Cub Scouts from Pack 277 had their annual camping "overnighter" at Mar-Lu-Ridge in Jefferson, MD last night and today. Rain threatened but held off all day, and the cloud cover added much needed relief from the heat. Activities included setting up and breaking down camp, learning about rules for hiking and earning their "hiking" belt loop," preparing their own dinner and breakfast, a campfire program, learning about maps and compasses, where they earned their "maps and compass" belt loop, "whipping" a rope and knot tying. The boys went to bed around 9:00pm and most were up by 6:30am.

The apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:23, “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you.”[1] Paul is discussing various practices regarding the Lord’s Supper, but in a broader interpretation he is also sharing something he has learned regarding Jesus and is passing it on in the form of his teaching to another.

What was taught by the apostle Paul has been passed down from one generation to another. This transferring of information has gone on for centuries. The shape that this transfer of knowledge takes is called the curriculum. Brummelen explains, “Curriculum is what is taught, particularly the subject matter contained in a school’s course of study.”[2] This choice of what to teach and what not to teach is a mighty trust, and despite heresies, wars, and false teachers, the Bible has come to this generation without any error. Brummelen goes on to say, “Academic traditionalists plan curriculum by dividing the program of study into subjects. Then they list the content to be taught by topics and subtopics. Implicit in the definition is the belief that the aim of education is to transit a body of knowledge.”[3]

In any teaching environment there must be the determination of what is to be taught to the next generation. What information is to move forward? In the church environment some purchase dated curriculum and are dependent upon the publishing house, to a certain degree, to determine what they will teach their children for a given period of time. So they abdicate the responsibility to choose what to teach to another source. Other churches write their own curriculum and therefore have a high degree of control over what is taught, but these are few and tend to be churches with a larger membership base.[4] Others do little planning or find something to teach on a week-to-week basis. Whatever the scope of the ministry, at some point someone has to choose what will be taught in the classroom.

Barna has argued that the most successful children’s ministries are those who have determined what each age group will be taught and have a plan for a child all the way through their ministry. He argues that those churches that plan for all of a child’s years in a church environment are the ones that have the most successful impact upon their spiritual formation. Barna states, "One of the most startling revelations I encountered on this journey was finding that many of the effective ministries have a long-term plan—in some cases an 18-year developmental plan with specific ideals outlined for each age group from infants through high school seniors. While those churches allow for spontaneity and flexibility despite their long-range planning, they are fully committed to implementing their “big picture” plan.[5]"

The first problem is to determine the foundational doctrines that children should be taught, what Barna refers to as their “big picture” plan. It is a harder task than one may originally think. If one begins with the assumption that the average church teacher has a student for one to two hours on a given Sunday, then the volume of optional teaching material from the Bible far outweighs the available time in the classroom. How then does the teacher, church, or publishing house determine what to teach, and what not to teach? Is there a biblical mandate? Is there a traditional point of reference? What did the people who have chosen to face this question come up with, and what was their rationale for the choices that they made?

These questions can begin to be answered by going back to the beginning of the early church. With the passing of Passover and Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, thousands were saved and then proceeded to go back to their homes in areas other than Jerusalem. Because of this movement of God, new churches were beginning to form by the apostles and unnamed believers who went back to their home towns. Antioch is an example of such a church that formed soon after Pentecost, by someone other than an apostle. The apostles were concerned for the doctrinal integrity of this church since they had not personally been present to teach them the Scriptures, so they sent a group to examine what was happening.[6]

In order for these new churches to grow, and for others to be founded, the apostles felt that there was a need to have a more systematic form of instruction to ensure the “authenticity of faith and consistency in practice.”[7] What developed was a document entitled “Didache.” It is a church manual or handbook for the training of new believers. This document also resulted because of the apostles’ concern that their teachings remain doctrinally pure and that the content survive after the transmission from person to person.[8]

During the early church there also developed the practice of catechism and catechumen. These words are derived from Greek words meaning to “instruct.” This would be a course of instruction that had three levels of instruction and would take from two to three years to complete. It was only after a person had gone through catechism that they would be allowed to be a part of the local fellowship of the church.

There are at least two reasons why this was necessary during the time of the early church, but may not necessarily apply today. First, very few people could read, and so the process of having a teacher give oral instruction and then have the student quote material back was a very effective method of teaching. For the purposes of this discussion, the researcher is only referring to churches in the United States, so literacy does not effect the spiritual formation of most churches.

Second, the church was under great persecution; therefore, this stress could cause the new convert to recant their faith. The early church leadership wanted to give a person enough time to grow in their faith and learning so when they were baptized and became apart of the church they would be doctrinally sound and mature in their faith. The catechism “declined in its effectiveness once it became expected of children to be baptized and when pagans, lacking genuine motivation for joining the faith, were commanded by law to attend church.”[9] Therefore, when following the Christian religion became state mandated, the need to prepare new believers for a persecuting world no longer existed.

Just as in the times of the early church, there is still a need to maintain scriptural integrity and doctrinal purity. Unlike the early church, however, today’s church has the complete canon of Scriptures, which are inerrant. History then does give some foundational thoughts regarding what is essential to a scope of teaching, and it does give an outline for priority. One could study early catechisms to see what the early church found to be of most importance.

Another source of deciding what to teach could be various Christian creeds. The Apostle’s Creed, for example, also gives several foundational Christian beliefs that could be a church’s core teaching to its children.

To answer the question of how these decisions are made today, the researcher contacted three publishers of children’s ministry curriculum. Their responses are given in subsequent articles. Following their responses is overview of the interviews, and remarks will be made at the end of the interview descriptions.

[1] 1 Cor 11:23, NIV

[2] Harro Van Brummelen, Steppingstones to Curriculum (Colorado Springs: Purposeful Design, 2002), 13.

[3] Ibid.

[4] For example, Willow Creek Community Church publishes a children’s ministry curriculum entitled “Promiseland” and can be found at www.willowcreek.org/promiseland. Another example would be Fellowship Church which produces “Elevate” and can be found at www.creativepastors.com/elevate.php. These curriculums are used within their own church and are available for other churches to purchase.

[5] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 100.

[6] Acts 11:23

[7] Anthony and Benson, Exploring the History and Philosophy of Christian Education, 107.

[8] Ibid., 109.

[9] Ibid.

There once was a religious man who went walking in the woods to escape the feelings of inevitable doom – which one never escapes by running away; but he tried.

Along the trail the religious man felt “called by God” to carve a walking stick. Thinking he would be like Moses of old, or that he would be leading some vast multitudes shortly he began looking for a tree to cut down. Remembering the passage from his holy book where a man choose foolishly by gathering too few arrows, or not pulling the arrows in the bow back far enough – he chose a “tree” that was big and different and then began to carry it – He was to carry the staff at all times, everywhere he went.

So the religious man continued down the path into the “wilderness.” He then felt that “the Lord laid upon his heart” to grow out his beard until God had taken him through the time of inevitable doom – where he would then shave it. Content that he would not actually have to do anything until about 8-14 hours (the next morning). With this revelation he continued on his journey.

Also, as the religious man walked he felt called by God to fast until the moment of inevitable doom passed and he was told to eat once again by God.

Some time and miles past.

The next “calling” from God was that he was to remove his shoes (back to the whole Moses and burning bush thing) and leave them some where along the trail and then walk back and retrieve them at a later date – perhaps when the feelings of inevitable doom had passed. But he was also not to wear shoes any more until told to do so by God.

So at this point the religious man felt called by God to carry a staff, not shave his beard, go without food, and not to wear shoes until told to do so by God. It all seemed to be directly related to his feelings in inevitable doom (the escaping into the wilderness, and the tasks given to him from God).

At the end of his trail he took off his shoes and walked back to his point of beginning. There was much snow and ice on the ground. His feet became bruised and cut.

He decided to leave the staff in the back of his car because is wife would have become angry if he brought it in the house.

He shaved the next morning and ate breakfast and dinner the next day.

The only thing that the religious man followed by the impressions on his heart were the old shoes he left in the woods (that he had intended to replace any way.)

Did the religious man really hear the voice of God?

Congratulation upon your baptism Brent H. May God bless your journey!

Teaching involves many skills that have little to do with natural gifting. Even if a person is very gifted, they may be using methods that have grown outdated with the children who are being taught. A person would never go to a medical doctor for help if the doctor were using Civil War era instruments or were not up to date on new medicines or procedures offered. Teachers in the classroom can quickly become irrelevant if they are not aware the culture around them.

There are several ways to help teachers, helpers, administrators, etc. to improve the skills they need within the church. There are yearly or monthly training opportunities led by the local church, mentoring/apprenticeship in the classroom or on-the-job training, local workshops sponsored by creditable children’s ministry companies, and denominational training either locally or nationally.

