Improving Biblical Literacy

Following up on my last post, I just composed a response for a pastor whose congregation is considering a new model (modified workshop rotation) to increase biblical literacy. Here's what I wrote:
First, let me say that what you suggest is certainly possible. There has been, over the past decade a movement in some churches toward what you describe, usually called “workshop rotation,” so called because, when student numbers warrant it, students can be grouped and rotated through two or more workshop, one each week. The “workshop” leader teaches the same lesson in the same style (drama, cooking, crafts, etc) each week to a new group of students. CPH has not produced a “workshop rotation” curriculum. We are leery of the resulting narrow range of Bible accounts that are then studied in a given period of time. We think it requires more than just a few Bible accounts a year to teach the entire sweep of salvation’s plan. That is not to say that I prefer a shallow approach, in which a large number of lessons are taught superficially.

These are my premises:
• You and I, and most of the parents and students in you congregation, probably grew up in a Sunday School that taught a different lesson each Sunday. The lessons repeated every three years or so, and the result was at least a passing acquaintance with a large number of Bible accounts. That pattern is not inherently flawed.
• If Sunday School leaders and teachers spend the same amount on time improving their present system of curriculum, preparation, and teaching that they would spend in reviewing, choosing, and implementing a new system, the resulting improvement will be about the same. It is not the new system that makes the most difference, but the time and energy invested in any system.
• The material in a typical Sunday School curriculum today (and that includes Growing in Christ from CPH) provides enough teaching activities to fill more than an hour in a typical Sunday School. The teacher must pick and choose the activities that will be best for his or her students and focus on them in order to teach the main points effectively, while leaving time at the beginning of each lesson to review the key points of previous lessons, and at the end of the lesson to review the key points of the lesson just taught. The teacher that tries to cover everything in the teacher guide will wind up glossing over the key points, skipping the review, and still feel frustrated every week because “I wasn’t able to cover everything.” The students retain the material, not because the class covered everything, but because the activities that were chosen engaged the students and made connections between the Bible and contemporary life.
• Doing this final edit of any lesson—choosing and revising the activities so that they will engage your specific students—is hard work and requires preparation that too many teachers don’t invest each week.
• The whole process of retention, call it a lack of biblical literacy, is aggravated in our present day by the growing numbers of students who do not attend Sunday School every week. The depth and breadth of their biblical knowledge is not assisted by repeating lessons on multiple weeks, because they miss significant opportunities for learning new material and reviewing past lessons. The real solution is not to teach fewer lessons, but to get students into the classroom more often.

So, I’m not saying that what you propose is not possible; it is. Assuming that you plan carefully and student number to vacillate widely, you could in theory order the lessons you want when they are available and save the material until you need it. A 13-lesson quarter of material might last you for two or even three quarters. But it will be a lot of work figuring out how to extend the material over two or three weeks. You should be prepared for the extra work. And care will be needed to avoid sending the message that a student now only has to attend one week out of two or three since the lessons are repeated, which would result in even less biblical literacy than you currently faced.

I will admit that I am a traditionalist. I think that the traditional Sunday School can still work and thrive in most congregations.

Let me suggest another tool that you might want to promote in your congregation: biblequizzesonline.com. My wife built this Web site several years ago in response to her own concerns for biblical literacy among the students of our congregation. She continues to maintain it each week, providing a 10 question quiz that promotes accountable Bible reading. The Web site provides a way to read (or listen to) the Bible account for each lesson in Growing in Christ, followed by an on-line quiz with immediate feedback on correct and incorrect answers. This is one tool that teachers and families can use to promote biblical literacy.

I’m sorry if my response is not what you hoped for. I’m open to whatever follow-up questions you might have.

If you are looking for a new model for your Sunday School that incorporates a different form of rotation—“site rotation”—you might be aware that CPH is offering a second alternative for Sunday School in Fall 2012: Cross Explorations. This model combines large-group (“Engage”)/small-group (“Explore”) Sunday School with a rotation of sites in series of “Express” sites. You can learn more at http://sites.cph.org/sundayschool/.

Thanks for working hard for your Sunday School, Pastor. God will bless your efforts to teach His children His Word.

Why is biblical literacy important?

If you've followed this blog for very long, you will not be surprised to hear me say that the heart of Sunday School is sharing the Gospel of salvation through Christ with God's children.

Since that is the case, one could wonder why I have been slow to buy into the workshop rotation model of Sunday School.

Workshop Rotation
The workshop rotation model chooses to focus on just a few Bible accounts each year. The selected sections of Scripture are taught through several workshops (drama, video, art/crafts, cooking, and many others). Children attend a different workshop each week and study the same Bible account for three, four, or five weeks in a row. There are some significant positive aspects to this model. Repetition is a powerful teaching tool; students are likely to learn the Bible account and its application to their lives well through the month of instruction. Variety in learning styles are accommodated in the different workshops. A student who must miss an occasional week of Sunday School will not miss an entire lesson. Assuming that Law and Gospel are applied in each workshop and that the Gospel predominates in the instruction, I can certainly affirm this model.

Biblical Literacy
The workshop rotation model offers depth in biblical instruction. What it lacks is breadth. The students will encounter only ten or twelve Bible stories a year. This compares to the potential for learning forty or fifty Bible stories a year in a more traditional model.

The Bible is a library of books that together recount the amazing record of God's creation and preservation of a chosen people through whom and to whom He sends His Son, Jesus, as the Messiah, the Savior from sin, death, and Satan and the giver of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Students who learn the full scope of salvation history over time will be better able to understand and connect the various accounts in the Bible and find application to their lives. They will see God's love through a broader array of varied Gospel images. And, assuming that Law and Gospel are applied in each lesson and that the Gospel predominates in the instruction, the broader approach will provide both proclamation of the Gospel and increased biblical literacy.

From my perspective, it is a better way to teach God's children His Word.

What am I missing?

What approach do you take in your congregation?