Learning Together: Created to Care
I have learned that, despite all the research I do before choosing or writing curriculum, scheduling sessions, and creating materials to help carry faith formation into the home, if it isn’t presented properly, it’s not going to get used. If I’m going to sink human and financial resources into curriculum, I need it to be flexible enough to be retooled, remixed, and able to be represented in fresh ways. I need it to translate to multiple generations and remain relevant and engaging. I need to be able to use elements completely on digital educational platforms. There are a small handful of resources available on the market that fit these requirements. Spirit and Truth Publishing has just released another module in their Learning Together series, and again, I have a new, flexible, and engaging resource that I can use for a variety of settings.
Learning Together: Created to Care is part of a series of resources designed to be used in flexible settings. If you have a multi age Sunday School class, this will work. If you want something in a VBS type setting, these units flex for that. Are you looking for something to use intergenerationally? These have the meat to do so. Created to Care is a 5 lesson unit that focuses on what caring for creation means, how it manifests, and how we find out about it from the Bible. The unit contains whole group openings, small group conversations, music connections, service project suggestions, snack suggestions, and storytelling. The materials needed for each unit are almost exclusively ones you already have in your supply closet, and the lessons are written so that your leaders can easily teach. The language is inclusive and the included hyperlinks are recent and functioning. The sessions in this unit include air and sky, earth and waters, animals of water and air, land animals and people, and sabbath and rest.
Learning Together: Created to Care is incredibly flexible and provides you with a depth of learning that should not be missed. Yes, this can be used for your traditional Sunday School offering. Families are more likely to commit to short term classes now, and this 5 week session plays right into this. Families are also more likely to commit to classes that speak to what they value and research is showing us that they value creation care. This would make an excellent study to use with parents and children, as well as grandparents. I would also love to use it with a group of children with the express purpose of them taking what they have experienced and learned and running workshops for the congregation on the various topics included in Created to Care. They could set up learning centers during fellowship time after worship. They could use the time usually allotted for the children’s moment to discuss important facts they learned and how they relate to the day’s Scripture reading. I would also love to use this unit as a VBS alternative, bringing the activities outdoors on summer evenings for families to experience together. This is flexible enough that you could easily adapt portions of each session to be used in virtual classrooms. If I could wave a magic wand, I would have church councils work through this unit together as they go about the important business of coordinating church ministries and resources. Imagine what it would look like to have a leadership team that intentionally discussed justice and what we should be doing as God’s people. This flexible and thorough offering is worth your attention!
