Bible Treasureland

Rotation Model

How We Do It

Themes

Click the above links to find more information about the new model the First Christian Church of Emporia will be using for Sunday youth Bible studies this year. More and more churches across the country are using this model to reinvigorate their Sunday school programs, and we hope folks of all ages will be encouraged to get involved either as youth students, as teachers, or as adult students while their kids experience Bible Treasureland.

The rotation model for Bible school studies is based on the concept of learning stories from the Bible through a variety of modes. The rotation model helps students understand Bible stories by exploring them through various media such as videos, arts and crafts, puppets, and computers as well as through reading or listening to the Bible. Additionally, the rotation model keeps learning fun and interesting for the students by providing new and different experiences each week, often in different rooms with different teachers. The rotation model also helps teachers by allowing them to teach the same basic theme for several weeks in a row and then take a week or two off from teaching before moving on to the next theme. Finally, the rotation model is great way to build excitement for Sunday school across the entire congregation, because students learn important lessons and have fun each week, teachers only have to prepare for 10-12 themes a year rather than 50 different lessons and can still attend Bible study classes of their own once or twice a month, and members of the congregation who have special skills can get involved with the youth without the responsibilities of being a full-time Sunday school teacher.

The Christian Education Committee at the First Christian Church of Emporia examined how other churches have used the rotation model to revitalize their Sunday school programs and decided upon a mix of "best practices" that seemed to fit our own situation. During the 2003-04 school year, Sunday morning Bible study for the youth will be divided into preschool, kindergarten through 1st grade, 2nd grade through 4th grade, and 5th grade through 7th grade. Older youth are encouraged to help out either with a specific age group or with a specific class. The five (5) classes we are offering this year are listed below. While the preschoolers will remain in their room every week, the other three age groups will meet together upstairs every week and then be led to one of the classes. Age groups will rotate to a different class each week so that after five weeks they will have fully experienced a Bible story theme in five different ways.

These are the ten (10) themes our youth will be exploring this year using the rotation model for Sunday school. We will spend an average of five (5) weeks on each theme, with students experiencing the theme in a different way each week. If a students are unable to attend for a week or two, they will still be able to learn about the current theme and won't feel left behind when they return because each week is a complete, self-contained lesson about the theme.