I am trained and certified in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as a director of Christian education. It is a title that I am proud to hold because I think it says something about my abilities, education and preparation for my work, professional status, and commitment to the ministry of teaching God's Word. I take my theological preparation seriously, and I treasure the doctrinal heritage of our Church and its emphasis on teaching both Law and Gospel and distinguishing clearly between them as we do so.
Therefore, it puzzles me and makes me sad when I see Christian education leaders in LCMS congregations (be they pastors, DCEs, lay people, or others) who place so little importance on the theology of Lutheran Church as they select materials for use in the congregations they serve. Can they really not see that material prepared by Baptist, reformed, or non-denominational publishers will consistently fail to teach correctly about the Means of Grace? Even material prepared for other Lutheran denominations will reflect that church body's beliefs about God's Word and their social agenda.
Don't be fooled!
* Material that avoids teaching about Baptism and the Lord's Supper in order to appeal to a broad market of Christian churches misses the very tools that Jesus has given the Christian to nurture faith and sustain a Sunday School student's daily walk as a child of God.
* Material chosen for is appearance or fun activities rather than its theology shortchanges the participants in the long run.
I've heard some Sunday School leaders justify their choice of heterodox materials by saying "I review the material and edit the theology" or "My teachers add Lutheran doctrine as they teach." But if the material omits the Means of Grace, it will rely on Law as the way to salvation. How much editing will be required to strip that kind of error from each Sunday School lesson? How can a lesson that teaches legalism and moralism be corrected by "adding the Gospel"? We cannot teach both error and truth.
I pray that God will guide those who teach His children His Word in the choice of material that is faithful to that Word.
What characteristics do you place first when evaluating Sunday School material?
How can we better communicate the importance of doctrine as we make curriculum choices?
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Reformation and Other Movable Festivals
The movable festivals of the Church Year present a challenge for a publisher of Sunday School materials. It is difficult to know what the customer is going to encounter in his or her worship service or what they would prefer in the Sunday School lesson that week.
How much should Sunday School try to do with Reformation Sunday or All Saints' Sunday? Do we note these observances in the opening or closing worship times? Incorporate them into the body of the lesson?
Although the hymnal (Lutheran Service Book) recommends marking the principal feasts* only when they fall on Sunday, local custom prevails, and many churches (and our every-Sunday bulletin products at CPH) use the Reformation and All Saints' pericopes on the last Sunday of October and first Sunday of November respectively.
What is your preference? Should we teach a Reformation Sunday School lesson each year?
*Principal feasts generally are those related to related to the life of Christ (Circumcision and Name of Jesus, Purification of Mary and Presentation of our Lord, Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity of John the Baptist, St. Michael's and All Angels, and All Saints' Day).
How much should Sunday School try to do with Reformation Sunday or All Saints' Sunday? Do we note these observances in the opening or closing worship times? Incorporate them into the body of the lesson?
Although the hymnal (Lutheran Service Book) recommends marking the principal feasts* only when they fall on Sunday, local custom prevails, and many churches (and our every-Sunday bulletin products at CPH) use the Reformation and All Saints' pericopes on the last Sunday of October and first Sunday of November respectively.
What is your preference? Should we teach a Reformation Sunday School lesson each year?
*Principal feasts generally are those related to related to the life of Christ (Circumcision and Name of Jesus, Purification of Mary and Presentation of our Lord, Annunciation, Visitation, Nativity of John the Baptist, St. Michael's and All Angels, and All Saints' Day).
Monday, October 24, 2011
Music in Sunday School
I've had several discussions recently with fellow editors at CPH about the role of music in Sunday School and what resources congregations need in this area. So I'm bold in this post to offer a couple of comments and then ask a few questions.
Music Is One of God's Gifts
Music is mentioned throughout Scripture, from Genesis (4:21, Jubal, "father of all those who play the lyre and pipe") to Revelation (5:9, "And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You . . ."). Paul writes some of my favorite words in Ephesians 5:19: "Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and make melody to the Lord with your heart." God wants us to sing!
Music Teachs the Faith
Martin Luther, and scores of church leaders who came before and after him, recognized the power of music as a tool for teaching the Christian faith. Among his nearly 30 hymns, Luther included several intended to teach the six chief parts of the Small Catechism.
Music Is Integral to Worship
It is hard for me to imagine a worship service without music, and, for me, the sung liturgy and heritage of hymns in the Lutheran Church are some of its great treasures.
It makes sense then for us to use and teach music in Sunday School. So let me ask a few questions.
What is the connection between Sunday School music and worship music in your congregation?
Where will the next generation of Lutheran Christians learn the great hymns of faith? Will they?
What style of music to you prefer to use in your Sunday School? Why?
What music resources are your looking for to use in Sunday School? (I'd really love foryou to tell me about this. I'm in an improved position to address this kind of need.)
Blessings as you teach God's children His Word!
Music Is One of God's Gifts
Music is mentioned throughout Scripture, from Genesis (4:21, Jubal, "father of all those who play the lyre and pipe") to Revelation (5:9, "And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You . . ."). Paul writes some of my favorite words in Ephesians 5:19: "Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and make melody to the Lord with your heart." God wants us to sing!
Music Teachs the Faith
Martin Luther, and scores of church leaders who came before and after him, recognized the power of music as a tool for teaching the Christian faith. Among his nearly 30 hymns, Luther included several intended to teach the six chief parts of the Small Catechism.
Music Is Integral to Worship
It is hard for me to imagine a worship service without music, and, for me, the sung liturgy and heritage of hymns in the Lutheran Church are some of its great treasures.
It makes sense then for us to use and teach music in Sunday School. So let me ask a few questions.
What is the connection between Sunday School music and worship music in your congregation?
Where will the next generation of Lutheran Christians learn the great hymns of faith? Will they?
What style of music to you prefer to use in your Sunday School? Why?
What music resources are your looking for to use in Sunday School? (I'd really love foryou to tell me about this. I'm in an improved position to address this kind of need.)
Blessings as you teach God's children His Word!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Callahan's Fourth Key-Significant, Relational Groups
Working our way down Kennon Callahan's Twelve Keys to an Effective Church, we find the fourth key: significant relational groups. As applied to the whole congregation, Callahan's general point is that most people look the their congregation for more than just worship opportunities, they build relationships. The congregation can be seen as a system of overlapping groups to which people voluntarily associate themselves: a worshiping body (the 8 am service), a choir, a board or committee, or a Bible study. The more relationally connected people are to groups in the congregation, the more regularly they will participate, recommend, and invite others to join.
Relational Sunday School
In the Lutheran Church, Sunday School identifies more closely with children than in other denominations such as the Baptist churches, where Sunday School is seen primarily as a system of classess for adults. And the participation of children in Sunday School is not completely voluntary, given that they do not control their own transportation or Sunday morning schedules.
However, the degree to which children are relationally connected to their Sunday School class, both their teachers and their fellow studnets, the more likely they are to attend regularly and to invite their friends to visit or attend regularly with them. This relational dynamic is a powerful factor in effective Sunday Schools.
How do you build relationships in your Sunday School?
What role will an effective teacher play in making Sunday School a "significant, relational group"?
God's blessing as you teach His children His Word!
Relational Sunday School
In the Lutheran Church, Sunday School identifies more closely with children than in other denominations such as the Baptist churches, where Sunday School is seen primarily as a system of classess for adults. And the participation of children in Sunday School is not completely voluntary, given that they do not control their own transportation or Sunday morning schedules.
However, the degree to which children are relationally connected to their Sunday School class, both their teachers and their fellow studnets, the more likely they are to attend regularly and to invite their friends to visit or attend regularly with them. This relational dynamic is a powerful factor in effective Sunday Schools.
How do you build relationships in your Sunday School?
What role will an effective teacher play in making Sunday School a "significant, relational group"?
