How to Choose the Curriculum Your Church Needs

Written by Dwight Moss

For Sunday School leaders, decisions are a way of life. But few decisions are as important and affect as many people as the decision regarding Bible study curriculum. So many factors enter in - doctrinal integrity, denominational underpinnings, cost, readability, teachability, color versus black-and-white design, print size, uniformity with other ages, and so on. In order to make the best choice for your church, several questions need to considered throughout the decision-making process.

What Is Sunday School Curriculum?
It is important to see curriculum as a process and not just as material used only to help "get through the class time." "Sunday School curriculum is the continuous course, process, or system for Bible study groups to use to guide unbelievers toward faith in Jesus Christ and believers toward Christlikeness through the transformational power of the Holy Spirit." *

Who Should Choose Curriculum?
Letting each Sunday School class or department make its own curriculum choice is not the wisest decision, since continuity of teaching content can be lost. Rather, consideration should be made regarding the overall ministry of Sunday School. Larger churches may opt to utilize a collaborative effort - for example, including division or department directors in making a curriculum selection. However, in most churches a key leader such as the Sunday School director, minister of education, or pastor makes the choice of curriculum.

How Does Our Curriculum Support the Purposes of Our Sunday School Ministry?
Sunday School is an overall strategy designed with the dual purposes of evangelism and discipleship. The material used in Bible study groups of all ages should: (1) meet the needs of the unsaved person who often has questions and is moving toward a relationship with Christ; and (2) help disciple the Christian toward greater spiritual maturity and help launch him or her into some type of service.

Does Curriculum Make a Difference in People's Daily Lives?
This is where teaching for spiritual transformation comes into play. If the teacher sees Sunday School as a strategy, he or she will teach accordingly. This type of teaching sees as one of its goals lives being transformed by the gospel. LifeWay Church Resources' curriculum helps the teacher by using the three-step process of Prepare, Encounter, and Continue.

• The teacher prepares the room for an optimum teaching environment. Also, he prepares through personal Bible study and participation in leadership meetings.
  
• Teachers help people experience an encounter with God through His Word within the Bible study group.
  
• Part of the goal of Continue is to apply the lesson in daily life. This includes a desire to reach others for Christ. This is spiritual growth displayed outside of the group.

How is LifeWay Curriculum Designed for Churches of Different Sizes and Situations?
Typically, smaller churches use broadly graded curriculum; that is, curriculum written for classes that include a wider span of ages. For example, a church may provide one class for grades 1-3 and one class for grades 4-6. Explore the Bible, for adults and young adults, is broadly graded. For the larger church, Family Bible Study is more closely graded for adults, but this series also offers a nongraded line. Family Bible Study for both children and preschoolers offers pieces that are both broadly graded and closely graded. Bible Foundations for preschoolers and children is considered a broadly graded curriculum.

How Can I Order LifeWay Curriculum?
LifeWay curriculum can be ordered easily and in a variety of ways:

1. Order through LifeWay's online catalog 
2. Order by calling LifeWay toll-free at 1-800-458-2772
3. Order by mail - you can obtain an order form by calling LifeWay Customer Service

Visit LifeWay's online Curriculum Guide for more information on all the Bible Study resources which LifeWay offers, including samples of curriculum packages.

* Ken Hemphill and Bill Taylor, Ten Best Practices to Make Your Sunday School Work (Nashville: LifeWay Press, 2001), 195.

Dwight Moss is Sunday School Director at First Baptist Church in Fulton, Kentucky and a factory sales representative for Continental Research Corporation.

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