With the start of the new school year comes the beginning of the Sunday school year, too. Which means fresh opportunities to reach kids and families with meaningful Bible experiences.
While some churches make their curriculum decisions early in the year, most wait until the last hour to choose which program is best for their church. It can be a difficult challenge to sort through the numerous choices available these days.
You have so many questions to consider:
Do you have a 20-minute slot to fill, or does your Sunday school stretch to 90 minutes?
Do you typically have five kids…or 100? Do kids of all ages meet together, or separately?
Do you want a program that prioritizes relationships of kids and teachers, or do you prefer a heavier amount of video content?
Do you want to give teachers the freedom to customize their lessons, or would you rather free up your volunteers’ time as much as possible?
And that’s just scratching the surface of variables and options.
Fortunately, you can help! As a pastor, your influence goes a long way in helping your team make the best decision for your church. Better yet, you don’t have to be a curriculum expert yourself in order to be of assistance.
Our editorial partners at Children’s Ministry Magazine have put together a handy 2019 curriculum guide to aid you and your team in the selection process. It includes programs from all the major publishers including David C Cook, Group, Lifeway, and others. You’ll find overviews of each curriculum, along with prices, age levels, lesson lengths, and other relevant details.
Most publishers offer free samples of their programs, which is a great way to see for yourself what each program is like and how it might fit your ministry’s goals.
Refresh YOUR Church: When you pull your team together, talk about this question: What’s the most important thing you hope to accomplish with our church’s Sunday school curriculum? Be sure to give everyone a chance to share their answer without judgment. Then discuss how those goals align with your church’s mission or purpose.