I did something I never thought I’d do to help guide the kids time in our house church — I bought a curriculum! Here’s what I bought and why. It’s called Telling God’s Story by Peter Enns, and it comes from the same publishers who created Story of the World, a world history curriculum my girls have used and we all absolutely loved.
Peter Enns is a biblical scholar and teacher whose work I’ve recently become aware of through the BioLogos Forum. I appreciate his approach to integrate science and faith, and I’ve learned a lot reading his blog and other articles he’s written. When I found out he was working on a Bible curriculum for kids I was excited and bought it right away!
These books begin with the Jesus rather than familiar stories from the Old Testament. It’s explained like this on the publisher’s website:
Who Jesus is and what he did is central to the Christian faith. That is why this curriculum begins with teaching children about him. Grades 1-4 will focus on what the Bible as a whole focuses on: Jesus. The emphasis will be on getting to know him by looking at who he was and what he did.
Later books will go in depth in the Old Testament. I think the idea of introducing children to Jesus first is the right one. In the past I’ve often tried to tie an Old Testament story back to Jesus, and Telling God’s Story has just taken that concept a step further.
Ultimately, the curriculum will teach children, and the adults who work though it with them, how to approach the Bible . I’ve only read part of the parent’s manual so far, but I resonated with this from the introduction: “The Bible is not a Christian owner’s manual. It bears witness to who God is, what he has done, and who we, as his people, are.” The hope is that this approach to studying the Bible with children will accomplish a deep purpose: “to encourage children to become mature, knowledgeable, and humble followers of Jesus, growing in faith.”
I’m looking forward to seeing that growth and maturity over time in my own kids and in the other kids who go along this journey with us in Telling God’s Story!
