(This is the third in a series of posts to share my thoughts regarding comments heard from hundreds of Awana leaders about the new Mission series of T&T books)
Go ahead and call this click-bait. There is no typical club night as the club night will be unique to your club. Yes, there may be similarities between clubs, but no two are identical.
In June of 2016, I shared Ellen Funk’s options for a typical club night using the then soon to be released Mission: Grace in Action handbook. She is the former Kids Quest Director at Community Bible Church in Kansas and an original field test club for the Mission series. You can find that post here.
In this post, I will present various options based from Ellen’s original post but with a few differences. In each instance I suggest making the small group time longer than the large group time if your club situation allows. I realize that not all clubs may be able to do this logistically due to space and required rotation times. I will address that briefly at the end.
Let us look at options available for your club night:
Scenario 1 – Bible Study with Clubbers Expected to Arrive with the Section Complete, Ready to Recite the Verse(s), and Discuss What is being Studied.
In the previous post in the series, I addressed options for small group time anticipating the clubbers and leaders coming prepared with the verse memorized and the Start Here and Explore portions complete. I will not repeat that here.
With this model, the large group time is generally held before small group time to lead in to small group time; however, it can be held after to wrap up the discussion in a large group setting. The focus of the large group time in this scenario would be on the lesson/topic of the week, what the clubbers should have studied in preparation of the study for the night.
Scenario 2 – Similar to scenario 1, except that the large group time introduces the next topic/lesson
This scenario would encourage the clubbers to come with the verses ready to recite and the Start Here and Explore portions complete. Small group time would focus on the section that they should have prepared. How a leader would handle that time, depending on how prepared the clubbers are when they arrive, was covered in the previous post. The large group time would transition to the next lesson, introducing it so clubbers can be guided in their study for the week.
This scenario allows for a discussion of what the clubber studied through the week while preparing them for what is to be studied in the upcoming week.
Scenario 3 – The homework model. The large group time and small group time focus on a section and then the clubber goes home to complete it through the week.
In this scenario, the clubber would arrive at club with the prescribed section that was introduced the previous prepared to be signed off. This time for the leader to listen to the verse(s) and check the Start Here and Explore portion would happen prior to club, like in all scenarios during “fast track” (I will explain that a little later in this post). The large and small group time is now designed to focus on the next lesson to teach them before they go home and do the work. It does not allow time for discussion among the clubbers for what they studied at home.
Scenario 4 – A hybrid
In the above scenarios that expectation is that all clubbers will be memorizing and working in the same section for a particular week (the prescribed, scheduled lesson). Realistically we will have clubbers all over the spectrum. Some motivated to memorize and do the work, while others will not come prepared and they will be a mix in some of the small groups. So how do we handle this scenario?
Chris Richards replied to the post in the Awana Commanders Facebook Group about the challenges with the T&T Missions Series with how they handle this in their club,
“Within my club we encourage our clubbers to work with everyone at the same time, but it is not realistic for everyone. Our teaching time stays on schedule even though we have to skip or combine lessons since there are more lessons than we have weeks. This requires everyone who is finishing their books to do some work on their own.
We have found it advantageous to allow the clubbers who need extra help to go more slowly if necessary because we would rather they learn what they can well than to skim over the lesson.
Some clubbers are ambitious and work ahead. These clubbers are encouraged to do the extra credit and to spend some of their time helping clubbers who need extra help.
This may not be exactly what is planned for the use of these books, but it is what is what is working for my club and helping all the clubbers learn the maximum verses/bible knowledge at the same time they learn to support others in their learning and their growth as Christians. This has required extra effort on the part of leaders. Some of our leaders have the time to do this, others do not. Those who have been able to take that time, have found it to be worthwhile.”
They have taken the material and are using it to reach the clubber where they are at in their walk with the Lord. They are being flexible, while holding base standards, to help and encourage their clubbers. Are there still challenges? Yes, Chris admits that it requires extra effort from the leaders and not everyone has the same time available.
We all envision a perfect club in an imperfect world. Awana offers guidance, a preferred method, knowing that there is no perfect scenario and that clubs, as they have done for decades and like Chris Richards has shared, will find ways to use the base standards and suggestions to reach the children where they are at with the Gospel.
There are several ways in which a club night might look. For some, small groups will be a deep theological discussion, for others it will look more like the former handbook time helping a child memorize a verse (even if it takes more than one week). Which one is correct? They are at opposite ends of the spectrum so one must be right, and one must be wrong; but they are both acceptable as we seek to build relationships and disciple the child.
Do not get hung up on methods and procedures because they are ever changing. Focus your attention on the Message which never changes and how we can share that message with the children in our care.
Fast Track is designated as the time where leaders listen to the clubbers recite their verse. It is ideally held as clubbers arrive for the night, though some clubs may do it during small group time or after club.
If you are not able to have your small group time longer than your large group time, then I would encourage you to take the last five or ten minutes of the large group time to focus more heavily on helping the clubbers learn the verse in creative ways as a group or helping them work through the Explore or Start Here portions of the section depending on how your small groups are working and the make-up of your club.
What if <10% of kids come prepared? They seldom look at their book before club and parents are not involved in the process. It does work great for home school families who use it as part of their ELA curriculum. I have several friends whose clubs are in such a situation.
In that scenario you may opt to use the large group time to go over the Start Here and Explore sections and use the small group time as a time to focus on and learn the verse.
Jerry, I would also determine what your primary goal is for the child. For this type of child, finishing the book is probably not a realistic goal. I can’t speak for you and for the children in your group, but I would venture to say that them coming, getting a creative Bible lesson, having a discussion time and playing a memorization game is a “win” for them.
These Mission resources are helpful whether the child is completing the entire section or not. You can also look at Bill’s first post in this series for some other awards ideas for these kids who cannot (or will not) complete entire sections.
David,
That is an excellent point and the topic of today’s post in the series, which can be found here. We need to evaluate what our true motivation and goals are for these children coming to our clubs.
We are modifying it to meet our goals already. I have many colleagues in my area who ask me for help with the Mission series as we were a Field Test church. I”m collecting ideas on their behalf.