Sunday School & Narrative Lectionary

[Emily Tveite]

Hello all!  We are going to begin using the Narrative Lectionary in the fall.  In the past, we've used lectionary-based Sunday School for people of all ages and found it successful in helping parents and kids talk to one another about faith.  We want to cover the same stories in Sunday School as the Sunday readings.  I am wondering if anyone has used any specific curriculum or materials to synchronize the narrative lectionary with Sunday School.  I took a look at Spark Classroom and Rotation lessons and some other resources, but I wonder if anyone has endeavored to do this already/before.  Any advice or suggestions you have would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

Emily Tveite

[Chip]

The congregation I serve is also moving to the narrative lectionary, also has used lectionary-based curriculum for Sunday School. With nothing developed yet, we have begun the process. September is almost done and we are starting on October. Lessons are not as "snazzy" as those from the publishing houses, but they are solid. We would love to have partners in writing and sharing (no cost). Please let me know if you would like more information about being part of this writing project. You can get my information on the ELCA Rostered Leader look up. I put my email on here and it prompted me to remove it. Hate getting my address on those 'bot created lists!

Chip Borgstadt

[Norma Malfatti]

We're not moving to Narrative Lectionary yet though I anticipate doing so in the next year or so.  We currently use Spark Rotation and the way we're going to be doing it next year is that at some point in the rotation their story shows up in the Lectionary. So there's not a one-to-one Sunday School - Lectionary match but at least they're hearing the stories in worship.

[Pastor Jonathan]

We just pulled the trigger on using the Narrative Lectionary for next year, but the biggest hitch was Sunday School.  It is REALLY IMPORTANT to our teachers and kids that the curriculum line up with what is happening in worship.  For this upcoming year - Matthew - the SPARK resources that have been sifted through by www.ClergyStuff.com are very helpful, and we are going to use those.  It doesn't always line up, but for the most part is pretty well connected.  And they did it for all the SPARK resources so there is a lot of good info., and I know they are planning to continue to do this in the future.  We are using SPARK Classroom. Two problems - 1. The upfront cost is pretty high because you have to buy ALL the units.  It will even out in future years, hopefully.  2. I have no idea how they are going to do this for the John year, and the Mark year looks pretty sparse as well.  We are either going to skip John in 2013-14 and go right to Luke hoping that a resource will be available in the future, or we are going to take the SPARK material and try to write similar curriculum for the John passages that don't line up.  Certainly we would be willing to share as well.  But the SPARK Classroom stuff looks pretty doable for both Matthew and Luke.  

One last possibility we are considering is to use whatever curriculum works best, and have the Sunday School kids (or one class a week) present their lesson in song, art, etc.instead of the Children's Message or another reading, etc.  

[Chip]

St. Mark's Lutheran in Valley, Nebraska, has just rolled out a multi-age approach to NL faith formation curriculum. It is free to anyone who wants to use it. You can download September lessons at  http://nlcurriculum.wordpress.com/ . October and November are being compiled and will be available soon. If you use any of the lessons and can comment on how you adapted them, we hope to offer more age specific plans the next time around. Thanks.

[Crystal Rowe]

Just found this group while searching for "Narrative lectionary kids materials."  I have previously used the Spark lectionary-based curriculum and really loved it. The congregation I serve is an evening service with no Sunday school component, but I'd love to have a few kids resources available for the times we do have children attend our Bible study and/or worship.  Has anyone created anything for 2013-2014 or in the process of creating? If so, I'd love to jump in and help/be a part of the conversation.

Thank you!!

[Gregory Rawn]

Hello!  My small, independent publishing company, Spirit and Truth Publishing, has created a four-year cycle of elementary-aged Christian education curricula to match with the readings of the Narrative Lectionary.  Teach your elementary-aged students the story of God’s awesome love corresponding with the texts of the Narrative Lectionary!  Spirit and Truth Publishing has released our 2014-2015 pricing for our “Living the Word: Teaching Kids God’s Story (Narrative Lectionary, Year 1)” Christian education materials!  Pricing, order forms, scope and sequence, and full sample lesson are available on our website at www.SpiritAndTruthPublishing.com.

On Tuesday, June 26, 2012 1:41:03 PM UTC-5, Emily Tveite wrote: