wfn.org | Publishing House launches new Sunday school program

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

March 7, 2000   News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville,
Tenn.  10-71B{123}

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - The United Methodist Publishing House is rolling
out its new Sunday school curriculum with a major teacher training and
marketing effort that includes 150 workshops around the country.

"This is a much bigger launch than we've had in recent years," said the Rev.
Judith Smith, executive director for product development and associate
editorial director at the Publishing House. 

The Publishing House has scheduled almost 150 "Destination: Transformation"
workshops in about 125 locations, Smith said. The sessions will be held
between March 18 and April 29, and led by staff of the Publishing House,
staff of the United Methodist Board of Discipleship and Christian educators
in various parts of the country. In addition to introducing the material,
the workshops also include a training component for teachers of all
children, youth, and adults and for Christian educators.

Though workshops have been held for Sunday school curriculum in the past,
they were fewer in number, Smith said. The agency wants to give as many
people as possible a chance to see the materials and ask questions, she
said. 

The new curriculum is divided into three parts - "Exploring Faith," for
children in kindergarten through sixth grade; "Claim the Name" for young
people in confirmation classes; and "20/30: Bible Study for Young Adults."

"Exploring Faith" replaces the "New Invitation" curriculum that was
introduced six years ago, Smith said.

The new curriculum differs from its predecessor in several ways. For
starters, it is designed to cover the entire Bible in four years instead of
three. Classes will cover the comprehensive Bible study during fall, winter
and spring, then switch to special units for churches to use in summer. 

The change is the result of churches telling the Publishing House that they
don't always have full Sunday school classes in summer, so many children
were missing important Bible stories, Smith said. The summer options will
address topics such as becoming a Christian, the miracles of Jesus and what
it was like to live during biblical times, she said.

"We've also gone to a different kind of age division," Smith said. Churches
have reported that first-graders are basically non-readers and
second-graders are readers. The new curriculum has an early elementary
category for nonreaders and a middle elementary group for readers. Since
churches divide their classes in many different ways, the Publishing House
isn't specifying rigid grade divisions for the groups, but the early
elementary class generally corresponds to kindergarten and first-graders,
and the middle group would be second- and third-graders. 

An older elementary class is tailored for fourth- and fifth-graders, and a
preteen class is designed for sixth-graders and perhaps some
seventh-graders.

The preteen unit was designed with an eye for what appeals to its age group.
For example, instead of a traditional student book, the students use a
smaller piece that resembles a magazine, Smith said.

The Publishing House has designed the teacher resource to be straightforward
and easy to use, "and we've worked on making all the resources fun to use,"
Smith said. Teachers don't have much time to prepare for classes because of
their hectic lives, and the materials are designed with that in mind.

The workshops are free and anyone interested in finding out about workshop
dates and locations can call Curricuphone, 1-800-251-8591, or find a full
list and also register at www.desttran.com online.

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United Methodist News Service
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