We've started experimenting...

In the past, our fourth and fifth graders have been in a learning environment that spanned from kindergarten to fifth grade. For years we've felt like we weren't reaching our oldest elementary kids in the way they needed, but haven't known how to make a change. One year we had the fifth graders leave the room after worship and spend the rest of the service in small groups. The teaching came completely from their small group leader. While our leaders were amazing and did a great job with the kids, something was still missing for the fourth graders. This year we had the fourth and fifth graders be apart of worship and large group, but went to a different room for small group time (that way they'd feel recognized for their age and maturity). It's worked well on the small group side of things, but in regards to the teaching--in order to reach the kindergartners we miss the fourth and fifth graders, and in order to reach the fourth and fifth graders, we miss the kindergarten and first graders.

At the Conspire Conference this year, Aaron Reynolds talked about what it really means to know your audience while teaching, and to enter the world of your kids. It was convicting to be reminded of how much we're not doing for our older kids. But we knew we didn't have the resources or the people to pull off another program. I went to the workshop titled, "The Fourth Fifth Experiment." They talked about doing things differently--to really think out of the box when approaching the older elementary kids. David Rausch said, "The answer is not more, but different. Break our current thinking and look at it differently." He talked about how fourth and fifth graders are in an age of self discovery. They are tired of people talking at them and want to discover truth for themselves.

Mindy Stohms explained their new approach to our "tweeners," "What if, instead of stories, we taught them skills for reading the Bible? We don't want to give them a fish, we want to teach them to fish."

We left Chicago knowing we can create a ministry just for our fourth and fifth graders, and we can do it this fall. Jared Boltman (our Elementary Director), Jesse Eastes (working on completing a degree through Corban College and is doing this as his major project) and I have begun the process of creating Bridge 45--our late elementary ministry. We'll be posting what we learn, what we try and the details of our experiment. We're excited! We hope you'll join us on the journey!