Why have a measuring stick? I want our church to have some type of cohesion for a child that is with us from Preschool-High School. I want to make sure there is a progression in there faith and in their experiences. I also believe parents want to know that we have thought through what we are teaching their kids. We don't just throw something against the wall and hope it sticks. Instead we want to make sure that each year that a child or student is with us that they are growing in their learning and understanding of God. If you don't have a measuring stick then how do you know if you are accomplishing anything? So when looking at the series that we are going to do we are making sure that we are not teaching to much on the Church and not enough on the Bible or vice versa.
What prompted these 5 themes? Reggie Joiner has been and is talking about his 3 Dials. What are the 3 Dials? I believe my friend Kenny Conley said it best on his blog and I quote:
The Wonder Dial, the Discovery Dial and the Passion Dial. The Wonder Dial is the understanding of faith, creation and who God is. The Discovery Dial is the understanding of how I personally fit into this knowledge of God, specifically relating to having a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Passion Dial is understanding my relationship with those around me.
So, when an integrated family ministry operates with the knowledge of these dials, the team can work together to turn these dials at the appropriate times within ministry. For instance, the Wonder Dial will be turned most during the preschool years, and only a little beyond that (mainly for outreach opportunities). The Discovery Dial is turned the most in elementary ministry and in student ministry and the Passion Dial will be turned the most in student ministry. Implementing this in an integrated strategy allows everyone in multiple ministries to be on the same page.
How do the 5 Themes coexist with the 3 Dials? I believe the two have the same common end goal of getting Preschool-High School on the same page. I also believe the two have some of the same thoughts in common. In fact I think the two go much better hand in hand than apart from each other. For instance if you are going to teach the 5 Themes every year a child is in your ministry then the focus of those Themes are going to change. This is where the 3 Dials come into play. Knowing when to turn each dial up and down but not forgetting that no matter what that each Theme should be touched upon in a given year is the key. Just because a High School students understands and needs more relational ministry doesn't mean that they shouldn't have a series done each year on how to use the Bible for growth. In fact, knowing where you have been and where you are heading with both the 5 Themes and 3 Dials will only make the application to each student better and better. They may actual not only download what you are teaching but get it to the point where they use what they are learning.
Now I know your question from here, "What about the kid that doesn't come into your ministry until they are in High School or Middle School and has no prior knowledge of any of the 5 Themes or the 3 Dials?" Isn't this why it is even more important that you teach each Theme every year? Yes even in Preschool you teach about Relationships and in High School you teach about about God, Creation, and the basics of faith. It is never a bad idea to reinforce the past while stretching the teacher to teach in a creative compelling way.
Therefore, I think that both the 5 Themes and the 3 Dials have to live together. I think they build upon each other. I think one is not complete without the other.
I have started the process on how each of the 5 Themes may compile on top of each other and how that might be fleshed out. Kenny Conley, Sam Luce, and Jonathan Cliff don't know this yet but they are going to help me. Of course my staff at Horizon is helping out. I would love to get your help on this as well. If you want to help then shoot me an e-mail. If Reggie Joiner is out there reading this than I would love to see what you think too.
comments
2 Responses to "Ministry Monday: The 5 Themes and The 3 Dials"Matt,
Hey! I'm a reThink staffer with Reggie Joiner and I'll forward your note to him to see what he thinks. Reggie's at Camp KidJam in North Carolina right now, so it may be a little while. But what I think he'd say is that each dial has a focus at each life stage, but all three dials have to be turned for every age (just like you've said.) The dials speak to the maturity and experience of the learner....if you started high schoolers at the first dial just because they're new to the group might lead to boredom. In fact, some of the reasons a high school student is attracted to our group is that we're busy turning the third dial. We all know that today's generation -- from preschoolers to college students -- have a much swifter learning curve. To suggest we'd have to back up the process for an older learner means we'd be bypassing the way students learn in the rest of their lives. (Would we really suggest that today's video gamers start with Pong?)
Mike,
Thank you so much for your comment. I really do appreciate it. Now know that I am not expecting teach the same thing to Preschoolers and High School students. I don't think that we need to teach that God is simply love to High School students but that would be a great lesson for Preschoolers. My point with the 5 Themes is to make sure you know where you have been and where you are heading. Take for example the lesson of God is Love. The application, stories used, and implications of this fact is going to be a lot different for both Preschool and High School but I don't think we skip over the lesson for High School because that is what we taught Preschool. I am putting together a grid that better explains what I am talking about and how the 3 Dials come into play with the 5 Themes. I know that you guys have thought about this and there is some scope and sequence to the 3 Dials.
Post a Comment