A release from Shine
Hesston (Kan.) College is using the beloved storybook Bible from the Shine curriculum, The Peace Table, as a textbook in its Biblical Literature class. Introduction to Biblical Literature is a required course for all Hesston College students.
The school is a college of Mennonite Church USA. The Peace Table: A Storybook Bible was published in 2023 by Shine, which is a Sunday school curriculum published jointly by MennoMedia and Brethren Press.
With 17 percent of its student body coming from outside the United States, Hesston College hosts a robust and diverse international student population. With English not a first language for many of these college students, professor Michele Hershberger adapted one class of the BibLit course to better serve students navigating college in their second, third, or even fourth language.
With words not typically used in everyday conversation and multiple cultural contexts, reading the Bible in English is difficult for English-language learners. Hershberger began using The Peace Table as a course textbook this year.
“We read it out loud every day in class,” Hershberger says. “Students take turns reading paragraphs. Sometimes I stop and we discuss the cultural or historical context of the passage. They ask questions and sometimes we use the questions given at the end of each passage.”
The BibLit class uses the NRSV Bible for important stories not included in The Peace Table, but Hershberger has been pleased with every story the class uses from The Peace Table.
“The stories are accurate and draw out questions and comments from my college students,” Hershberger explains. Hershberger plans to continue using The Peace Table in the BibLit class.
— Find out more about Shine at https://shinecurriculum.com. Order Shine curriculum from Brethren Press at www.brethrenpress.com.
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