Sabbath School Lessons Go Online -- United News July, 2002

Beginning in August of this year 240 Sabbath School lessons for teachers will be posted on the UCG website. This Sabbath School project, designed to help instructors provide exciting, interactive classes, is the end result of many years of effort involving approximately 30 members and ministers. 

Though many United congregations had functional Sabbath School programs underway when United began, there was a desire to make available a UCGIA approved curriculum and lessons that would be made available to all congregations.  Since my wife Judy had experience in working with children and had proposed this initiative, she and I were asked to coordinate this project under the direction of the Ministerial Services Youth Education Committee. 

The emphasis in United is on collaboration and this undertaking provided a very unique way to combine the talents of many individuals.  Unlike having a few full-time employees producing the lessons, this project would involve over 25 church members and 5 pastors scattered across the country. 

Since there was a desire to tap into the expertise and experience of the membership, the first step was to find out who was willing to work on the project.  A survey was developed by the Home Office and was sent out to the membership in 1997. However, before the volunteers could begin working on the actual lessons, a curriculum had to first be developed.

The initial step in creating a curriculum was to collect and categorize all the programs that were presently being used in local congregations. A committee in Minneapolis, consisting of Jan Creed, Sue Ellison, Christy Hoaglun, Linda Knapp, Michelle Rageth, and Judy Servidio, reviewed all the Sabbath School programs being used in the field in order to learn the commonality of what was being taught.  This became the basis of the proposed Sabbath School curriculum.

Once a preliminary curriculum was developed, it was sent to the volunteers for review and comment. After incorporating the suggestions and edits of the volunteers, the updated version was presented to the Council in November of 1998, and approved.  The curriculum consisted of six levels (K through 5^th grade) of which there are four lessons per month covering ten months of the year. The second phase of the project, creating teacher's outlines for each of the 240 lessons, was then ready to begin.

Writing teams were developed for each of the six-grade levels based on volunteer's response to the survey. Church pastors, consisting of Steve Myers, Greg Sargent, Jim Servidio, Gary Smith, and Herb Teitgen became team leaders of the various levels.  Though an overall format and editing style was established, the various lessons reflect the individuality, experience, and talents of each writer.

Once each lesson was written it was reviewed by the Youth Education Committee for doctrinal accuracy and compatibility with the curriculum. Tony Kardell, a professional graphics designer from the Minneapolis congregation, created the lay out and later reformatted the lessons in their present configuration.  The lessons were ready for use by Sabbath School instructors in the fall of 2000.

It was determined that the 2000-2001 school year would be used as a testing period. As teachers utilized the lessons during that year, we asked for feedback so that we could do further refinement and editing. Mrs. Becky Bennett of the Cincinnati congregation provided the final editing and updating of the lessons based on the suggestions sent in by the teachers.  These revised lessons were used this past year.

Now that the final edits have been made, we are making the lessons available on our Youth Education web site with the help of webmaster Mr. Andy Lausted.  We deeply appreciate the hundreds of hours that our volunteers gave to make this project a success.  These lessons will greatly assist our teachers in illustrating and teaching the truth of God to our children.

Though we feel Sabbath School is very important, the time spent in class was never intended to take the place of parental instruction in the home.  For this reason each lesson contains a Family Activity Sheet, which instructors give to the children to take home. This sheet explains the fundamental purpose of the lesson and also suggests ways by which the parents can reinforce the biblical principles covered.  Thus, parents are kept fully apprised of what their children are learning, and are also helped in their own teaching of their sons and daughters.

The following writers served as members on the various writing teams.  Their time and effort will produce much fruit in the lives of our children for years to come.  Level K — Sue Allen, Dianne Clark, Barb Fouch, Corinne Morrison, Pete McNair and Judy Servidio. Level 1 — Shannon Allwine, Amy Arner, Sue Blumel, Janice Creed, Kathy Myers, Donna Myers, Kim Petty, Connie Seifert and Marti Springer. Level 2- Sue Ellison, Maxine Mitchell, Phyllis Newton, Jeanne Patton, Ramona Wood and Janice Spieker. Level 3 — Debbie Call, Mike Bennett, Becky Bennett, Jane Havens, Tom Henager, Linda Hukle and Heather Martin. Level 4 — Karen Allwine, Beverly Crystal, Pamela Decker, Dagmar Howe, Sue Jentzen, Brian Kelso, Matthew Kelso, Susan Krenz, Jessa Moser and Marian Sargent.  Level 5 — Raymond Blouin, Jim Burbeck, Marcus Brown, Roy Fouch, Skip Miller, Violet Sanders and Chris Westrick.

 

Sabbath School FAQ

1. Are congregations of the United Church of God required to use these outlines for their youth instruction?

No! These Sabbath School Teacher Outlines are being made available for any congregations that desire to use them. Some teachers prefer to use their own material or other programs. Instructors may use some or all of the outlines depending upon their need.

2. There are four lessons prepared for each month during the school year. What if you do not meet four times each month?

If a particular program does not meet each week, the teachers have the option of choosing which lessons they will utilize that month. We recommend, however, that instructors follow the basic progression of the lessons throughout the year since the program has been designed to maintain a flow from one month to the next.

3. When do you recommend Sabbath School classes be held each Sabbath? Can they be held during services?

How each Sabbath School program fits into the time allotted for church services and fellowship is to be determined by the church leadership of each congregation. Some have the classes before or after services, and some have them during a portion of the service. We do not recommend that classes be conducted during the sermon on a regular basis.

4. Are teachers permitted to edit or use portions of the outlines, or must they follow it exactly as written?

It is understood that every teacher will not follow the outlines word for word. Adding some personal illustrations, omitting some references, and modifying the lessons in a minor way is acceptable. However, since the church has approved the curriculum and outlines, we ask instructors not to extensively revise the lesson so that the original message developed by the author is reflected.

5. Why are some lessons longer than others?

Over 25 different individuals contributed to writing the outlines. Though there were general guidelines for uniformity, we allowed each teacher the latitude to develop the main purpose of the lesson as he or she felt necessary. Thus, the lessons express a cohesiveness and similarity, yet reflect the individual style and abilities of each writer.

6. How do we arrange our classes if we only have 1 or 2 students in a grade level?

The pastor and Sabbath School coordinators can determine the best way to organize classes and present the material. When making adjustments, sometimes the art projects will need to be modified. We understand that every congregation will not always have sufficient numbers to have six levels. Combining levels is acceptable, if necessary.

7. I noticed in one of the teacher's outlines that a resource was referenced which contained illustrations of Jesus. What is the Sabbath School policy with respect to pictures or illustrations of Christ?

The United Church of God continues to maintain our long held practice of not including pictures or depictions of Jesus Christ in our publications. Because of respect for the second commandment and our realization that no one knows exactly what Jesus looked like, we avoid attempts at portraying our Savior. Our Sabbath School Teacher's Outlines reflect this policy by not including drawings or representations of Jesus.

Occasionally, the writers of the lessons point the Sabbath School instructors to outside resources that they feel may help enhance the effectiveness of the overall subject matter. Although these resources may themselves contain certain illustrations or representations, it is not the intent of the author that the teachers draw a student's attention to any specific portrayal of Jesus. Though we know Jesus looked similar to the average Jew of His day and very much unlike most traditional artwork, the Sabbath School program policy is to not create imagined images, provide coloring materials, or create a man-made depiction of Jesus Christ for our children.