Choun and Lawson explain, “Training events introduce new materials, methods, and programs. Society is changing rapidly, and curriculum publishers are responding with materials tailored to the specific needs of today’s children.”[1] While it is certainly true that “the Word of our God stands forever” (Isa 40:8), the methods that were once very impacting and powerful do become obsolete. Some archaic methods can actually distract a student from learning instead of enhancing the learning experience. Training, therefore, should be designed to show teachers how to include culturally relevant materials to their students, and use the current cultural trends as a way to teach and expound Scripture. Understanding this concept Children’s Ministry Magazine includes a section that is called “Keeping Current.” They define this section of the magazine as “What you need to know about today’s kids and their culture; plus creative lessons to use the current song, video, or news story.”[2] Within this section there are often current movies given with teaching points based upon scenes from the movie. Different age groups are also broken down with specific cultural developments given in each age group. For example, a new toy that is popular among preschoolers or a video game among the pre-teens may be described. A teacher could reference this magazine to get an insider’s view of her student’s world in order to use it as an illustrative bridge to the Bible.

Since culture is always changing, a teacher’s approach and methods (not the message) should always be changing. Training then becomes paramount in order to keep teachers informed of cultural trends. Being informed is also another way that a teacher can show her love for her students. She cares enough to take the time to craft a lesson that includes their world and is designed just for them.

[1] Robert Choun and Michael Lawson, The Christian Educators Handbook on Children’s Ministry (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1998), 288.
[2] Christine Yount Jones, ed., “Keeping Current,” Children’s Ministry Magazine (May/June 2006 ): 6.

This evening the Wolves Cub Scouts of den #277 went on the road to dig for crystals. Between six to eight really cool crystals were found by the boys and fun was had by all. We would dig out debris from the embankment, put it on a screen, shake and viola – rocks or crystals! A water bucket was used to clean off the mud and to wash our hands.

Thank you Jeff B. for leading us and letting us borrow your equipment.

Daybreak begins a new series this Sunday. Life can be different, yeah, it really can.

Lately I have been thinking about the strategy that the church uses as a means to encourage the spiritual formation of others, specifically children. The following is the fifth article of a series of articles that attempts to understand how we can do this. You can find all the articles at www.drewboswell.com.

Evaluation is a means to make a poor teacher, adequate, an adequate teacher, good, or a good teacher, exceptional. Ephesians 4:11–13 states, “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (NIV). These verses show that it is the responsibility of those who are in a church’s leadership position to train and equip those who teach the body of Christ.

While the Bible commands all Christians to “go and make disciples,”[1] which involves “teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” and all parents are given clear mandate to teach their children the ways of the Lord,[2] should anyone or everyone teach in the church? In 1 Cor 12:4–7 it teaches that all Christians have been given a spiritual gift but that not all Christians have the same gift. These spiritual gifts are not for their own benefit but for the edification and common good of the church body. The verse states, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good” (NIV).

Later in verse 12 Paul adds, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body,” and he continues this line of thought in verse 14, “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many” (NIV). Therefore, if the church is to be seen allegorically as a body, which is made of different parts performing different functions, the answer to the previous question is no, not everyone should seek to teach but only those who have been given this gift from God. Romans 12:3–6 teaches that even among those who have the spiritual gift of teaching, this gift should be exercised in humbleness and love;

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us (NIV).

James 3:1 warns that there will be an ultimate evaluation of the teaching ministry within the Church; “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly” (NIV). Those that presume to teach should be evaluated in order to determine if they have the gift of teaching, and if they are exercising this gift with humility and love, so that when their ultimate evaluation before God is given they will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (NIV).[3]

But even if a person has been given the gift of teaching, there are other things to consider. Philippians 3:12–14 says,
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (NIV).
Therefore, a teacher is to be an example of a person who is “pressing on” and growing and maturing in their own faith. They recognize that even though they are an example that their students are to follow, they are not perfect and have areas of their own lives in which they need to grow.

God requires that teachers be faithful and 1 Cor 4:2 says, “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (NIV). Eldridge says, “Those in a Bible study class need to know that a teacher will be consistently present, adequately prepared, and personally interested in their lives.”[4] If students’ lives are to be changed because of the teaching in the classroom, they must respect and trust their teachers. Teachers must also be faithful to following the leadership that is over them, to remaining faithful to God’s Word, and to the church as a whole. Bruce Wilkinson has said,
If the truth has already transformed the teacher, then the truth has a far greater chance of transforming the students. That’s why teaching other people’s material often lacks power. Unless your presentation has your fingerprints on it, and has made a difference in your life, you can almost count on it not to compel you students to make changes in their lives.[5]

The Bible has to move the teacher and change her heart before it can ever move the students’ hearts toward obedience and love for God.
1 Corinthians 13:2 says, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (NIV). The apostle Paul gives another evaluative component of those that should teach within the local church, love. If a teacher lacks love for his students, but is brilliant in subject matter Paul says that he is “nothing.” Superior knowledge cannot replace love in the classroom. This is not a mushy sentimentality, but a genuine concern for another’s well-being.

