The following review written by Tim Gossett was originally posted on July 2, 2009.

Review of The Void and the Vision by Dr. Carl Krieg

Palm Sunday is a fun day for children and adults alike. As we celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, we wave palm branches and shout Hosanna! Excitement is in the air. Many children (and adults) leave church on Palm Sunday on that wave of excitement, and return a week later. Easter! He is risen! This is the best news of all. It is another joyous morning of worship and Sunday School.

This article by Tim Gossett was originally posted on February 17, 2009.

Do a Data Fast

Last Monday, I wrote about the need to include activities that appeal to different learning styles and different intelligences in Sunday School and other small group studies across the age spectrum. My guess is that in many churches, the discovery will be that children’s classes offer a variety of activities, while youth and adult classes use one, two or maybe three types of activities the majority of the time. If your church is an exception, and you are consistently including all learners of all ages, then I say to you, “That’s great!” And then I invite you to post a comment or send me an email sharing what steps you took to get to this point and any other advice you can offer to churches that would like to move in that direction.

For the rest of us, I offer half a dozen ways to add variety to youth and adult classes. These are general ideas to start you thinking. Remember that you don’t need to do incorporate all of the activities in one lesson! The goal is to work towards variety so that over time you will offer activities that meet the needs of all learners.

This article by Tim Gossett was originally posted on February 13, 2009.

Is Christian Education just another interest?

Wangaari Maathai grew up on a farm in Kenya. When she left Kenya to attend college in America, she took with her memories of a country clothed in green, with many trees and clear streams filled with fish. Although she was only away for five years, she returned to a very different Kenya. Many of the trees had been cut down and replaced with farms to grow export crops; in places the land was barren. Small farms that had provided food for each family to live on now grew food to export and families bought most of their food from the store. The effects of erosion were evident in the muddied streams.

There are many ways in which Wangaari could have responded to the changes in her native country. The inspiring story of the path she chose is told in the book, Planting the Trees of Kenya, by Claire A. Nivola.