Saturday, October 18, 2014

What's In What's In the Bible Church Edition?



Any curriculum that helps kids understand the big story of the Bible automatically has my attention.  Too many times I think we teach the Bible as a random series of events.  We fail to connect the dots for kids in a meaningful way that helps them to feel like they're a part of something bigger.

So when I was invited to check out the What's In the Bible Church Edition curriculum, I couldn't resist.  We've used various What's In the Bible clips as a part our regular Big Picture Show curriculum, as needed, but the Church Edition curriculum offers much more than a simple video.

Here's what the curriculum has going for it:

1. A Great Creative Team
  • The curriculum is based on Phil Vischer's super-creative What's In the Bible Video series.  Not only does Vischer have the talent to communicate deep stuff to kids in a way that's engaging and fun, but Phil's well goes pretty deep itself.  If you've ever listened to his weekly podcast, you'll know that Phil is really into apologetics and helping people think intelligently about their faith in an increasingly post-Christian culture.  
  • Amy Dolan of Lemon Lime Kids is one of the primary creative forces behind the curriculum itself.  Amy also has tons of experience from her days in Children's Ministry at Willow Creek's Promiseland ministry and as the Executive Director for Children's Ministries for the Willow Creek Association and it shows in the activities that accompany the videos.

2. Solid Content
  • The content for What's In the Bible is serious truth communicated in a seriously fun way. 
  • I love that it's not just a comprehensive overview of each of the 66 books of the Bible but that it tackles big issues that some day could make or break a kid's faith.  
    • For example, in one lesson Phil does an incredible job teaching how science is the right tool to help us understand the natural world but that it's not the right tool to help us understand God because He's beyond the natural world.  If our kids can get their heads around truths like this, they can grow up loving science and the Bible and find no contradiction between the two.  
    • In another lesson, Phil tackles the issue of why God allowed Stephen to die but saved Paul over and over again.  If our kids understand how a good God can let bad things happen to His people, they will equipped with a faith that stands up under fire.  
  • You can check out the What's In the Bible Church Edition Scope and Sequence for yourself.
3. A Flexible Format
  • The curriculum comes with a CD-ROM with all the reproducibles, a DVD with the videos you need and another DVD with the video files in case you want to drop them right into ProPresenter, PowerPoint or another presentation software.  
  • All the files are also available in Word format so that you can customize them for your church.
  • I also love that it comes with a code that allows you to ditch all of the DVDs and the CDs and download the videos and reproducibles straight from the curriculum website. 
  • Leaders can even display the videos on their tablets or smart phone and then use their device to lead discussion questions and activities.

4. Price
  • If you use the coupon code KIDMIN14 through 11/15/14 you will receive a 40% off discount on the What's In the Bible Church Edition Curriculum.  
  • That's about $6.50 a week for each lesson.  Tough to beat.

I was pleasantly surprised to see how good this stuff is.  The activities are fun, engaging and purposeful.   I think this would be an especially strong curriculum for multi-site churches because of its ease of use and the consistency that comes from using solid video content.  It would also be awesome for midweek programs and to use for summer fill-in.

If you're looking for new curriculum with a strong Bible emphasis, What's In the Bible Church Edition is definitely worth checking out.



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