A bit of an intro

Here's the introductory pages for our Bridge 45 curriculum book. Hope you enjoy it, and feel free to give feedback.

Introduction to Bridge 45

Why Bridge 45?
We’ve been watching our fourth and fifth graders very closely, and agree with the experts in ministry and secular fields, who are finding that these students aren’t what they used to be. They’re learning at a faster rate and being exposed to things that just five years ago would have been considered more appropriate for teenagers. Not only that, the learning curve between a third- and a fourth-grade mind is dramatically different. Our late-elementary kids are able to reason and make connections that the younger kids can’t. They’re starting to ask tough questions. And when they aren’t challenged, they get bored.

We realize that this is a key time in these students’ spiritual development. And with this realization comes an awareness that if we want them to be challenged and excited to grow in their relationships with the Lord, we need to adapt our methods of ministry. Our fourth and fifth graders are preteens and need to be treated exactly as that. The puppets and “silly” story-telling that the younger kids love no longer hold their attention. Yet, they aren’t quite ready to get too serious or talk too much about “teen issues.” They still like to have fun and get messy, but they also want to learn lessons and discover truth themselves (with a little guidance, of course).

Bridge 45 will be the bridge between our children’s and youth ministries. Our goal is to give the students the desire and the tools they need to study the Bible for themselves. It’ll be a ministry that fits them—their likes, lives, and learning styles. By separating the older from the younger students, we’ll be able to challenge them to think more deeply, guide them in studying the Bible, and better prepare them for life in these “bridge” years.

Format & Objectives
Core Objective
Give the students the skills they need to study the Bible.

Children’s Ministries Vision Statement
Equipping children and families to love the Lord for a lifetime with their head, heart and hands.

Our Core Objective will fit into the vision in this way
Head
By the end of the year, the kids will be able to
· Navigate the Bible
· Give 2-3 sentence overviews of the Old and New Testaments and how they relate to each other · Know key people and events of both the Old and New Testaments, as well as be able to define words such as apostle, prophet, disciple, etc.
· Define and explain salvation, sin, repentance, grace, fellowship, etc.
Heart
We’ll see their head knowledge influence their hearts through
· Growing in their love for God and others
· Their prayer life
· Their desire to study the Bible
Hands
They’ll demonstrate their knowledge and understanding through
· Service opportunities
· Giving because of the biblical basis
· Verse memorization

Bridge 45 will be structured differently than the Children’s Ministries we’re used to. Our school year is divided up into four nine-week units. Each unit is made up of three three-week sections. The unit will cover an overall theme, and the sections are intended to focus in on specific points of that theme.

Week one of each section will be large-group based. The kids will participate in activity stations and worship as they’re used to in previous years, but it will be followed by a longer large group teaching. Our goal is to give an in-depth introduction to the point studied in the following two weeks. It’s also our hope that the fifth graders will be better prepared for middle school when the style is so different from what they’re used to. While small groups aren’t our focus in this week, the kids will still huddle up at the end to check in with their leader.

Week two of each section will be small-group intensive. After activity stations and worship, the students will join their small groups and spend the rest of the time diving into the Bible to find the answers related to that section’s point. They’ll have discussion time where peer interaction is the focus. The small group leader will act more as a guide during this time—encouraging discussion and redirecting when needed.

Week three is a responsive week; an opportunity for the groups to gather together and see how they can implement or apply the section’s points. Often times this will be displayed in a creative and collaborative project.

By spending three weeks on each point, the students will be able to apply a variety of learning styles and see the Bible from different angles. They’ll hear, say and do.

Objectives
Large Group
· The students will gain a deeper knowledge of the Bible—what it is about and what went into it.
· The students will engage in active learning.
· The students will gain the skills to define, understand and defend their faith.
· The students will be excited to learn and be at church.
Small Group
· The students will interact with one another and their leader.
· The students will discover answers for themselves and be redirected, if needed, by their leader.
· The students will share life experiences and pray for one another.
Large Group Response Project
· The students will participate in a creative or outreach oriented project.
· The students will participate in an active application of the previous two weeks.

Schedule
Week 1:
8:30-8:45 / 10:30-10:45 Leaders Meeting
8:45-9:10 / 10:45-11:10 Activity Stations
9:10-9:15 / 11:10-11:15 Announcements
9:15-9:35 / 11:15-11:35 Worship
9:35-10:10 / 11:35-12:10 Large Group Teaching
10:10-10:15 / 12:10-12:15 Small Group Review

Week 2:
8:30-8:45 / 10:30-10:45 Leaders Meeting
8:45-9:10 / 10:45-11:10 Activity Stations
9:10-9:15 / 11:10-11:15 Announcements
9:15-9:35 / 11:15-11:35 Worship
9:35-10:10 / 11:35-12:10 Small Group
10:10-10:15 / 12:10-12:15 Small Group Review

Week 3:
8:30-8:45 / 10:30-10:45 Leaders Meeting
8:45-9:10 / 10:45-11:10 Activity Stations
9:10-9:15 / 11:10-11:15 Announcements
9:15-9:35 / 11:15-11:35 Worship
9:35-10:15 / 11:35-12:15 Large Group Response Project

Roles
Volunteers are essential in making Bridge 45 work.
The Division Leader oversees the class throughout the service. They run the leaders meeting and then assist the small group leaders and large group teachers as needed. The Division leader can also assist with escorting children to the restroom or drinking fountain when needed.

