A new Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denominational children’s curriculum is succeeding the long-standing denominational curriculum We Believe: God’s Word for God’s People.
Growing in Grace & Gratitude will help transform the lives of children and those who love them, shaped by grace and gratitude. This new quarterly curriculum, coming fall 2015, is rooted in the foundation of Presbyterian identity where God’s grace and our gratitude are the heartbeat of our faith, life, and worship. The curriculum extends an invitation to discipleship that inspires children to learn and practice hospitality, generosity, and love, and it reaches beyond Sunday morning, encouraging children to live their lives as an expression of God’s grace.
Each session shares a Bible story that reveals God’s grace for us. Through fun, age-appropriate activities, prayer, and singing, children and their leaders will celebrate the meaning of this grace in their lives as they encounter a living God.
We Believe debuted in fall 2003, grounded in the Reformed tradition through the use of the study catechism. It saw many revisions in its time, but remained solid in the biblical and Reformed foundations that characterized the curriculum from its inception.
Growing in Grace & Gratitude is different from previous PC(USA) denominational curricula, including We Believe, as it reveals in key Bible stories the grace of God and our gracious response. It offers the same story, but a different emphasis, making it much more transformational.
“About 18 months ago . . . we were wrestling with how to develop a curriculum that articulates our denominational identity while encouraging children to practice Christian community, proclaim the gospel, and work for justice,” said Clare Lewis, publisher, Congregational Ministries Publishing. “[The curriculum] needed to be more than just informational. It needed to be transformational.”
Introductory workshops are taking place across the continental U.S. and Puerto Rico this spring and summer. Visit growinggracegratitude.org for more information. Dates and locations are continuously being added.
Churches can try Growing in Grace & Gratitude for free by ordering a sampler in English or Spanish at pcusastore.com.
Congregational Ministries Publishing is the denominational curriculum publisher of the PC(USA). Its mission is to bring glory to God by inspiring, equipping, and connecting Presbyterians of all ages with faithful, affordable, educational resources that further commitments to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.