Do you ever stop and wonder, what if?
Recently I have been pondering a few “what if” scenarios. With some of the responses related to the new Mission Series of T&T books, I sometimes wonder, what if Awana stopped offering handbook awards?
What would happen?
Would it still be “Awana”?
Would it indicate that the mission of Awana had drifted?
How would the local church respond?
I can see two major responses and there would be responses all throughout the spectrum between these two responses.
One response would be that Awana has not only drifted, but made a radical turn destroying the ministry. After all, what is Awana without awards?
The other response would be a relief because it is not about awards, but rather discipleship.
Which “camp” would you fall in, or would you be somewhere in the middle?
I will be sharing my thoughts later, but for now I am interested in your thoughts. Please comment below and share your thoughts on “what if Awana stopped offering handbook awards?
We don’t use uniforms, patches, pins, or any of those traditional Awana awards. However, we do use the book awards and also an Awana store with Awana tickets/bucks. In my opinion, achievement incentives are important for children to be motivated to work hard to memorize Scripture. I don’t know that book awards are necessary for Awana to remain Awana, but no incentives at all would be a mistake, since there would be no reason in the mind of a child to memorize Scripture, which is the hallmark of Awana and sets it apart from the majority of other children’s ministry programs.
Of course the awards are not the center or purpose of Awana, but they work as an incentive and motivation for the kids. There is nothing wrong with that. For some kids they do not work. There are kids that work extremely slowly in their book, but they are there and still learn something. The awards are part of a bigger undertaking, along with council time, handbook time, and game time. This gives the kids an environment in which to learn the Truth.
So the question need to be what will foster an environment in which clubbers can thrive and learn God’s truth.