David C. Cook Bible-in-Life Curriculum and Noah's Park Children's Church

Anglican Theological Review, Spring 2004 by Harrison, Rita M

David C. Cook Bible-in-Life Curriculum and Noah's Park Children's Church. Colorado Springs, CoIo.: Cook Communications Ministries. See www.cookministries.com.

The Bible-in-Life Curriculum has much to recommend it. It is easy to use, biblically focused, and, particularly for younger children, developmentally appropriate. Unfortunately, many Anglicans will find its overriding concern with individual salvation too theologically narrow.

The teachers' guides are attractive, well laid out, and suggest a variety of age-appropriate activities, crafts, stories, and games. The teacher is encouraged to choose from among many options when preparing for a class. In addition, material is provided for the instructor's personal devotions and meditation. As those of us who search for church school teachers are well aware, the teacher's guide must be easy for the teacher to use. These are. They are, in fact, so easy, that they provide answers for almost all of the questions that one might ask the students. This is a mixed blessing. For teachers who are comfortable teaching, but uncomfortable with their mastery of the biblical material, the scripted answers provide a "security blanket," so that the teacher can expand ideas, and welcome the child's unexpected answer. For the teacher who is not comfortable with teaching, the scripted answers may cut off conversation. The teacher now has the "right answer" in hand, and can, in turn, hand it to the students without allowing enough exploratory conversation.

Lessons are arranged thematically, around such themes as humility, concern, and hope. The Bible lesson each week reflects the theme in some way. Thus, the narrative flow of some of Scripture is sacrificed for the illustration of themes. At Christmas and Easter, the birth and resurrection narratives are used, however. Throughout the entire curriculum, the ultimate concern is the child's personal salvation. The teachers' guides demonstrate this priority by using the inside back covers to provide a list of steps by which one can lead a child or youth to Christ.

The essential theology of salvation is penal substitutionary atonement (inside back cover of any teachers guide), with an emphasis on an individual's salvation and ultimate journey to heaven. The high school materials for December 2002-February 2003 contain a unit on the book of Revelation. The theme of this unit is hope, and the hope presented is the hope that we can, through faith in Jesus, go to heaven at the time of the final judgment. The teacher is expected to emphasize that "God is just, and hell is real" (High School Teachers Guide, p. 86). Thus, "realizing the horror that is in store should encourage you and your students to witness to non-Christians even more" (p. 85).

There is no discussion of social justice or environmental issues. Because of the focus on individual conversion and eventual heavenly existence, life in this world is deemed to be important only insofar as it prepares one for heaven, or helps others get there. Therefore, even when the Early Elementary Teacher's guide (March-May 2003) considers Christ's kingship, Jesus is described as one who "came to save us from our sins and establish a heavenly eternal kingdom" (p. 51). The possibility that peace and justice here and now might have something to do with Jesus' kingdom does not even register on the curriculum authors' radar. For students in upper elementary, middle, and high schools, this is a serious problem. In today's world, young people are very aware of environmental degradation and social injustice. Theological conversation about these issues ought to be part of a church school curriculum.

Noah's Park Children's Church is correlated to the Bible-in-Life curriculum. It is designed to be used with children from preschool through grade three, with fourth and fifth graders serving as helpers (training suggestions are provided). The material can be adapted for church schools that last anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes. This curriculum carries the same theological bent as the Bible-in-Life materials. For this younger age group the emphasis is on telling the Bible story and providing activities to reinforce some themes form the story.

Curriculum provided by David C. Cook is easy for teachers to use. Its theology is focused upon individual salvation and heavenly existence. For toddlers through grade three, the primary focus of a lesson is telling a biblical story in a developmentally appropriate way. For these age groups, the materials are probably quite useful as long as the teachers can free themselves from the scripted questions and answers. For the older groups (elementary through high school) the theology will likely be problematic for many Anglicans.

RITA M. HARRISON

Anglican Diocese of Saskatoon

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan