MIM E-ZINE June 3, 2005
CONTENT
– Children’s Ministry Checkup -- the Four Building Blocks Of A Lesson Plan – Book Review – Growing People through Small Groups
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Book Review – Growing People through Small Groups
By David Stark and Betty Veldman Wieland, Bethany House, 2004, 0764229125, 174 pages Reviewed by Shane Parker David Stark has published such resources as the LifeKeys books, is the director of Changing Church through the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, the founder of Church Innovations, and is a workshop and seminar leader in the U.S. Betty Veldman Wieland is a leader in Christian Reformed Home Missions small group ministry.
The authors set out to offer an overall outlook and approach to small group ministry which they call “principle-based” (13). The writers intentionally reject a “one-size fits all” approach to small group models, and opt for what they believe is an approach that will enable churches across size and denominational categories to “dream God’s dream fro their small group ministries” (13). The pattern of small group development is focused on establishing a small group “rooted in God’s will” specifically in relationship to the mission and vision of the individual church (19). The “sociological principles” serve as the foundation to the life and development of the small group because these serve as the underpinning of the progression of the individual group members (72ff.). The authors’ hope is for the reader(s) to develop a small group approach that is rooted in facilitating and meeting the sociological needs of the participants, while leading to biblical “transformation” (87). The text offers an approach to small groups, which serves as a broad model; however, it is a general framework rather than the rigid system which is often submitted in small group texts. The work would be an excellent resource for an administrator of small groups, and individual small group leaders. The format of the book allows the reader to evaluate and review the content through “Summary Questions” at the close of each section. This feature allows for easy adaptability for either individualized study, or scheduled teacher/group leader training sessions. “Growing People through Small Groups” serves as a clear, concise, and informative look at the heart of small group strategy and effective practice, and it should serve the committed small group administrator and facilitator well.
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Children’s Ministry Checkup -- the Four Building Blocks Of A Lesson Plan By Karen Wingate “All they do is play down there,” I’ve heard church members grumble about the children’s church program. Those older members base their opinions on their own days in Sunday School where classes consisted of a Bible story and a worksheet. A teacher was really getting creative if she used flannel graph to tell the story. So many resources and creative activities are available to today’s teacher. In order to keep up with our visual world and shorter attention spans, children’s ministry workers have to include a lot more interactive activities in their lesson plan. It’s more fun to teach now because we can incorporate games, crafts and even refreshments into our teaching time. Yet, lest we get carried away with the fun stuff and get accused of “just having fun,” we have to keep in mind that our primary goal is to teach the Bible. Each lesson you teach should have the same basic outline. You need to make sure you cover each of the four basic parts of a lesson. If you have to create your own lesson plan or you are adapting your lesson from written curriculum, make sure you plan something for each of these areas. While these four basic parts go by different names, I like to remember them this way. 1. Hook: Also known as the Attention Grabber, this beginning activity introduces the basic Bible concept to your kids. Your kids will arrive with energy to burn, so this is the time where you can involve your kids in an active game, a craft project or individual research. In this section, you can divide your kids into learning centers that give them choices of activities according to their unique interests. Make sure you use appropriate, relevant questions and conversation to transition to the next section of your lesson. 2. Book: This is the longest section of your lesson. In this part, you want to explore what the Bible says. You can add lots of variety to this section as well. Gone are the days where the teacher merely told a Bible story to her kids. You can use puppets, drama, poetry, and interaction with the kids to tell the story. Teach the story in song, or have the kids do a directed craft that tells the Bible story. Have kids work together to study and present the story themselves. Make sure you do some kind of review activity that reinforces the Bible content and principles. Bible content is important. Don’t minimize this section! 3. Look: This part of the lesson is the “So What?” section, or the Life Application section. You’ll take those basic Bible principles and make them relevant to the kids’ lives. If you’ve studied how Noah trusted God by building the ark, you’ll want to talk about how kids today can express their trust in God. If you’ve discussed how Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, you’ll discover ways that kids can serve others. By this point, your kids are settled into the lesson, so you can use more sit down activities but don’t be afraid to try active activities too. 4. Took: This is the most important part of your lesson because in this section, you challenge the kids to make a commitment to change in some way. You are asking them, “What are you going to do about it?” Challenge your kids to do something, to think differently, to respond in some way about what you have taught. This is the point where you move from head knowledge to heart commitment. I like to have the kids make something in this section that they can take home with them as a reminder of what they’ve learned. Unfortunately, teachers often get so wrapped up in a fun activity in the Hook or Look section, that they run out of time and don’t cover the Took part of their lesson. Guard your time carefully. Sacrifice time in one of your other sections so that you can bring your kids to a time of commitment. When you use this structure to organize your lessons, you won’t be doing empty activities that have no purpose. This structure will keep you on task and remind you of what you are trying to accomplish: imparting Biblical truths to today’s child that they can understand and respond to in a practical way. Karen Wingate is a teacher of teachers. She is known for her off the edge activity based teaching that is still solidly based on the Word of God. Currently, she is writing curriculum for the Salvation Army’s new Sonday’s Cool programs, teaches a high School Sunday School class and oversees the Youth Ministry Team at her local church near Canton, Ohio. --- Promote Your Speaking, Seminars or Conferences Find a Speaker for Your Next Event! Visit Ministry in Motion's speaker directory and conference directory pages.
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