by Pastor Victor Chen

For over six months, much of my interaction with the children of our church came through the screen. Though not quite the YouTube star, I would appear each Sunday shortly after 9am to a regular audience of church school students ranging from PreK through 6th grade at home.

There was the familiar opening music, blue backdrop, special guest appearances from other Church School teachers and animated lesson videos from “The Gospel Project”. I made sure to stay energetic and to the point, all the while speaking as if the students were in the same room.

The true star of the videos was our media director, Garrett Inouye, who made the videos come to life each week with careful editing and production. We tried to stay ahead of schedule by recording one week in advance, but with holidays and vacations, there were some days where we would record multiple videos in one sitting. 

At the same time the videos were being shown on Zoom, I was teaching in-person to a group of church school students first outside the children’s ministry office and then in the MPR. The reason why we pre-recorded the videos for our students online was so that I could focus on one audience at a time, both online and in-person between two departments, 1st/2nd and 5th/6th grade. Initially while trying a hybrid model, I wasn’t able to focus on either audience as my attention was split.

Over a month ago, we made the decision to end our pre-recorded church school videos. Recording videos weekly was beginning to take a toll as more ministries were reopening. By God’s grace, we were able to begin live streaming my main teaching from the MPR allowing students at home to tune in and follow along.

On 9/12, we will relaunch our church school in person. All grades through 6th grade will meet in the MPR at 9am for a main teaching session and breakout to their respective classrooms for lesson review, activities and small groups. Parents have the option of requesting an online option, which will be a link to view our livestream of the main session along with other resources to access with their children.

This also coincides with our launch of a unified curriculum, “The Gospel Project”, from the very beginning of a three-year cycle through the Bible. On 9/12, we will begin from Genesis 1. 

As I look back on church school during the stay at home order, I see so many changes and transitions. We went from nothing to Zoom to hybrid to pre-recorded videos and in-person outdoors to livestream and in-person indoors. 

The Lord has brought us so far.

I’m excited for where the Lord will bring us next.

Join us as we relaunch Church School in-person on 9/12. Parents can check in their students up through 6th grade in the MPR beginning at 8:45am and stay for a special parent orientation following the main teaching session. 

by Pastor Victor Chen

As we continue to emphasize "discipleship" in our church, I found this recent blog post, "Learn, Love, Live: The Heart of Discipleship", to be particularly helpful and insightful. 

This blog on discipleship centers around Deuteronomy 6:4-9, a critical passage detailing discipleship in the home. Specifically, this passage fleshes out what discipleship looks like throughout the day in our homes.

I appreciated how "love" is highlighted in discipleship here. Our children should not just learn about the Lord and live for Him, but also love Him with all their heart, soul and might.

Note, this blog post comes from "The Gospel Project", the unified curriculum our Church School is currently going through."

by Pastor Victor Chen

Mere months into leading our 5th/6th grade Church School department, I was faced with the task of identifying a person to head our 1st/2nd grade department. It was the beginning of the 2020 school year and we were still in the midst of a “stay at home” order. 

Church School was still largely done online and I was having a difficult time recruiting help for Church School. Finding a Department Head seemed impossible.

What were we going to do?

I remember proposing a solution to our other Church School Department Head leaders after much prayer. Though they admired my heart, they were concerned this was too much.

I admit it sounded crazy.

I would lead both 5th/6th and 1st/2nd grade departments. The only way I could do this is if we had a unified curriculum across all grades. I would produce pre-recorded lesson videos each week to be shown online, followed by break-out small groups by our Church School teachers. I would teach in person outdoors to everybody 0-6th grade and break everybody out into small groups according to their age groups.

Over six months later, we continue to offer a unified curriculum, “The Gospel Project”, across all grades through high school. For grades Pre-K through 6th, we continue to offer an online option with small groups. On May 2, we began having a unified Church School gathering indoors at 9am in the MPR. I teach the lesson in person, after which everybody breaks out to their respective departments for small groups and activities. 

More families are coming out as things reopen. children online and in-person are beginning to grasp the rhythm of the curriculum — the key passages families can commit to memory and the overarching themes for each unit of 4-5 lessons. The curriculum covers the entire Bible over three years, specifically highlighting how each part of the Bible points to the good news of Jesus. I especially appreciate the resources the curriculum provides to facilitate family worship throughout the week. With a unified curriculum, a family with multiple children can review the same lesson, the same theme and the same key passage.

Looking back, I had always wanted to introduce a unified curriculum for our Church School departments. My wife dreamed of being able to track with all three of our children and what they had learned in Sunday school. 

Who knew a unified curriculum would provide a solution to our church in a difficult season? Praise God that we have a clear path in “The Gospel Project” for a unified journey through the Bible and discovering how it points to Jesus.

This fall, The Gospel Project will begin its 3-year cycle going through the entire Bible beginning with Genesis 1. Join us as our Church School goes through The Gospel Project together. There is even a potential option to add an adult track so everybody can join along! Feel free to contact me at vchen@evergreensgv.org for more information.