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Does your church have RA’s/GA’s? AWANA? Both? Something else? Nothing?
If your church dropped RA’s/GA’s, what led to that decision being made?
We had a decent RA and GA program the first two years I was at New Bethany. Then, they went through a hideous downturn and we ultimately had to euthanize them. After researching several options, we settled on AWANA which we have been doing for 4 years. It has been a runaway success.
Posted by Marty Duren in SBC, Ministry
We had RAs and then the leader left and the program crashed. We took a stab at the SBC AWANA knockoff, TeamKid; it never got off the ground, so we went with AWANA. It was an immediate success and is still thriving.
Several years ago, someone called RAs “Church Boy Scouts.” :^)
If its done right, do whatever you can to teach kids how to live righteously. We had RAs growing up, and it was good, fun, etc. But it paled in comparison to the spiritual foundation I received in Scouting.
Where do I check “none of the above”? As in we don’t have anything.
We do, at least we used to, have FW Friends on Sunday night but I am not sure we have that now.
We “do our own thing”, but as a church plant, we have that freedom.
I do know of a traditional SBC church that does AWANA’s with a RA/GA Missions component built into it (if that makes sense).
Since we first started going to our church in 1991 they haven’t had RAs/GAs, but they do have AWANAs. Not sure when it started, but it seems to do very well. A nearby church, that isn’t baptist, also has a great program called Timothy Team. I’m not sure if it is just done at that church or if it is something larger within their denomination, but it thrives and teaches the kids great fundamentals and great practice.
We do RA’s because we have a guy who is passionate about it and good with it. A lot of our neighborhod kids come w/o parents and also from homes w/o Dads, so it makes sense on that level as well.
Girls - we do a hybrid of choir, Bible study.
We did TeamKids and it was only marginal. We tried our own thing. It didn’t work. We did AWANA, and it exploded. We do it on Wednesday, along with a Youth Ministry from Gloal Youth Ministries, and an adult doctrine study. We have as many people here on Wednesday evenings as we do on Sunday mornings.
We didn’t do anything for a long time. I would prefer to do Awana’s - and that would be my long term goal - but due to the volunteer intensive nature of it we’re just not there yet. We started TeamKid about a year ago and have been pleasantly surprised with its success.
hey Marty!
we are a church plant that meets in a school…it is not possible for us to have any such program because of schedule conflicts with the school our church calls “home”.
but…if we were able to do such a thing, or whenever we end up with our own building…we will, without hesitation, go with AWANA. Why? Because AWANA is the best outreach/ discipleship program for kids in the history of planet Earth! For real…it is the best.
Art,
To what do you ascribe the “hideous downturn” of the RA/GA program? And what is it about AWANA that makes it successful while TeamKids and RA are not?
Marty,
I really knew it was your blog…just another “senior” moment.
My new Assoc. Pastor is real talented. He is starting his own ministry called “ENERGIZE” It will be like Kid Stuf/VBS everyweek.
I don’t care for AWANA because most kids memorize the verses just to get checked off.
We’ve had Awanas for roughly 15 years, mixing in SBC missions when appropriate. I’ve been involved as a worker at every level for 9 years.
That said, I’m a bit discouraged with the age group I’m working with now, 5th and 6th grade boys. Very few boys are doing any scripture memorization outside of the meeting time. Half scramble to get one section a week done at the meeting, and another third do one section a month.
Even when they get the verse right there is almost no comprehension about what the verse means. The verse is simply being parroted. I make sure we discuss what the verse means before we move on, but I don’t think everyone else has that practice.
Kevin-
Just like most kids memorize verses in VBS just to get a ribbon? Or most adults memorize verses just to get a Church Training certificate?
Dib-
For us it was just time for fresh wind. RA’s suffered from a dearth of leadership; it was “been there, done that.”
And, as Micah noted, though AWANA is labor intensive, we have had little trouble recruiting the 5-8 times as many workers as we ever had in RA’s/GA’s (during my tenure).
We have nothing. One reason is there is nobody to lead it. We had to pay a college student to lead a kid program on Sunday Evenings as a last resort during the fall. I don’t think we are going to go down that road again. We need something though, but we need someone with a heart to lead it and we don’t have that right now.
I think your response to Kevin B comment would be identical to mine.
This age group is just modeling what they see from adults.
Marty,
A few years ago we planted a church in Portland, Maine. After a couple of years, we were really hurting for children’s workers on Wednesday night. We were doing TeamKid and felt like the curriculum was good, but needed leaders, particularly for the boys. I talked about it from the pulpit, preached on “train up a child…”, approached individuals, all to no avail.
