A release from Brethren Press
The Shine curriculum from Brethren Press is helping congregations provide Christian formation while maintaining social distancing. With the Sunday school landscape changing, most churches will either rely on parents to teach their own children or have teachers host online classes. These new downloadable options from Shine work in conjunction with the fall curriculum and will assist leaders by supplying useful resources to accommodate multiple formats and class settings.
“It may be some time before we know what worship and faith formation will look like in the future,” said Joan Daggett, Shine project director. “We have curriculum pieces that are well suited for such a time as this. What we have to do is show churches how to use them.”
On June 19, Shine announced two of the new digital resources: “Shine at Home” and “Shine Connect.”
“Shine at Home” is a new, simple option for families to do at home if congregations are not resuming regular Sunday school this fall. “Shine at Home” includes weekly mini-sessions, complete with a prayer practice, ideas for sharing the Bible story, questions and conversation prompts, media suggestions, and four activities that help children and families explore the Bible story. Use with Shine’s storytelling, music, and student resources for a fun learning experience. “Shine at Home” is now available for preorder and will be released Aug. 1 as a downloadable PDF to email to all the families in the purchasing congregation.
“Shine Connect” is a new free resource for those faith formation teachers leading children through online Sunday school sessions. “Shine Connect” materials are free with the purchase of any Shine teacher’s guide starting with Fall 2020 materials. The early childhood resource includes a two-page outline and tips for creating fun, online sessions for preschoolers using the activities in the teacher’s guide and storytelling pictures in the resource pack. A more robust guide with weekly online session plans for elementary children accompanies the primary, older elementary, and multi-age teacher’s guides. “Shine Connect” for junior youth provides a simple framework and tips for facilitating discussion around the Bible story and connecting via the at-home devotional, “Quest.” The “Shine Connect” free resources will become available when the fall curriculum ships on July 1.
“Shine staff continue to monitor the needs of churches and welcome feedback and suggestions as we move forward,” Daggett says. “Our goal is to help churches keep connections strong with their children, youth, and families during these challenging times.”
All Shine printed curriculum and digital resources can be found at www.shinecurriculum.com or www.brethrenpress.com .
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