God's blessing as you teach His children His Word!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Callahan's Third Key Applied to Sunday School
A few weeks ago, I began reviewing (in between other posts), Kennon Callahan's Twelve Keys to an Effective Church, and applying them to Sunday School. These keys, taken together, provide a great tool for renewed effort toward excellence.
Callahan's Third Key is "corporate, dynamic worship" (his word order and punctuation, not mine). Worship is a primary activity for the Church; it plays a lesser role within the 60 to 75 minutes most congregation's have for Sunday School. And the connection between Sunday School and worship is extremely important as well. Let's look briefly at each.
The Congregation's Worship
The vitality of the congregation's worship affects the health and growth of the congregation and indirectly the health and growth of the Sunday School as well, especially when a worshiping congregation that welcomes and involves children in the Divine Service. You can read more about my thoughts in a previous post by clicking here.
Worship in the Sunday School
Worship plays two important roles within the context of the Sunday School itself. It is a worship opportunity, and it is an educational opportunity.
Opening and closing devotions, whether done as an individual class or larger segment of the Sunday School provide unique opportunities for children to experience worship that is tailored to their specific levels of development, reading ability, and interest. Child-friendly hymns and songs, opportunity for individual prayer concerns to be addressed, and even object lessons or devotional thoughts targeted for children are all possible in a much greater degree than in the Divine Service.
What resources do you find most helpful in classroom devotions or department-wide worship? What resources should your publishing house be providing?
These opening and closing devotions are also an important, even vital, opportunity to teach the elements of corporate worship to children. We can explain the vocabulary used in the parts of the liturgy. We can teach the refrains, such as the Alleluia and Verse, that come and go so quickly in the service that some children are "left in the dust." We can help children memorize the creed and the Lord's Prayer so that their participation in the worship can be more meaningful. We can teach them how to follow the hymn texts from one staff of music to the next in the hymnal. In these ways and more, we can ensure that children grow into full participation in the congregation's worship.
How well does your curriculum integrate the elements of the Divine Service (hymns and liturgy) into classroom/Sunday School worship? What more would you like to see?
Time spend in Sunday School preparing children for and leading them in worship is not wasted. It is excellent Christian education!
God bless you as you teach God's Word (in liturgy and song) to His children.
Callahan's Third Key is "corporate, dynamic worship" (his word order and punctuation, not mine). Worship is a primary activity for the Church; it plays a lesser role within the 60 to 75 minutes most congregation's have for Sunday School. And the connection between Sunday School and worship is extremely important as well. Let's look briefly at each.
The Congregation's Worship
The vitality of the congregation's worship affects the health and growth of the congregation and indirectly the health and growth of the Sunday School as well, especially when a worshiping congregation that welcomes and involves children in the Divine Service. You can read more about my thoughts in a previous post by clicking here.
Worship in the Sunday School
Worship plays two important roles within the context of the Sunday School itself. It is a worship opportunity, and it is an educational opportunity.
Opening and closing devotions, whether done as an individual class or larger segment of the Sunday School provide unique opportunities for children to experience worship that is tailored to their specific levels of development, reading ability, and interest. Child-friendly hymns and songs, opportunity for individual prayer concerns to be addressed, and even object lessons or devotional thoughts targeted for children are all possible in a much greater degree than in the Divine Service.
What resources do you find most helpful in classroom devotions or department-wide worship? What resources should your publishing house be providing?
These opening and closing devotions are also an important, even vital, opportunity to teach the elements of corporate worship to children. We can explain the vocabulary used in the parts of the liturgy. We can teach the refrains, such as the Alleluia and Verse, that come and go so quickly in the service that some children are "left in the dust." We can help children memorize the creed and the Lord's Prayer so that their participation in the worship can be more meaningful. We can teach them how to follow the hymn texts from one staff of music to the next in the hymnal. In these ways and more, we can ensure that children grow into full participation in the congregation's worship.
How well does your curriculum integrate the elements of the Divine Service (hymns and liturgy) into classroom/Sunday School worship? What more would you like to see?
