H7 Story: A Lasting Impact
We did it! After 20 weeks, we finished the first section of the New City Catechism Curriculum (NCC). We all know what we were taught every Sunday during this series. But what about our kids?
Well, they were learning the same thing right alongside us!
Our 180 Students had the Sunday sermon broken down for them each week with some age-appropriate adjustments and explanations. Fifteeen-year-old Isaac Kitsteiner explained that each Wednesday, Student Director Travis Chapman would “reteach” what Scott or the Campus Pastor had spoken on the previous Sunday. Isaac explained that Travis’ message ran very similarly to what he heard on Sundays with some more detailed explanations of parts that might be too big for teenagers to understand in order to make the doctrine clearer. Of course, some of our Student attenders do not attend church at all on Sunday or do not attend FCC. In this case, the message was brand new but still brought to them in an accessible way.
Children from pre-school to fifth grade are taught in Kids each Sunday at the same time as their parents. Bethany Hodge has two children in class each Sunday. She took some time to explain what these 20-weeks included for her children in their classes and how their family attempted to reinforce this learning at home. Sometimes, as parents, we think that the church can give our children everything they need, however, as Bethany’s depiction explains, Sunday service provides only a small portion of what our children need each week to be raised for the Lord.
Asher (age 7) and Jada (age 9) spent each Sunday working through illustrations and handouts in class and both enjoyed the code deciphering challenge and fill-in-the-blank silly story and trinity diagram. All of these activities helped them visualize the Biblical concepts they were learning about. “Asher was able to memorize each question and answer it, just from it being repeated so often in class and then me asking the kids to share what they discussed in class,” Bethany explained.
The Hodges would take the activities presented in class (like the Bible verse puzzle and handouts that the kids took home) to reinforce the concepts they had been taught that week. “We have an established daily time we spend with God,” she explained, “and lots of conversations have happened during that time because of NCC content on Sundays.”
When the 10 Commandments were covered as part of the New City Curriculum, Bethany was able to have some good discussions with her daughter about coveting and jealousy. The kids were also able to make some good connections between the Old and New Testament through this. When Jesus speaks in Matthew 5 about how hating someone in your heart being the same as murder, the family was able to link that back to what they had learned about the 10 Commandments. Bethany concluded by saying: “Just my own curiosity about what my kids were absorbing and learning in class and giving our family daily opportunities to focus on our relationship with God has helped this curriculum have a lasting spiritual impact.”
Well, they were learning the same thing right alongside us!
Our 180 Students had the Sunday sermon broken down for them each week with some age-appropriate adjustments and explanations. Fifteeen-year-old Isaac Kitsteiner explained that each Wednesday, Student Director Travis Chapman would “reteach” what Scott or the Campus Pastor had spoken on the previous Sunday. Isaac explained that Travis’ message ran very similarly to what he heard on Sundays with some more detailed explanations of parts that might be too big for teenagers to understand in order to make the doctrine clearer. Of course, some of our Student attenders do not attend church at all on Sunday or do not attend FCC. In this case, the message was brand new but still brought to them in an accessible way.
Children from pre-school to fifth grade are taught in Kids each Sunday at the same time as their parents. Bethany Hodge has two children in class each Sunday. She took some time to explain what these 20-weeks included for her children in their classes and how their family attempted to reinforce this learning at home. Sometimes, as parents, we think that the church can give our children everything they need, however, as Bethany’s depiction explains, Sunday service provides only a small portion of what our children need each week to be raised for the Lord.
Asher (age 7) and Jada (age 9) spent each Sunday working through illustrations and handouts in class and both enjoyed the code deciphering challenge and fill-in-the-blank silly story and trinity diagram. All of these activities helped them visualize the Biblical concepts they were learning about. “Asher was able to memorize each question and answer it, just from it being repeated so often in class and then me asking the kids to share what they discussed in class,” Bethany explained.
The Hodges would take the activities presented in class (like the Bible verse puzzle and handouts that the kids took home) to reinforce the concepts they had been taught that week. “We have an established daily time we spend with God,” she explained, “and lots of conversations have happened during that time because of NCC content on Sundays.”
When the 10 Commandments were covered as part of the New City Curriculum, Bethany was able to have some good discussions with her daughter about coveting and jealousy. The kids were also able to make some good connections between the Old and New Testament through this. When Jesus speaks in Matthew 5 about how hating someone in your heart being the same as murder, the family was able to link that back to what they had learned about the 10 Commandments. Bethany concluded by saying: “Just my own curiosity about what my kids were absorbing and learning in class and giving our family daily opportunities to focus on our relationship with God has helped this curriculum have a lasting spiritual impact.”