to exercise this responsibility, not only for what is preached in the pulpit, but also what is taught in the congregation's classrooms. You don't want the impact of your preaching impaired or even contradicted by others who share the teaching ministry in your congregation.

Some will oppose you in this. They will not yet share your value for clear teaching of Law and Gospel and inclusion of Lutheran doctrines in their lessons. They will prefer the attractive, but often moralistic materials heavily marketed by non-Lutheran publishers. They won't get it. They will need patient instruction and occasionally firm guidance.

There will be many, though, who will value your involvement and support your decisions. They will want nothing less for the children of the congregation than that they learn each week of salvation through Jesus. And know that God desires that these little ones come to Him and will bless your efforts.

Thanks for all you do, Pastor, to support and encourage those who teach God's children His Word.

How involved is your pastor in the critical tasks of selecting and training teachers and choosing curriculum for your Sunday School?

How can we make the pastor's role in these matters easy and effective?

Evaluating Curricula

Last week, a colleague asked me about an instrument for evaluating Sunday School curricula. I was happy to point him to the documents that are my point of reference on this question (Sunday School Basic, 2005 CPH, www.cph.org; "How Good Is Your Curriculum?" Teachers Interaction, pp. 14-17, Summer 2012; the TI article is a redaction of a chapter in the book).
Some who choose to use these resources will quickly see, and perhaps object, that the evaluation questions have to do with theology and church practice, not with appearance and instructional methods. Here's why!

How NOT to Evaluate Religious Education Material
A common method for reviewing curriculum uses a series of characteristics, criteria, such as theology, appearance, active learning, cultural diversity, out-standing features. Each criteria is evaluated separately and equally, often with some kind of grading or points system. The curriculum receiving the highest number of points or the highest grade is assumed to be the best curriculum, the one you should purchase.

The problem with this method is that all criteria are not of equal importance in Christian education. (Note the emphasis! I'm not saying that some things may not be important; I'm saying they are not equally important.) In fact, when teaching theology, a curriculum's ability to teach the requisite theology is the first and foremost thing to judge. Imagine the "largest pumpkin" competition as the state fair. No matter how large, attractive, and tasty, the winning pumpkin cannot be a watermelon. You should not even enter a watermelon in the pumpkin contest.

Choosing Materials for a Lutheran Sunday School
Just so, when choosing curricula for your Lutheran Sunday School, you really first need to determine that the curriculum is in fact Lutheran, that it will teach Lutheran theology. There are some very attractive materials on the market from non-Lutheran and non-denominational publishers. And, in order to sell you their watermelons (non-Lutheran materials), they will argue that they should be considered in your pumpkin (Lutheran materials) contest. But they will not teach Lutheran theology. They will teach decision theology, moralism, salvation through works. They will not teach about Law and Gospel or the means of grace. Does it make a difference? You bet! An eternal one! (If you are still thinking that a watermelon might work, review my recent post "Theology Added?")

My argument is that the curriculum needs to meet these minimum standards. If you are able to find several curricula that teach Lutheran theology for Lutheran children, then by all means, choose the one that best fits your needs or most excites your volunteers.

You know that I work for a publishing house that strives to prepare the best possible resources for Lutheran Christian education. I am not without bias. But I am passionate about teaching God's children His Word.

Veggie Tales This Summer?

Those who know me will be able to predict my thoughts on any plan to use videos of talking vegetables as a substitute for teaching the Gospel in summer Sunday School classes.

My advice? Don't.

I'm not alone in my low opinion of the theology that underlies these videos. Check out Gene Veith's recent blog on the subject; it shares a "change of heart" from the VeggieTales creator himself.
http://www.geneveith.com/2012/06/06/veggietales-creator-repents-of-moralism/

Children do not need the Church to provide them entertainment on Sunday morning. If it is entertainment they are seeking, there are dozens of other activities they can choose from, and they often do.

How much better to invest that precious hour in teaching God's children His Word!