An Alternative to Traditional Sunday School
A few weeks ago I posted about New Life’s KidZone option to do a sports and recreation centered Sunday school service.
So, after a few weeks, here is what I can report:
- kids are excited
- parents are excited
- the church is excited
And here is why I think are numbers have increased and so many people are excited about this…because it is not-traditional. Traditional Sunday School means classrooms, lectures, lessons, object activities and so forth. What this alternative is gives children the freedom to run around, exercise and learn something new about a sport. Not every child is “athletic” but every child can participate and can play. This provides them that opportunity. Then, after they have burned off a lot of energy, we teach them a lesson, centered around the sport or activity they just participated in.
Does this require extra work? You bet. Cindy our Children’s Director is basically creating this curriculum on her own from various resources. But the reward of seeing all these children running around, having fun…all the while setting them up to hear about Christ maybe for the first time is well worth the extra time. Because this is drawing new children in. Because this is something new and different. Because God is at work.
So what about you? What can you do differently to reach the countless children in your neighborhoods that aren’t quite up for going to “traditional” Sunday School? TAKE A MINUTE right now and brainstorm some ideas. Then, start putting the pieces together to begin something new and fresh so that more children and families can hear about Christ…maybe for the 1st time.
If you have an alternate Sunday School that you are doing at your church, post it here so we can all be encouraged by your stories. Even if you don’t have one yet, but have questions, thoughts or comments, post them and hopefully a discussion that has begun here will inspire you and others to think of something outside the box that can further the kingdom.
