Books, Articles, and other Media Resources
The Bible Story Handbook
John H Walton and Kim E Walton
Covering 175 stories from the Old and New Testament, The Bible Story Handbook combine's Dr. John Walton's expertise as an Ancient Near East scholar with the couple's extensive experience teaching elementary-age Sunday School.
Each lesson includes the main focus of the passage, an appropriate application of the text, and important background information for the context of the story. One invaluable resource is each lesson's "Mistakes to Avoid" section, which points out frequent misinterpretations of the text.
Children's Ministry in the way of Jesus
David M. Csinos and Ivy Beckwith
Beckwith and Csinos explore the purpose, techniques, and possibilities of incorporating children's faith experience into the larger church family.
First, they walk through the history of modern approaches to interacting with children in corporate church settings, including what has led to the common modern-day entertainment-model approach. Then, they examine the true purpose of children's ministry. Rather than present "one right way", Beckwith and Csinos draw from a wide variety of ecclesial structures, encouraging leaders to thoughtfully choose approaches and techniques appropriate to their goals and settings.
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Parenting in the Pew
Robbie Castleman
Written over 30 years ago by the mother of two young boys, Castleman shares with her readers how she invited her sons into a meaningful corporate worship experience in age-appropriate ways. Coming from the belief that children can and do have active spiritual lives, and are able to participate in corporate worship, Castleman shows families how to engage young people in worship rather than just have children stay quiet or still. Every family I know who has taken the time to read and apply this book thoughtfully has reported tremendous growth.
*These resources have proved extremely helpful to me. I have no formal connection to any of them, and receive no monetary benefit from their sale.