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Printable
Version

Their God is so Big

Big book for teaching little people

THEIR GOD IS SO BIG
By Stephanie Carmichael
Matthias Media/The Good Book Company
A4, 204 pages. £10.00
ISBN: 1 876326 27 1

Do you:
H teach the Bible to under 8s?
H know anyone who teaches under 8s?
H have any under 8s in your church?
If so, please read on ...

Paul instructed Timothy, 'Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.' (2 Tim 2:15) Down the ages many have taken these words seriously as they seek to expound the Bible clearly and faithfully to others. But do these words apply in the same way when teaching the Bible to young children?

Most children enjoy stories. For this reason, most teaching of under 8s is centred on simplifying well-known Bible stories. But it's easy to simplify too far, changing the main teaching point on the way. Many Bible stories are not simple, including some which initially seem the most appealing to a story-teller. Every infant enjoys pert colourful pictures of Noah's Ark. But how many are also taught the underlying message of God's judgement?
The distinctive factor of Their God is so Big - and its greatest strength - is the approach it takes to teaching the Bible to young children. Stephanie Carmichael says, 'The essence of good teaching to children is accurate simplification: that is, bringing the message of a Bible passage down to their level of understanding, without distorting it ... Children aren't as discerning as adults; we need to take special care to teach the Bible accurately and faithfully to them' (p. 34).

The author proceeds to take her readers step-by-step through the processes necessary to discover the meaning of a passage and then teach this message to young children. There are worked examples as well as exercises for readers to try for themselves. This section is clear and helpful, but assumes that leaders will plan their sessions from scratch. In this country, most leaders use published teaching material as their starting point. It would have been helpful to have more guidance for leaders who are using such material.

Stephanie Carmichael is clearly very experienced in teaching young children. There are helpful sections in understanding children aged from two to seven, and masses of practical ideas for visuals, games and craft activities.

The ideas are quite basic, supported by simple line drawings. For those who want to supplement this material there are plenty of books available with a greater range of activities and more colourful presentation. However, her suggestions are strong in two areas:

* the ideas are well within the time and resource constraints of the average leader;
* they are there to support and build upon the main teaching point of a passage - not to detract from it.

Activities and games can easily become distracting time-fillers. The book emphasises the importance of avoiding this error.

Written in Sydney, this book uses some Australian terms for school years and pre-school groups. However, ages are also given, so it's easy to follow which age ranges are being discussed.

The antipodean ancestry of this book is also apparent in the handling of safety issues. The chapter entitled Safety issues and toilet troubles has an engaging title, but is only three pages long. Church groups in the UK will have to conform to Child Protection regulations. Reference to the current Child Protection guidelines for your denomination will be a necessary addition to the suggestions given in this book.

The book works well as a self-help manual for a leader who wants to learn and develop in their Bible teaching skills. It also contains outlines for six training sessions which could form the basis for a series of training events for leaders of under 8s, or even be widened to include those teaching 8-11s if preferred. A big issue for children's leaders is how we handle the Bible when teaching our youngest children. Here is a book that clearly addresses this issue, emphasises the importance of the correct handling of Scripture, and gives clear practical help in how to do it. Despite some shortcomings, I think this is an excellent and strategic book that is well worth reading.

Alison Mitchell, Surbiton