Churches, parents, and grandparents teach the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe. They do this for solid reasons, they also need to teach the children they love the "whys" - why we are able to believe what we believe. Anchored is a supplemental curriculum designed to be used alongside whatever curriculum a church is currently using to teach the "whys" and equip parents and grandparents to do the same at home.
I often refer to the study from Barna which shows Gen Z is turning away from their faith to atheism at double the rate of any previous generation - you will find it at this link and a couple months ago I shared the new Gallup Poll which shows fewer people in the USA now see the Bible as the literal Word of God as only 20% of people believe the Bible is the literal Word of God - you will find it at this link.
Over the many, many years where churches have had intentional Children's Ministries, we have done a good job when it comes to teaching the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe. But for some reason we never focused on teaching the "whys" - why we are able to believe what we believe. While we absolutely must teach the "whats" we also must teach the "whys" - when we do not, we end up with the results we are seeing in families throughout our churches - where young people are turning away from their faith and many of them are turning to atheism (as Barna's research shows), and growing numbers of people are saying they do not believe the Bible is true (as Gallup's research shows.) If we are going to stop these trends, we must start teaching the "whys" with as much intentionality as we show when we teach the "whats".
Sunday school originally began in 1780 because people wanted to teach poor children to read as they typically worked in factories all week. Nearly all children went to Sunday school - even if their parents did not go to church - and along with learning to read, they were taught the Bible - as it was the main book they learned to read. These children also learned to write as they copied verses from the Bible.
Over the many, many years where churches have had intentional Children's Ministries, we have done a good job when it comes to teaching the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe. But for some reason we never focused on teaching the "whys" - why we are able to believe what we believe. While we absolutely must teach the "whats" we also must teach the "whys" - when we do not, we end up with the results we are seeing in families throughout our churches - where young people are turning away from their faith and many of them are turning to atheism (as Barna's research shows), and growing numbers of people are saying they do not believe the Bible is true (as Gallup's research shows.) If we are going to stop these trends, we must start teaching the "whys" with as much intentionality as we show when we teach the "whats".
Your church puts a lot of time and money into teaching children the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe, but as Barna's studies and Gallup's Poll shows us more and more of the children in our ministries are growing up and turning away from their faith. How are you able to change this? By teaching the children in your ministry the "whys" - why they are able to believe God is real, the Bible is true, God and science DO go together, and God is good. When children know the "whys", they are much more likely to hold on to the "whats" throughout their lives.
As we approach the start of the new Sunday school year it is important to remember an article about new Gallup Poll results regarding how fewer people in the USA now see the Bible as the literal Word of God. The new poll showed, what was to me, a shocking result - only 20% of people believe the Bible is the literal Word of God - only 20%. This is the lowest percentage since they began taking this poll in 1976. Even more shocking to me, this is the first time more people - 29% - "say the Bible is a collection of 'fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.'" They went on to say, "This marks the first time significantly more Americans have viewed the Bible as not divinely inspired than as the literal word of God."
Your church puts a lot of time and money into teaching children the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe, but as Barna's studies and Gallup's Poll shows us more and more of the children in our ministries are growing up and turning away from their faith. How are you able to change this? By teaching the children in your ministry the "whys" - why they are able to believe God is real, the Bible is true, God and science DO go together, and God is good. When children know the "whys", they are much more likely to hold on to the "whats" throughout their lives.
We know we want our Children's Ministry to teach the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe because we want the children we love to know and believe. Ever since Sunday school began we have been teaching children the "whats" and children have been learning the "whats". God promises His Word will not return empty to Him, so when children learn the "whats", God is able to use His Word to work in their lives. Yet, while many of the children we love hold on to the faith they began as a child, more and more of them are not.
Anchored is available for you to use in your church - it is just $26.00 for an entire year of resources for you to use in your church and for families to use at home - a terrific buy for sure!
You may or may not know about the Barna studies which show how so many of our children and grandchildren are turning away from their faith and to atheism. This is not something we have to just sit back and accept. We are able to do something about it. We are able to hand down confident faith and doing this involves teaching the children we love both the "whats" - what the Bible says and therefore what we believe - and teaching them the "whys" - why we are able to believe what we believe.
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Yes, I agree there are a number of excellent curriculum resources currently available for churches to use in their Children's Ministries, so why am I releasing Deeper In for Children? There are several reasons, but the biggest one is because Deeper In for Children does several unique things -
I'm going to push back the date when you will be able to get Deeper In for Children because I've decided to include the Preschool AND the Elementary curriculum in one package - you will get everything you need for a full quarter of digital curriculum for both age levels priced at only $50.00! And, if you decide to order a full year of Deeper In for Children you will be able to get both age levels at a special price of $150.00.
I often refer to the study from Barna which shows Gen Z is turning away from their faith to atheism at double the rate of any previous gen...
