Today, Awana makes a bold move as they formally enter the heavily saturated weekend curriculum market in the United States. They also enter at a time when many children’s ministries are not meeting in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That may be seen as a hurdle to some, but it could also be seen as just the right moment to introduce something new as many children’s ministry leaders and churches are seeking new ways to engage children and families.
In this time where many are utilizing online resources to reach children and families, one of the first items I sought out was what permissions might be granted to use the curriculum online. I was pleased to see Awana provide an “online church script” to help you excel with your online presence. Here is their permission statement at the top of the online church script document:
Note: To use brite* during online church, you can use any platform that you are comfortable with. …. For copyright reasons, we ask that you show, share, and post the videos only in closed groups (such as you your church’s children’s ministry Facebook group) or email lists (such as your list of parents of kids that attend your church).
This will be an asset to many churches during this season and as they envision how their church will reach children today and in the future… and that is the focus of Awana by offering this curriculum at this time. Awana is focused on what ministry will look like in 2050 when the children today will be leading ministries. This curriculum is designed to help our children be resilient disciples. The brite* curriculum is designed to help us shine in a dark world (Matthew 5:14-16).
One of the keys to brite* is its flexibility. Awana provides suggested formats for 30, 45, 60, & 90 minute sessions to help you customize it to your schedule and culture. While the lesson is scripted to help you emphasize the lesson and stay on point, Awana provides the lesson in pdf and as a Word document to allow you to edit and customize the lesson easily. You are able to assign which leaders have access to the online lessons helping you get the lesson plans to your leaders. The full lessons can be downloaded as a single zip file, or you can pick and choose various portions to download individually.
The lessons include an introduction, a teaching time, a discussion time, and a time to challenge the students using videos to compliment the lesson. The lessons are Biblically sound and Gospel focused. Current curriculum is available for elementary (K-5, broken up for K-2nd and 3rd – 5th) and student (6th – 12th grade, 6th – 8th and 9th – 12th) – I understand that preschool is planned for the near future. You can find the scope and sequence for both groups, and download (4) sample lessons for each group on the brite* website.
Awana is viewed by many as mid-week club, which it has been for 70 years, but in that club format, the foundation has always been relationships, the Gospel, and Biblical knowledge – some may refer to that as memorization. Awana is now expanding their reach with this weekend curriculum to provide a greater way to disciple children. If you are familiar with Awana, then you will notice that they list the memory verses in the familiar versions that they use in the Awana Club handbooks (KJV, NKJV, NIV, and ESV) but you may utilize the version of your choice.
I first learned about brite* at CPC20 and there are many things that I could say about brite*, but you really need to take a look at it yourself. brite* is now available at the brite* website. I encourage you to take a look and download the sample lessons to see if it is time for your ministry to get brite*.
Awana does note that they do not want price to be a barrier, though I think the price point is very good for what is offered, and they do offer scholarships to help subsidize the cost for churches. Contact Awana for more information.