Continuing to address the question of who should teach in the church, there is another area to be evaluated. Does the proposed teacher know how to study the Bible? While churches often give their teachers curriculum to follow, the Bible is ultimately the core of what is being taught. Eldridge states that it is hard to teach a lesson from Scripture if one only relies on other people’s understanding of the text.[6] When a teacher personally studies and wrestles with the concept in her own mind, it will enhance the teaching time far more than a skim through a teacher’s guide to a curriculum. Along this same line of thought is the teacher’s ability to communicate what he has learned or studied in such a way that the students understand. Even though the teacher may be well prepared and the text may have moved him greatly, he still needs to be able to show the students how to apply it to their lives at a level that they can understand. Besides knowledge of the subject matter, teachers need to understand the learning process.

Lastly, following the thought of evaluating who should teach, an administrator should look for a person who understands the importance of developing relationships both within and outside the classroom. The teacher has a very special opportunity to foster and cultivate a relationship that no one else can. It is through this relationship of love and understanding that the most dynamic teaching and learning can take place. It is during this most influential time that students need teachers who love and desire to teach them in such a way that their lives will be changed.

[1] Matt 28:19–20
[2] Deuteronomy 6
[3] Matt 25:21
[4] Eldridge, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 298.
[5] Bruce Wilkinson, The Seven Laws of a Learner (Sisters, OR; Multnomah, 1992), 157.
[6] Eldridge, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 299.

In order to see if this gradual spiritual development of the child is taking place, there must be some way of determining spiritual formation and teaching effectiveness. If the teacher in the classroom is not teaching adequately, then the entire children’s ministry department suffers. It suffers because the teacher of the next age/skill level has to go back and reinstruct basic principles in order to move forward to more complicated material.

Eldridge gives several definitions of educational evaluation when he says,
Ralph Tyler (1949) defines it as documenting the congruence of learner outcomes and program objectives. Popham (1971) says it is a comparison of performance data with a commonly accepted standard. It is also viewed as specifying, obtaining, and providing relevant information for judging decision alternatives (Stufflebeam, 1971). D. Campbell Wyckoff defines evaluation as ‘a process of comparing what is with what ought to be, in order to determine areas and directions for improvement.’[1]

For the purpose of this article, the following definition will be used for evaluation: “To gather data for the purpose of making a decision.” With regard to the individual teacher, evaluation consists of two areas: 1) Is the teacher following the “big picture” plan for her age group and not her own agenda, and 2) Does the teacher have the skills to teach what needs to be taught? Are the kids growing spiritually? Therefore, before any person begins to teach, there should be some way to evaluate if that person should serve in this area. In too many instances, there is a “desperate” need to have a person in the classroom to fill an age graded slot, and anyone who is willing to do it is put in the classroom with no training, no expectations or job description, and no help. Sink or swim! They are figuratively locked away in a classroom and are expected to stay there indefinitely. Curriculum is slid under her door every quarter, and the prayer is that she will just keep teaching.

Recruiting and volunteer retention could be improved by providing clear expectations, a path for them to follow, and thorough evaluations that are designed to help the teachers improve their teaching skills. 2 Timothy 2:15–16 says, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (NIV). A church may have trouble recruiting new teachers or retain the teachers they already have, if that person feels “ashamed” of their ability to teach. But if someone were to show them where they could improve and how to do so, they may remain. No matter how gifted the teacher, there is always room for improvement.

Sadly, too many (not all) parents are not concerned about measurable goals or learning objectives. Many are more concerned about their children behaving properly at church and show little or no concern for what they are actually taught during their time there. Barna has said,
In all the evaluation research we have conducted during the past two decades, I have seen firsthand that you get what you measure. Unfortunately, most parents are pleased simply to have churchgoing children. If the children learn anything of positive value while they are at church, it is deemed as a bonus – if it is even noticed. There is usually little if any attempt by the family to track what the child is learning and integrating. The outcomes that are measured more closely relate to behavior modification than to spiritual development.[2]

If there is no evaluative process to determine the progress or lack of progress in a student’s life, then “assessment is based on assumptions and intuition.”[3] The problem with this, or any subjective way of evaluating a ministry, is that it is based upon emotions and impressions that can greatly fluctuate from week to week, or even moment to moment. Focus by leaders is then focused on placating these opinions and emotions instead of being able to strategically deal with objective issues in tangible ways and making real changes for the better. A subjective evaluator may not even have a full picture of the overall ministry, but may only have a skewed picture of reality. By having an objective means to evaluate, it is easier to develop a more extensive diagnostic process that would enable an evaluator to develop a more complete picture of the ministry. This process can be added to or removed, depending upon the value of data collected.

You can also view this article and the entire series at www.drewboswell.com.

[1] Eldridge, The Teaching Ministry of the Church, 310.
[2] Barna, Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions, 126.
[3] Ibid.