The Large Group Teacher teaches the lesson on week 1 of every section. They are responsible for giving a Bible-based, creative presentation of that section’s main points.

The Small Group Leader oversees a group of students throughout the school year. He/she is responsible for knowing their students and guiding them through learning about the Bible. The participate in activity stations with the kids and sit among them for worship and large group. On week 1 of a section they lead a review time a the end in which they check on how their students are doing, review the teaching points, and remind of weekly assignments. On week 2 of a section, they guide their group in discussion and activities related to the teaching points. On week 3 they assist their group in a responsive or service project.

Unit 1 is Done!

I just finished putting all our notes and outlines into an actual curriculum format! I'll post a sample week tomorrow when I go to the office. Now, it's time for bed :)

Here Comes our Modular Unit!

I was able to visit the construction site for our modular unit that will house Bridge 45. We made a video to help the church see what it is we're looking forward to. This weekend we'll show the video, as well as provide a list of items needing to be financially sponsored or donated in order to make Bridge 45 possible.
Enjoy our video!

Thoughts about Bridge 45:

In all of our studies of children ministries, what has struck us most profoundly was the task of imparting what we hold dear, to who we hold most dear. Children are our future, the Bible makes clear the responsibility we bear, and that our inheritance is incumbent on it.

The Lord has a message for everyone in this journey we are on. He cares very deeply for the spiritual training of our children. (Deu 6:5-9 ESV) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” This is but one commandment, there are dozens! The role of spiritual leader falls directly on the parent. That leaders in children’s ministry may come along side and bless these kids is awesome, but tertiary in usefulness to the mission. Parents in the modern church have abdicated their responsibility for spiritual nourishment hoping that youth leaders will fill the gap. This will not stand if we take the whole council of God.

The physical, ideological, and personal battles our children will win or lose start at home, and in the classroom. The spiritual skirmishes we are engaged in now will affect our children’s ultimate dispositions. The stakes are very high. The enemy is engaged. Why are we not engaged in running the good race? Schedule is part of the problem; the busy modern life makes spiritual leadership almost impossible. Apathy exists as well. The biggest problem might be fear; fear steeped in ignorance leading to inaction. Fear is overcome by exercising courage, and the judicious application of knowledge.

We need something useful, a tool (a weapon) we could give educators and parents. Our target group is fourth and fifth graders, something is missing. We see them more mature, yet less prepared. We see them more advanced, yet less resilient. We see them more afflicted and less naive. What drives the trends for the “tween” set? The post 9-11 world? Living in an age of deception, or is it bovine growth hormone? In the end it doesn’t matter. The question becomes, what are we going to do?

After searching hundreds of articles, and lengthy tomes we toyed around with many theories. Would Kohlberg’s moral development make good application to the problem? How about Fowler’s theory of faith? It all lacked substance; it was so much chasing after the wind…

We need to teach them the Bible. Who? The children! Who else? Growing up in a post-modern, technology driven society, our kids lack belonging, community, culture, pride, and meaning. Christian faith offers all these things and much more: a relationship with a loving savior. Christianity is our culture.

The Bible curriculum Jared is developing looks world class; Jill’s ability to craft dynamic learning would remind a poet of Arachne’s loom. What would I offer? At the midnight hour I stumbled upon it, dog eared, and stained with coffee. One of my more esoteric books, Newton Riddell, bore the secret. Everyone knows God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; three in one. What many people forget is that man is a reflection of Him. We are trichotomous, consisting of body, spirit, and soul. Our development is measurable. “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” (Luk 2:52 ESV) Do you see that? He was fully man and fully God. What do we observe? He increased in wisdom, he was educated. He increased in stature, he grew tall! He increased in favor with God; He developed spiritually. Finally, He increased in favor with man; He developed psycho-socially.

At this point the light bulb clicked on. Erik Erikson had detailed human psychosocial development in eight stages of life. His theory was excellent for describing the crisis periods each individual faced in western culture. What if we applied this developmental perspective to those born again? We owe a debt of gratitude to Yvonne Bisonette from Regent University whose doctoral work made this program possible. Her research indicates that when born again an individual must navigate each life crisis again, but in the spiritual sphere. Here we have something to give small group leaders and parents; a theory of spiritual development. We are going to impress on young minds the living word of God. We will give their guardians a tool for assessing and assisting development. Bridge 45 is off to an exciting start.

Someone once said: “the journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, and a lot of griping.” I have to admit I did not want to enter into a children’s ministry project. I was afraid. I thought: what could I offer? Can I really make a difference? Shouldn’t I leave this to the professionals? Worst of all; what if I mess this up? (Matt 19:4 ESV) “Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.’” Like Moses on the back side of the desert I argued with God a bit, I needed some prompting from Him to get me moving. I am sure glad I decided to follow His word. As this program grows, and gains a life all its own. I covet your prayers. I know Jill and Jared do as well. Thank you.

