Fresh Outlook: Spring ’24 Pack

Most of the time, I use print curriculum as a springboard to help me plan alternate ways of getting at a lesson. I have ways that I like to supplement. I have trusted resources I bring in. I will drop everything if the lesson is bombing and run in a completely different direction. I can probably count on half the fingers of one of my hands the number of times I have run a lesson completely as written in my 25 years of educational ministry. Don’t get me wrong- I like prewritten curriculum, but I like it as a spine, not the entirety of what I do. Every once in a while, something comes along that I can use immediately and completely. The units in the Fresh Outlook: Spring ‘24 series fall into this category; they are superbly written, highly engaging, easy to use, and deep. 

Fresh Outlook: Spring ‘24 contains three units; God In the Mirror, Sex in the Bible, and What’s Your Superpower. Each unit has four lessons, organized around themes that support the main topic. Each lesson contains Scripture links to discuss, videos to facilitate conversation, discussion questions to help learners engage and go more deeply into the topic, and time for reflection. The links are current and work. The discussion questions are salient and do not talk down to youth, young adults, and adults. They are structured so that groups go for meaning and application, not merely memorization. Reflection time is authentic and follows several meaningful activities. The flow of the lessons makes it easy for people to interact using their skills and talents, allowing the experiences to be customized to the learners in your group rather than the hypothetical people that could enter a congregation. Everything that leaders need is provided. Make sure to tap leaders that are comfortable with quiet reflection, navigating emotionally charged topics, and able to redirect a group if a distracting rabbit trail is followed.

Fresh Outlook is geared towards youth and young adults, written because of specific questions they have asked to discuss. Yes, these units would make spring planning a breeze for your youth and young adult faith formation time. They are excellent. But don’t silo them just to your traditional Sunday School hour! These would be a wonderful choice to use in midweek enrichment classes, easily translating to an online classroom so people could join from where they are. You could offer these multigenerationally for special seasons. Imagine the power of a weekend-long family retreat using one of these units. The depth of conversation and understanding that would flow from such a session would make for a milestone event for families. I’d also love to see church councils spend time with these lessons. Working together through some of the issues that matter most to our youth and young adults, learning new resources for these types of conversations, and acquiring knowledge to help make ministry decisions would all be invaluable. Get these. You won’t regret it.