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What’s Happening in Class

Tending: Spiritual Formation and Christian Community

In Claim the Life, each Sunday morning begins with a spiritual-formation ritual called Tending. Week after week, students are invited into sacred space and helped to look for God in their lives. Tending to God naturally leads to tending to one another. As students hear the joys and concerns of their class members, they learn to listen and to act—in other words, to tend to them. The group becomes the Christian community they are learning about.

Teaching: Faith Knowledge

One size does not fit all! Every class, every teacher, every youth is different. So Claim the Life offers two different ways to engage students. Each option is complete in itself.

  • Option A requires students to move, to plan, to work together in some way. Out of that task then come discussion, connections to the Scripture, and aha-moments.
  • Option B jump-starts discussion in a variety of creative ways. Rather than teaching for the “right answer,” the questions are to stimulate thinking, meaningful discussion, and connections to the Scripture.
  • Veracity Video Vignettes are an option within Option B. Five of the sixteen lessons have video discussion starters. These four-to-eight-minute original works may be in the style of music videos, documentaries, interviews, stories, or parodies.

Sending: Discipleship

We can teach the greatest lessons; but without action on the part of our students, our efforts have little impact. The Sending ritual is designed to motivate and help youth follow through as disciples of Jesus Christ.

  • Personal and group reflection. The Sending ritual includes time for silence, when talking ceases and each individual listens for the still, small voice of God. Then volunteers may verbalize their thoughts and commitments.
  • SMART goals. A typical goal for a Sunday school lesson could be "to be kinder.” A SMART goal, on the other hand, could be “Take my little sister to the park one day this week so that Mom can get a break.” SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Revealed, and Time Limited. Youth learn to listen to what the Holy Spirit is revealing to them as individuals as they write their SMART goals. That process takes practice and comes out of the personal and group reflection time.
  • Blessing. The Sending ritual ends with a blessing for the group. These words remind the youth that God calls them forth into the world and goes with them. The sacred space named in the beginning Tending ritual is not limited to the Sunday school room!