Theology for Kids
“In matters of doctrine, you will find orthodox congregations frequently change to heterodoxy in the course of thirty or forty years, and that is because too often there has been no catechizing of the children in the essential doctrines of the Gospel.”
– C.H. Spurgeon
Right away, teaching theology to anyone sounds like a big task, let alone teaching theology to kids. That can be a scary undertaking. After all, there is so much at stake. Parents and teachers, don’t be afraid. As we see in C.H. Spurgeon’s quote above there is too much at stake NOT to teach theology to kids. It only takes one generation for a church to leave orthodoxy. That’s why we must be teaching theology to kids.
One way that we have strategically programed the teaching of theology to kids is through Elementary Children’s Church on Sunday mornings and Preschool Kids4Truth on Sunday evenings. During these times we use a curriculum called Kids4Truth. This curriculum systematically walks children through 12 major theological doctrines over the course of a year. Each year we cover all 12 themes, and the following year we cover the same themes but with different lessons. The lessons take 2-3 years to cycle through everything. Below is the basic layout we use.
How have you as a family strategically programed the teaching of theology to kids? It’s easy to think of that as the church's job, but our job as a church is to come alongside and partner with parents in this task. That means that you need to be doing this at home. So how do you do that? Not everyone has a degree in theology, but every parent is called to teach their children about God. That is the very essence of theology.
If you need some help getting started, the book The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New is a great place to start. This is a systematic theology book written primarily for kids ages 6-12. If that sounds dry and boring, I can promise you it is not. The Ology takes high and complex truths about God and places them on a lower shelf for children to reach. Marty Machowski beautifully uses explanation, illustrations, and analogies to teach children about God in ways they can begin to grasp.
Al Mohler gives this glowing review "Few tasks are of greater importance than the discipling of children. Christian parents, and Sunday School teachers, committed to biblical fidelity, cannot neglect the tremendous task of teaching children the great truths of Scripture. Marty Machowski's The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New is a wonderful new book that will equip parents for the task of discipleship and also help children immerse themselves in the Christian worldview."
Let’s continue to use tools like Kids4Truth and The Ology to show our children how great and good our God truly is.