While many churches have held Sunday school via Zoom or Facebook Live during this pandemic, some churches are not jumping on the digital bandwagon. Kids have had so much screen time over the past few months that some Christian Education directors are bucking that trend by repurposing print curriculum they have already purchased or have access to via Sparkhouse Digital. One notable example of this is Sherry Bingaman of United in Christ Lutheran Church in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Sherry is in her first year of Sparkhouse Digital, but she’s already getting creative! Because many of the print resources can be downloaded and edited for local use, Sherry says, “What I've been doing is combining lectionary-based resources. I pull a little bit from different things and use the Leader Guides, but I modify them so that the language is more family-oriented.”

Sherry began by creating packets of resources for each of her families. Similarly, other congregations have made packets complete with a unit’s worth of supplies for curbside pick-up. It’s like getting a subscription box of fun activities for kids, but these bundles of faith formation goodness, especially designed for at-home use, are also great ways to keep church and home connected.

While she does not do this yet, Sherry wants to find a way that to gather everyone together, maybe a 15-minute to a half-hour “Zoom thing” to overview the Bible stories, perhaps do the craft together, and talk about the story. “That way our kids would get to see each other and give parents a break so that they don't have to be the ones leading all this.”

Pros/Cons

• Pro: Exercises your creative writing skills
• Pro: Brings the fun factor of getting kits with activities for families
• Pro: Recycles accumulated materials—clean out the Sunday School closet
• Con: Takes time and energy to do the rewrites for home and assemble kits
• Con: Requires a safe pick-up or drop-off strategy
• Con: No live interaction time with your church community
• Con: May not work in large churches or with a large number of families
• Pro/con: Families bear the responsibility of engaging with the activities you provide