12 themes are currently available, and a few new themes come out every year. Each theme has 4 lessons and consists of several elements:

• PDFs for the Master Teacher and Group Leader, plus a supply list and a "Gathering Tool" 
• A series video and a countdown video, in regular and high-def formats
• Two presentation slides for use in PowerPoint, Keynote, or worship software (both in fullscreen and widescreen formats), one with full text/graphics and one you can customize
• An 11x17 poster in two formats, letterhead (8 1/2 x 11, portrait or landscape), and a T-shirt design

In short, you get a pretty massive file for each theme (about 300 MB if you choose to download it all) and quite a bit of material to support the lessons, both for publicity purposes and within the session.

Each theme requires the use of Student Books as well, which must be purchased separately. (There is no downloadable/reproducible Student Book option.) Theoretically, you could create your own slides for the small group time, but this would be less than ideal.

The material has been field-tested in a young adult setting. Although there are references to youth sprinkled throughout the website, I definitely think it's more appropriate for college-aged and young adult groups.

The Master Teacher PDF and the Group Leader PDF are largely the same, with the Master Teacher guide having somewhat more presentation-style and large group material and the Group Leader guide having more activity material. (In other words, some groups may only need the Group Leader outline, while others may use both.) The format is pretty similar from week to week:

• Countdown video (optional)
• The "Entry Point" - An opening activity or object lesson.
• The "Vantage Point" - A paragraph-style section of suggested text and questions to introduce and explain the scripture and get participants talking. The Master Teacher's PDF contains more text than the Group Leaders's PDF does.
• The "Match Point" - More paragraphs of text that help the speaker or leader to connect the material to the audience. This section contains illustration, activity, or video suggestions you can use.
• The "Launching Point" - A short introduction to the small group time. (Master Teacher only.)
• The "Turning Point" - A section of text and questions to help participants connect the lesson's point with head, heart, and hands.

Cost-wise, Room 1228 is perhaps not going to fit the budget of many small and mid-sized congregations. A single theme is $249, or a full year's unlimited access to all themes is $499. Obviously, the full pass is by far the better deal. If you used 8 themes in a typical year (assuming you take summer and some other weeks off), you'd spend about $62 per month, 12 themes would average $42 per month. You'll also need to purchase Student Workbooks at $2.99 per person per theme.

I read through all of the lessons for three of the twelve themes (Redefining Normal, Old School, and On the Verge), and browsed a bit through some of the others. (You will be able to read the first lesson of each theme before making a purchase.) Things I like include:

• The artwork. It's definitely one of the best things about the study—it's quirky, eye-catching, open-ended, fun! And at least as importantly, good artwork helps communicate theology metaphorically.
• The videos. Like the rest of the artwork, the theme introduction videos are quite enjoyable. Because they are done using illustrations rather than images, they won't get dated.  
• The dual types of leader's guides, which make it a more useful curriculum for both small and large churches.
• The theology. Although I definitely wouldn't say the theology is progressive, and there are certainly elements that are more conservative (e.g. quoting conservative authors, the occasional Satan reference, the lack of inclusive God language, substitutionary atonement theology), there is a refreshing, positive, hopeful tone to the lessons rather than an emphasis upon sin and guilt. "Redefining Normal," for example, had a far greater emphasis on what Christians are saved "for" rather than "from," on a life of blessing others, and on on goodness and beauty. The themes have a more nuanced approach to each topic than is true of many materials, and I think a progressive leader could find ways to enhance the core content fairly easily.
• The extras. Your publicity efforts will be a lot easier because of the promotional tools provided, and the blank slide makes it easy to customize the visuals the way YOU want them to be.
• The writing. It's fresh, clear, well-edited, and lively.
• The Life-to-Bible approach. For group learning with teens and young adults, I generally prefer a life-to-Bible rather than a Bible-to-life approach.
• The ability to preview much of the material before purchase. I really dislike the trend toward websites that tell you about an ebook or curriculum but give you little or no chance to preview it. With Room 1228, you can preview one full lesson and all of the videos and graphics, along with an outline of each theme that includes the scriptures and a description of the main idea. About the only thing that I wish they'd add is the ability to get one full free theme in exchange for your contact info; that would give you a chance to try it before you buy it.

There are the things I don't like as much:

• The emphasis upon a presentational style of leadership, which—while present more in the Master Teacher's material than in the Group Leader's material—places an overemphasis upon auditory learning styles. As a result, I kept feeling like the material was more appropriate to a creative, casual type of worship experience than one focused on learning. I realize this style is very popular in larger churches and in many college ministries, but I personally do not think it's optimal from a theological or pedagogical point of view.
• The limited biblical background material. Rather than provide biblical background material as a separate component, the writers have integrated it into the dialogue text. That means it's more "folksy" and sticks to the basics.
• The lack of use of spiritual disciplines. Beyond an encouragement to lead a short prayer, I saw little in the way of material that encourages the development of spiritual practices.
• The effort to present the material as appropriate for both young adults and older youth. The two age groups are not the same, and the lessons seemed targeted for different age groups. (Redefining Normal: young adults. Old School and On the Verge: high school.) At the very least, I would have liked to have seen sidebars that gave suggestions for using it with each age group.
• The requirement to purchase a student book for each participant. The student books are $2.99, which isn't unreasonable but which is clearly a significant expense for a church with a tight budget, especially when you consider each book only contains 4 lessons and that the cost for the themes is fairly high already. I like them for their take-home value, of course, but I wish the content was provided in a reproducible format for churches that wanted that.
• The lack of a text-only leader's document, or at least one with simpler, consistent formatting. PDFs make it much more difficult for the group leader to customize the material to their liking, and the smaller font and lack of white space on many pages mean it's designed for visual appeal but not ease of use. Leader's guides should be designed for clarity, and when there are (as was the case with the "Old School" theme) background graphics behind the text and sidebar blocks rotated 90 degrees, it's more difficult to use with ease.

Despite these flaws, I certainly think it's worth a close look if you're searching for a very contemporary young adult curricula (of which there are way too few good options). Room 1228 definitely does have a unique visual style that is highly appealing, and the downloadable format makes it perfect for today's tech-savvy leader. I suspect we'll be seeing more creative products like this one from Wayfarer and from other curriculum publishers as well.

Special Offer just for Different Voice readers: At checkout, use discount code: DIFFERENTVOICE 

You'll receive $50 off either a single theme purchase or an all access pass, dropping the cost of a single theme purchase from $249 to $199 and reducing the 1-year all access pass from $499 to $449 (less than $23 per theme at this point.) 

~ by Tim Gossett

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