Churches can often feel segmented. Senior ministry, adult ministry, youth ministry, children’s ministry, and the nursery. We divide by age and stage and teach accordingly. Our stage of life does indeed inform our experience in the church setting. But we gain much when we interact together cohesively across our ages and stages. A retired member serving at VBS or rocking babies on a Sunday morning, a teenager helping in children’s worship, and adults teaching children’s Sunday school utilize our different gifts and experiences across the entire church. Each part of the church works for the good of the whole body (1 Cor. 12:4-7).
As we seek to be cohesive church bodies, we must also be thoughtful in what we are teaching our church bodies–specifically our ministries to the next generation. NextGen ministry goes from nursery to children’s to youth ministry. Instead of being individual parts of the body, operating separately, thoughtful and rich curriculum has the opportunity to bridge the gap from curious toddlers to active children to engaged teenagers through a structured pathway that meets each learner where he or she is developmentally.
By bridging this gap between ministries through our teaching content, we are uniting the church body–in all of its different parts. We are giving it a strong pathway on which to grow from nursery to adulthood.
Rooted seeks to equip and empower churches and parents to faithfully disciple students toward lifelong faith in Jesus Christ. Our goal is that our babies in the nursery would return to the Church as adults. Rooted Children’s Curriculum supports that mission through developmentally appropriate, gospel-saturated, and engaging lessons and resources for churches and their families. Each component of the lesson has been thoughtfully developed with the input of children’s ministry practitioners.
Developmentally Appropriate
The preschool lessons are meant to be for children ages three to four years. The elementary lessons are for five- to 11-year-olds, or kindergarten through fifth grade. Within the elementary lessons, we offer variations for “younger elementary” (kindergarten through second grade) and “older elementary” (third through fifth grade).
With that being said, we encourage you to choose lesson options based on the needs and makeup of your class and church.
Each lesson consists of the same components to provide structure and predictability for both teachers and students. Knowing that teachers may be different from week-to-week, we hope that a consistent structure helps provide helpful consistency for churches.
Rooted in the Gospel for the Teacher
The Leader Devotional is to prepare and inspire the teacher’s mind and heart for the kingdom work set before him or her. Before we teach children about God and his redemptive work through Jesus Christ, we must first receive the refreshing words of the gospel for ourselves. Jesus says to the Samaritan woman in John 4, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). The leader devotional is a return to the well that does not run dry: God’s Word. It is an opportunity for us to pour into, encourage, and remind our teachers and volunteers of the goodness of the gospel that runs through each and every lesson.
Accessible and Clear
The Leader Overview/Roadmap for the Lesson gives teachers an opportunity to review the lesson’s flow, gather materials, and prepare them for the lesson. Think of this page as the “grocery list” for your lesson.
A Warm Introduction
As the lesson begins, the Welcome Activity is an opportunity to help students feel welcomed, engaged, and ready to participate. The Welcome Activity is linked to the lesson itself, giving the students a taste of what is to come. These activities vary, and you can adapt them based on your ministry’s context. For example, children coming from the church service itself may need time to be more active before sitting and listening again.
Rooted in the Gospel: An Emphasis on God’s Word and Gospel Connection
The Lesson, of course, is the most important part because this is where we dive into the Bible itself.
The lesson includes several sections that can be shortened if needed.
The Icebreaker is to build connection, trust, and engagement. The Timeline Introduction to the Bible Story is to place the story within the larger biblical narrative. And finally, before opening the Bible, we have an Opening Prayer to prepare hearts to hear God’s Word.
The Bible Passage/Lesson teaches Scripture in an engaging, gospel-centered way. In each lesson, we ask that teachers use an actual Bible. In addition to listening and participating when asked in the lesson, this is an opportunity to teach children how to use the Bible. For many preschool lessons, we provide a shortened script summary of the Bible passage, but we ask that teachers have their own Bible open to the passage being studied. Children learn by example, and by demonstrating how to open a Bible and find the passage, we are teaching even our youngest students how to engage with God’s Word.
For younger elementary students, we ask that each student have a Bible themselves (or a few to share amongst the class), with the passage pre-marked. For older elementary students, we remove the bookmark scaffolding and use this as an opportunity for them to practice finding scripture passages, either individually, in pairs, or in small groups with the guidance and support of the teacher.
At the conclusion of the Bible passage, we have the Gospel Catechism, which centers students on the message of the gospel. We recommend teaching each question one at a time, adding another question when the previous one is memorized. Slides are also provided as a visual cue for students to read along.
Finally, we end the lesson section with a Closing Prayer to help students respond to what they learned.
Understanding Through Activities
After listening to and interacting with the Bible passage, we come to the Review Activities, which reinforce learning and encourage retention. We provide the following options: Create It (a hands-on craft), Move It (an active game), or Act It (a time to reenact the Bible passage being studied). You may choose as many activities as you have time for, and, of course, those that fit your class and will help them specifically with connecting to the lesson.
A Simple and Consistent Conclusion
The Wrap Up section is a time where you may choose to work on Scripture Memory, to help students hide God’s Word in their hearts. We suggest adding movement to memorizing scripture, whether it is hand motions that go with the words (American Sign Language would be a great addition!) or full-body movement. We also include the Big Idea as a final reminder of the one thing we hope your students will take away from this specific lesson.
Equipping the Body for Growth
As a trellis supports the growth of a young plant, a clear pathway and rich curriculum can provide churches the structure and guidance they need to help grow modern-day disciples. Rooted firmly in the Word of God and resting entirely on the work of the Holy Spirit, we pray that the lessons in your hands will help you to feel equipped to share how God’s story from creation to glorification all point to his covenantal love for his people that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray that you, as a teacher, will see anew the goodness of God throughout the Bible and then be able to communicate that in an engaging way to the students in your care–whether you are in the nursery, the children’s Sunday school or the youth room.
Want to learn more? Head to our curriculum page to view and purchase our new Children’s Curriculum!
