As a pastor in a small church, I’m actively involved in teaching at one level or another. We use Gather ’Round for children, Uniform Series for our adult class, and the Revised Common Lectionary for our worship resources. Would it be possible for the denomination to coordinate all aspects of congregational life by having a common biblical outline for all we do?
Signed: Pastoring in Pennsylvania

Dear PA Pastor:
Life would certainly be simpler for you if we had one common outline for the denomination. Gather ’Round uses a four-year outline, the Uniform Series has a six-year outline, and the lectionary is based on a three-year cycle. Each of these outlines is developed in partnerships consisting of two or more denominations.

Since this question came to Gather ’Round, I suggest that you cover the Bible in four years with this curriculum’s outline. Connect is the study guide for parents but it can include all adults. With all age groups studying the same text in Sunday school, why not use the same theme for the worship component? Some congregations are coordinating worship and education themes with great success. It’s worth a try!

Dear Anna:
I’m a busy church secretary. It’s a lot of work for me to print out the teacher’s guide for youth leaders every quarter. Why can’t youth have a printed teacher’s guide like the other age groups?
Signed: Overworked in the Office

Dear Overworked:
When we decided to include a youth unit in the Gather ’Round curriculum, we didn’t know what to expect, since our previous curriculum did not have a youth component. We went the route of the download and CD versions, believing that youth leaders are computer savvy and might prefer this method of delivery. We have received positive feedback from youth leaders about this decision.

I suggest that you purchase the CD version of the youth curriculum. You could e-mail the sessions to the teachers on a weekly basis or pass the CD around for the leaders to share or download onto their computers. Just don’t share the CD with another congregation—that would be breaking copyright rules.

I teach a Parent/Caregiver group. This group does not like doing activities. They prefer lecture and discussion. I have to do additional research and prepare my own discussion questions apart from the weekly session plans. Could there be more discussion questions and fewer activities?
Signed: Devoted to Discussions

Dear Devoted:
It’s a good idea for adults as well as children to engage all the senses as they learn to know God. Research shows that adults do prefer to learn in a variety of ways in addition to discussion. Discussions tend to be dominated by the more extroverted, verbal members of the group. Adults who are invited to write or draw or shape a symbol with clay, for example, are often very willing—as long as they are not obligated to “show and tell.”

Teachers tend to lead from their own comfort zones. Lecture and discussion have been the most common methods of teaching adults. I encourage you to take a risk: do one small activity with the group each week, even if it takes some coaxing. Who knows, you might even attract some adults who are looking for more active learning.

Dear Anna:
Parents have commented that even young children pay attention to the sermon when it is on same text as the Sunday school session. It would be wonderful if Gather ’Round followed the lectionary so there would be more regular coordination. Can you do this?
Signed: Lectionary Fan

Dear Lectionary Fan:
It makes sense that children pay attention to a sermon when something connects for them. Gather ’Round created a story-based Bible outline that guides learners through the whole Bible every four years. The Revised Common Lectionary has a three-year outline and multiple scripture texts for each week, which makes it more difficult to work with for Sunday school.

You might try what some churches have been doing and build some or all of your worship services around the Gather ’Round theme. Work with teachers to make as many connections as possible. In one congregation, children hear the Bible story during children’s time. Then, during Sunday school, they spend more time on Connect and Responding activities. In another congregation, even when the pastor is not preaching on the Gather ’Round text, he uses the weekly faith focus to inform his sermon preparation.

How can we encourage teachers to be more open about their faith when they teach? I see many teachers only covering the facts of the Bible story and not applying it to life, which is what our kids need to learn. What can I do to get teachers to emphasize the faith focus part of the session too?
Signed: Focusing on Faith

Dear Focusing on Faith:
You are so right! Teaching Sunday school is much more than introducing kids to the facts found in the Bible. It’s about inviting children into a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. Teachers with a maturing Christian faith teach about this relationship in what they do and say. Sharing personal stories, modeling Christ-like ways, and being willing to have conversations about our faith experiences are necessary tools for growing faithful Christians.

There is a reason the faith focus is printed in multiple locations in the teacher’s guide. We want teachers to hold that lens in front of everything they do as a reminder that teaching Sunday school is really about relating to God.

Perhaps you can remind teachers about this in teachers’ meetings. You can be a model for them by sharing a personal faith experience and inviting them to do the same.

Dear Anna:
My youth group tends to engage best with whole-group discussions and does not care for breaking into small groups. How do I get them to understand the benefits of small-group discussions?
Signed: Leading Youth in Iowa

Dear Youth Leader:
Group discussions can be vibrant or they can be stagnant, depending on the participation. In large-group discussions, only extroverted and articulate youth will participate. Introverts require more time to think about an answer before they speak. By the time they have formulated an answer, the discussion has moved on.

To deal with this situation, consider giving each youth several slips of paper. Each time they speak they must hand in one slip. When the slips are used up, they must be silent. This may encourage quieter members to speak up.

Sometimes youth don’t speak up because they fear being mocked or teased or disregarded because of their thoughts. It helps to give ground rules for discussions, reminding youth to respect each other and what is being said.

Small-group discussions do not work unless there is a high degree of trust among the members. You can’t force youth to share their thoughts or feelings. Try giving non-threatening assignments, such as fact-finding, in groups of two or three. Or have short “knee-nudges” where you ask two people to respond to a simple feeling question.

Our primary children have a tough time with some of the reading in the student book. How can we best use the student books with beginning readers and nonreaders?
Signed: Best for beginners

Dear Best for beginners:
There are three activities each week in Good News Reader, and at least one of these is designed to be done by children who cannot read. Children want to read and find it frustrating when they cannot. Encourage nonreaders to pick out words they do know and help them learn a few new words. Having a reading buddy can have additional friendship-making benefits. If the whole group has difficulty reading, do the activity together as you do the reading. As the year progresses, you will probably find that the children are pleased that they can read more words on their own.

Dear Anna:
I was surprised to learn that some Gather 'Round quarters start earlier than the beginning of a month. This makes it confusing to line up teachers for different quarters. What is going on?
Signed: Surprised and confused

Dear Surprised:
Gather 'Round quarters each run 13 weeks, which provides consistency within the materials from quarter to quarter. But this does mean that eventually the quarters no longer jive well with the calendar, and we have received similar messages of concern from others.

We will be changing our system with the summer quarter of 2010. That quarter will have 14 sessions, so that the fall quarter of 2010 will begin with Labor Day weekend. From then on, the following rules will apply: The fall quarter will always begin on Labor Day Sunday. The winter quarter will begin on the first Sunday in Advent (which falls on either the last Sunday in November or the first Sunday in December). The spring quarter will always begin on the first Sunday in March. The summer quarter will always begin on the first Sunday in June.

This means that the number of weeks per quarter will vary somewhat, from 12 to 14. We'll keep you informed so you can plan ahead for the quarters that have more or less than the usual 13 weeks. We hope this helps your scheduling. Let us know!