Time spend in Sunday School preparing children for and leading them in worship is not wasted. It is excellent Christian education!
God bless you as you teach God's Word (in liturgy and song) to His children.
Teaching about Prayer
A recent discussion with my fellow Sunday School editors at Concordia Publishing House has caused me to think a bit about prayer. It seems to me that either our practical theology about prayer is underdeveloped or our teaching on the subject has been flawed.
Specifically, I think my background in this area has been neglected. Therefore, I have pondered and you get the results, for better or worse.
Here are some things I think we can say about prayer.
Specifically, I think my background in this area has been neglected. Therefore, I have pondered and you get the results, for better or worse.
Here are some things I think we can say about prayer.
- God invites, indeed commands, prayer. (Psalm 50:15 and other passages)
- Prayer does not change God; He is always loving, always caring for His creation, including all humankind. Our prayer does not draw His attention or cause Him to act against His nature. (I'm not sure prayer even causes God to change His mind or do what He wouldn't do anyway, but I really need to look more closely at that; it sounds a bit heretical.)
- Prayer does reflect changes God works in us through His Word. When we pray for God's action ("Thy kingdom come"), we are acknowledging that we have become convinced through God's Word that He is able and willing to act on our behalf, as Luther says in his explanation: "The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also." When we ask for our daily bread, we are acknowledging that, through God's Word, we see that God is the source of our daily bread.
I'm not saying that prayer is not worthwhile; quite the contrary. But I am saying that we should not teach prayer as some kind of additional "means of grace"; we do not receive God's favor because of our prayers.
And I suggest that we should not mislead our students into thinking that, by their prayers, they manipulate God.
God does not need our prayers, but we certainly do.
What do you think?
What do you teach about prayer?
What am I missing as I think this one through?
What resources can we study to get a better grasp on this God-given practice?
I pray that God will bless you as you teach His children His Word! (That is, make you aware of all He is doing to equip and strengthen you for that task?)
Monday, September 26, 2011
First Article Christians
A fellow editor at CPH, responding by e-mail to a customer, gave me a handle on the big short-coming of so many Sunday School curricula on the market these days, including some that are very popular even in LCMS churches.
These Sunday School materials dwell almost exclusively on "first article" theme: "God is good." "God cares for you." "God loves you."
Don't get me wrong! I confess the First Article of the Apostles' Creed just as loudly as I do the second and third. But as my colleague pointed out, the truths of the First Article are essentially natural knowledge about God, things we can know without having to even read the Scriptures, teachings that can be affirmed even by many non-Christians. Sunday School material that dwells exclusively on the First Article will miss entirely the saving nature of Christ and the blessings of life nurtured by Word and Sacraments.
I'm proud to be part of a team that publishes a Sunday School curriculum, Growing in Christ, and teaches the truths of the Second and Third Articles as well as the First, one where Christ is the center of each lesson, even those in the Old Testament, and where Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar are not avoided.
How was Jesus taught in your Sunday School classroom this past week?
Thanks for all you do to teach God's children His Word.
These Sunday School materials dwell almost exclusively on "first article" theme: "God is good." "God cares for you." "God loves you."
Don't get me wrong! I confess the First Article of the Apostles' Creed just as loudly as I do the second and third. But as my colleague pointed out, the truths of the First Article are essentially natural knowledge about God, things we can know without having to even read the Scriptures, teachings that can be affirmed even by many non-Christians. Sunday School material that dwells exclusively on the First Article will miss entirely the saving nature of Christ and the blessings of life nurtured by Word and Sacraments.
I'm proud to be part of a team that publishes a Sunday School curriculum, Growing in Christ, and teaches the truths of the Second and Third Articles as well as the First, one where Christ is the center of each lesson, even those in the Old Testament, and where Baptism and the Sacrament of the Altar are not avoided.
How was Jesus taught in your Sunday School classroom this past week?
Thanks for all you do to teach God's children His Word.
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