New Life is going to be doing some integrated teaching across the board. By that I mean that what is being taught on Sunday morning to the adults is being taught to the children which is being taught to the youth on Sunday night which is again being taught to life groups, etc. As a Family Minister, I am really pumped about this idea because it gets families talking about the same story or principle. So the adults are able to go home and teach their children or even help them understand the stories better which promotes parents as the primary spiritual teachers (which they were naturally created to do). It’s the whole Orange philosophy.
So what do you think about that idea? Have you tried it at your church before? How did it go? I am sure that just as there are probably a lot of pros to this, there is probably a lot of cons to it as well. So TAKE A MINUTE and hash it out. The blackboard is open, grab some chalk and share your thoughts.
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Hey Tom,
I like the idea of it for specific purposes, but not as the default. Community Christian Church in Naperville, IL loves it and it's part of their Big Idea philosophy that you can read about in that book.
My concern is where it's not Orange. Part of Orange thinking is understanding that not every generation needs the same Biblical instruction, and that's obvious with topics like sex or marriage but even how you approach it is different. Churches like CCC in IL know that, and veer from the plan at those times but my preference is to have distinct content and possibly integrate 1-2 times a year. Our children's ministry and student ministry will integrate for 5 weeks this fall but we haven't done that before.
One advantage is that everyone learns the same thing and can talk about it throughout the week. CCC in IL has said they've seen great benefits from that.
Thanks for the comment Nick. I think the approach is different as well. If I understand you correctly, even if you talk about the same subject but maybe present different stories to hammer home that subject might be most beneficial. For instance trying to teach children from the story of the woman at the well may not be as ideal as teaching a different story with the same teaching. I would love to hear back from you about how it goes with your integration.