Religious Education

Submitted by kurtmühlematter on

Children do not only develop outwardly, their faith also changes with age. Youth leaders need to be aware of this and shape their messages accordingly

Time of Grace (0-7/9 years)

Experiencing Grace

  • Take in the message of grace with care – as a store for later
  • Experiencing goodness and security with all the senses
  • Translating God into the lives of children through action
  • Fixed habits and rituals help the child understand the meaning of faith before they understand the content

becoming linguistic

  • Concepts like „faith“ and „trust“ are fleshed out through stories
  • Song lyrics stand up to life experiences and pr  Good song lyrics w 
  • „To whom I belong, I belong.“

Recording Biblical Content

  • Depending on contemplation: „No impression without expression“
  • Stories and narratives conspire to form inner images that sink down into the subconscious and work from there
  • Breaks and repentance are only tangible for teenagers and adults!
  • Miraculous hearts do not yet prepare for joy. Parents have more possibilities at their disposal than the child can imagine
  • The child identifies with heroes and role models, sense of justice
  • Do not overburden the child in moral-ethical decisions

>Contents up to about 8 years:

  • Stories with the message of God's goodness: YOU are wanted
  • Stories that show God and Jesus as acting and creating
  • Stories of Jesus proclaiming God's love for people
  • Stories that interpret the meaning of the great feast
  • Tales of miracles that portray God's omnipotence or Jesus' authority    (not just telling miracle stories)
  • Narratives that show consequences of human behavior for good and Bösen
  • AT: primal stories (creation), father stories (Abraham), Joseph story
  • NT: Christmas story, childhood of Jesus
  • Topic circles: healthy and sick (Bartimäus), joy and fear (sea storm), celebrating feasts (wedding and baptism), workers from abroad (Ruth)

> Talking to Jesus üabout the child more than talking to the child üabout Jesus

Guilt and Forgiveness

  • „Saying sorry“
    • As a social rule, this makes sense
    • for his reactions, however, is questionable
  • „I did that,“ admit guilt
  • I am allowed to make mistakes without having to accept loss of love

Image of God

  • Does the child need to endear himself to God?
  • Are educators/leaders aware of their own image of God?
  • Only carefully überprprueftes understanding of God.

Time of Law (7/9-11/13)

Tracing realistic, real events

  • In the realität period, the child is interested in „action“
  • events

  • Ideal of justice, punishment of the Bösewicht
  • Historical – geographical contexts, competitions, sense of order, collecting frenzy, and ritualization of action
  • In contrast to the pre- and post-latency phases: physical-cognitive rather than physical-emotional drive
  • Right, will-power, the good deed – because it is „right“ and not out of mercy
  • History as a timeline is understood

Teaching material and biblical content

  • Bible study especially at age 10-12!
  • AT: Exodus, 10 Commandments, covenant making, land grabbing, Judges period, Samuel to Saul, David – Jonathan, Israel's glory and decline, Elisha – Elisha, Jeremiah, Bab. Captivity
  • NT: John the Baptist, Jesus and the Teachers of the Law, Passion Narrative and Acts (ages 11 and up), action-packed parables, general coherent texts
  • God as a covenant partner, faith teaching (catechism) because code of conduct and rules of the game are part of age
  • Miracles are not as easily accessible from about age 11

Character Formation

  • Real sense of guilt: formation of conscience
  • Children keenly observe how closely adults take the truth
  • Taking doubts about children's faith seriously
  • Sense of order is formed; lessons with a firm framework, disciplinary arrangements adhered to
  • We owe the child a sense of purpose in education, youth program and instruction
  • Memorizing, opening passages, learning psalms: biblical knowledge as a foundation
  • Theater, experiential program, camp, …
  • Introducing yourself to others becomes möpossible

Gospel Time (11/13-16+)

Character Development

  • Even „irreligious adolescents“ are concerned üabout their own existence
    • Do not give rash answers
  • Youth need times of alone time and times of community
  • The conversational atmosphere before puberty is the foundation for conversation during puberty

Religious and Biblical Theme

  • The feeling level is considered the key to questions of faith – but for the time being, without having to talk about oneself (telling stories of other people)
  • The lives of the young people themselves determine the lesson content more than the biblical stories
  • Biblical figures as radical types: John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Job, Peter,…
  • Exploring miracle stories at the symbolic and experiential level
  • Youth literature and biographies, experiential stories of Christians, of ex-drögels, disabled people, missionaries, …
  • Image meditations, films, music
  • Tangible role models help with persönity building, role models to reject and accept
  • Involve young people in responsibility
  • Clear agreements, combine humor with clear direction
  • Create an atmosphere, design the space

Theological statements

  • God's image, guilt and forgiveness, hope and discipleship as central basic motifs, which can be unfolded by various themes of the
  • True engagement with the doubts of young people. Those who are taken seriously as doubters take others seriously as believers.
  • Models of common life sniffing up close, rudimentary to experience. Question of meaning from the thought of the common and the relationship of the develop.
  • Binding community forms (also in the partnership) as mögliche life goals develop. (Based on thoughts of the covenant rheology)

Source reference

  • Title image: Juropaarchiv, www.juropa.net
  • Content and literature:Felix Studer, Theologisch-Diakonisches Seminar Aarau, 2004 (course materials) building on: Bridger, Francis: How Children Believe, (Oncken, Wuppertal and Kassel and Bibellesebund Winterthur, 1990) and on Rinderknecht Hans Jakob and Zeller Konrad: Methodik christlicher Unterweisung (Zwingli Verlag Zurich/Stuttgart 1968);

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