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Team makes Sunday school plans relevant years in advance

10/2/2003 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn

Head-and-shoulders photos of the Rev. Carmichael Crutchfield, Patrice Rosner, the Rev. Wellington Johnson and Marvin Cropsey are available.

By Linda Green*

LINK: Click to open full size version of image
National Council of Churches Education and Leadership Ministries. Photo number W03027, Accompanies UMNS #477
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Every week, Christians in nearly 40 denominations open their Sunday school books to the same lesson.

When the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks occurred, those Sunday school classes were studying a theme titled, "The Light for All People." The lessons focused on moving from darkness to light, and seemed tailored to the needs of Christians dealing with the emotional devastation of the attacks. Little did the classes realize their lesson theme had been developed years in advance.

"How could we know? We didn't know. It had to be God," says Mary Love, former chairwoman of the Uniform Series Committee of the National Council of Churches.

The committee develops the International Lesson Series, used as a basis for Sunday school and Bible study curriculum by 44 million Protestants, including United Methodists. The committee's eight-member Cycle Planning Team designs the themes in six-year cycles and ensures that the material is relevant. The team of Christian educators, curriculum planners and writers met Sept. 24-27 to choose themes for 2010-16.

"We cannot totally see what Bible study will look like in 2010, but the Committee on the Uniform Series has been in the process of trying to be more relevant to the needs of those who use the lessons," says the Rev. Carmichael Crutchfield, team chairperson. Crutchfield is a Christian education staff executive for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tenn.

The committee, meeting next March, comprises 46 writers, editors and biblical scholars from 18 mainline, African-American and evangelical churches.

Patrice Rosner, associate general secretary for education at the National Council of Churches in New York, explains that while the team creates "lesson skeletons," the publishing arms of the denominations and independent publishers recruit writers to "put the flesh, muscle and bone to it."

The Cycle Planning Team provides the framework, scope and lesson sequence for the Uniform Series Committee. The actual lessons will be written several years from now, she says.

The biggest challenge is making those lessons relevant for developing faith and changing lives 15 years in the future, says Marvin Cropsey, chairperson of the Uniform Series Committee and director of adult Bible school studies for the United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville.

"We are not about academic Bible study. We are about helping people use the Bible to change their lives," Cropsey says.

How can a group develop relevant Bible study so far in advance?

"Only by the grace of God," Crutchfield says. "We spend time in prayer with each other and in being open to the movement of God's spirit. Through discussion, we come to consensus and pray that it is God's will."

The themes for the Sunday school lessons beginning in fall 2010 revolve around God, creation, hope, justice, faith, community, worship and tradition/heritage

"We really do not know what is going to be relevant, but the themes chosen are themes that have been relevant throughout the centuries in the church and in society," Crutchfield says. "We do not believe that we have chosen any themes that are irrelevant today and certainly don't think they will be irrelevant later on."

Rosner, a member of the Disciples of Christ Church, calls the creation theme and others in the Bible timeless.

"As a theme, (the creation) can stand for a long, long time," but how it looks in any particular year is different, she says. "We don't know what issues related to creation, ecology, nature, preservation (or) stewardship of the earth will look like in 2016, but we know that it is going to be an issue that people will deal with in some way."

Team member Wellington Johnson emphasizes the central importance of teaching about God and how God is revealed in Jesus Christ. Johnson, the director of the Sunday School Publishing Board of the National Baptist Convention in Nashville, explains why the group's work today will be fashionable tomorrow.

"God never changes," he says. "The same God that exists here in 2003 will be the same God in 2010. The standards of righteousness and holiness and what God demands of human beings will always remain the same." And themes addressing violence, abuse and justice will remain relevant, he says.

Like fashion designers who influence trends and opinions, Johnson says the team attempts to "use God's word to shape our culture so that it conforms with biblical mandates for us to treat one another justly regardless of our ethnicity, our racial identity, our gender or our religious background."

Denominations have different tenets and polities, and the team members often must set aside their differences when they meet to outline Sunday school lessons.

"This group works with the Holy Spirit," Cropsey says. "We have confidence in the Scriptures, we have a call on the Holy Spirit, and we have trust and love for each other."

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*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer.

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