Jesse

It's all coming together...

For the past two Thursdays, Jared Boltman (our elementary director), Jesse Eastes (the guy working on his degree bringing a psych perspective) and I have met at a coffee shop to detail out the curriculum for Bridge 45. We've already completed Units 1 & 2 and will do Unit 3 tomorrow. It's amazing how all the thoughts come together. I'm realizing that God speaks to me through creativity. I love watching Him work! Ideas come to mind and I know they're only from God. Concepts fit together and are of the biblical soundness we seek. We're so excited that we know the 4th and 5th graders will love it too!

I'll post elements of the curriculum once I get it all typed and formatted. But for now, here are some of the elements we have:

-The 4 units are broken up into three three-week sections. In week 1 the lesson on what the Bible is (where it came from, who wrote it, why it's important, etc.) will be presented through a creative large group teaching that lasts 35-40 minutes. Each kid will be given a Bridge 45 notebook in which to take notes, write down questions, etc. The notebooks are to go home with them and be brought back each week (it'll take a little while to set that pattern). The notebooks will also have a homework section (which won't actually be called homework) that gives them a couple of verses to look up throughout the week, and space to write 3 questions that they have while reading the passages.
-In week 2, we'll have worship and then go straight to small groups (no large group teaching). The small group leader will review what was taught the week before, the group will go over their questions from the homework, and then they'll start working on a timeline project. 3 sheets will be given to people in the group. One will detail the languages the Bible is written in. Another the authors of the Bible. The third the I can't remember off the top of my head. As a group, they'll compare the info and start to create a timeline.
-In week 3 each group will be assigned a section of the Bible, and the entire class will make a large, color coded timeline on butcher paper which we'll hang on the long wall in our new modular unit.

Each of the three weeks builds on the others. Other times in week two their group will script a newscast and in week three produce and tape their newscast. Our hope is that while they'll still learn even if they miss a week, they won't want to miss a week.

More to come soon!

Bridge 45 is Still Happening!

So while it may not look like it, we are working on our new curriculum for fourth & fifth graders. In fact, things have taken some incredible turns!!! Just to back up a little bit...

After attending Conspire and deciding that a new ministry for our fourth & fifth graders could happen, we realized that it was going to take some money! We planned to turn an upstairs multi purpose room into Bridge 45. It would just take some work to make it look cool--dividers to hide the extra stacks of chairs and storage for other ministries, an improved sound system so we could have live worship, and new activity stations just to name a few. On top of that we'd need to do a lot of work to make our old auditorium feel less-big for our kindergarten-third graders.

We also wanted to give our overall ministry a new name (or an actual name for that matter... "Children's Ministries" doesn't seem to cut it). With a new name we'd want to do new branding--logos, signs, etc. Once again, this would take money.

Conspire was at the end of April. At the beginning of May our church announced large budget cuts, and cut some staff positions as well. The possibility of money being available became slim. We began to pray, thinking that God would need to provide through VBS. Maybe we'd have 100 more kids than we expected sign up... maybe we'd actually profit... Maybe VBS would make Bridge 45 financially possible!

At staff meeting on June 4 our senior pastor mentioned that a team of men in our church was trying to figure out options for bringing our youth on campus (since we built our building in 1996 our youth have had to meet at local schools on Sunday mornings). He suggested sprung structures, large module units, etc. I thought all of them sounded expensive. Especially since we had an auditorium with a light board that we don't use to its fullest, band equipment sitting unused, and a sound system that was used only to play CDs. Not to mention space beyond what you'd desire for kindergarten-third graders. But that's what children's ministries uses (which I'm thankful for, since I wouldn't want to have to use local schools each week). But wouldn't it make more sense if we just got a modular unit for Bridge 45? Then put K-3rd in the multi-purpose room, and let the youth have the old auditorium (which they use mid-week anyways)? I mentioned it to my executive pastor and he liked the idea.

VBS was the last week of June and registration was down by 40 and more kids needed scholarships than normal. Through some great budget cuts and donations, we were able to pull the event off under budget and come out in the black (as well as raise 1600 for missionaries in Hong Kong!). Clearly, VBS would not back Bridge 45.

Some time just after VBS, my executive pastor mentioned my modular unit idea to our senior pastor. I guess he loved the idea because at staff meeting on July 2 we were all told that a modular unit would be purchased for Bridge 45. And money would be raised to outfit it.

Two weeks ago the entire church was told about the modular unit. They were told that for the first time in 12 years our entire church would be able to meet on campus. They were told we're starting a new ministry designed just for our fourth and fifth graders. The announcement was met with cheers and shouts of "praise God!"

I turned in a list of everything we want--flat screen TVs, folding chairs, video game systems, foos ball table, laptops for computerized check-in (for our entire ministry), a sound system, etc. And it's all going to happen. It won't be until October, but we're getting a new facility just for our fourth and fifth graders, our kindergarten-third graders get a class that reflects their size and ability. Our youth will be on campus.... oh, and we have a name, and a graphic designer in our church is donating his time to create logos.

GOD IS GOOD!