So I stepped up and volunteered. My thinking was that since I was the pastor, if I stepped in the gap then several faithful men would follow me. Together we would make a difference and change the world, one kid at a time.
Wellll, that is not what happened. But I did have many guys approach me with a big smile and say, “pastor, thanks for teaching our kids so we can go to men’s bible study! We are really enjoying it!”
I had a great time teaching, blowing my whistle and hearing the boys call me “coach.” I still love TeamKid. But I have learned my lesson about motivating volunteers.
Ancient chinese proverb: If you are leading and no one is following, you are just out for a walk!
We’ve always had RA/GAs here. Last year our RAs leader moved and we brought in new blood, young men who’ve never been in RAs. We have about 50 boys on average every Wednesday (our church is small with about 280 average on Sunday morning). For a long time I thought Awanas would be better until I saw how RAs is ministering to the 25+ boys who don’t have a godly father. With the extra curricular things they do outside of Wednesday nights we are seeing these boys understand that Christianity is not just a Sunday/Wednesday thing they do. They are getting from RAs a little of what they ought to be getting from their fathers. We have already seen about 3 of them give their life to the Lord and another 2 or 3 who believe God wants them to be in full time service to Him. THey key is to be as purposeful as you can with their time and not make it just a boyscouting thing.
Marty,
Back before we went overseas, I took over an RA program that was on its death bed. (all they did was take attendance then go across the street to the school playground to play basketball.) There were 3 or 4 boys only. First thing I did was ask for a commitment to become “real RA’s”. We went out and bought vests, the weekly learning material, brought the RA flag out of retirement and tought everyone the pledge. Since I was headed out to be a missionary, I decided to make it emphasize missions. We prayed for missionaries, wrote cards, collected money for Lottie Moon, did our own little local missions projects, etc. By the time I left, we had 24 boys and 4 men helpers. Everyone was very excited about it. On “RA SUNDAY” the boys lined up in their vests and did a little presentation. There were several older men in the congregation that actually shed a tear!
However, as much as I tried to impart the vision to others, internal conflict came. I heard that a few years ago they disbanded for good. I was really sad. On our last furlough, two of the original boys in my group were “all grown up” and thanked me for the RA experience they got to have.
Marty:
The church I serve as Minister of Education/Administration presently had waning RA and GA programs when I arrived–but already in place a movement, led by our Senior Pastor, toward AWANA Clubs to replace RA’s and GA’s and for the sake of reaching the congregation’s neighborhood evangelistically. Today, the AWANA Clubs are going strong–and children have been reached for Christ–and no one seems to remember or to ask for the former programs.
However, the church I served prior to this one had the manpower and motivation to maintain all three–AWANA Clubs, RA’s, and GA’s. Each of the three does well, though the AWANA program is larger by far in terms of participants counted.
Two observations: (1) the public interested in our churches (the ones I’ve served) ask about AWANA Clubs, but not about either RA’s or GA’s; and, (2) when RA’s and GA’s are replaced–or simply die for lack of leadership/participants–no similar program for teaching missions education replaces them–including AWANA Clubs (meaning that, generally speaking, the youngest generation being raised in Southern Baptist churches likely will not know either about or how to “do missions” when they become our ages).
As for the memorizing–or not–of Scripture verses in AWANA Clubs: the 43,000+ churches which make up the SBC annually teach over 20 million Bible lessons in our Sunday Schools, yet research indicates that about 90% of all of our congregations are either plateaued or declining in terms of numerical growth–so, also in spiritual growth. The SBC today needs: (1) evangelists; and, (2) educators (if God were to return the spiritual health of the SBC to it today, in about 2 weeks He would need to do so again because the Christian life cannot be lived in our minds–it must be lived consciously from our minds through our hearts, hands, and feet; George Gallup: “the desire across the nation for spiritual growth is 3000 miles wide–and 3 inches deep”).
I’m glad you asked this question. It surfaces a related question which has been haunting me of recent. Not trying to be confrontational (as email/blog questions can appear without inflection of our voices).
Could you define or explain how you determine it is a “runaway success”? By what standards do we define “successful” in church and how do we measure it?
I read this quote recently and it got me to thinking about this whole how we measure success:
“My greatest fear is not that you will fail, but that you will succeed in doing the wrong thing.” –Howard Hendricks
Could it be that the “church mentality” has led parents to see the organization as being responsible for training up their children? I know that a prominent lady in our church, some years ago while we were searching for a new youth pastor, said “Our youth program is the only hope our kids have!”
That’s sure not what I teach to my class of fertile child-bearing-aged couples.
Perhaps this is a very important time to stress the parent’s responsibility to minister to their children. Maybe that’s why so many churches seem to be struggling with the children’s and youth programs.
Or not. Just my thoughts.
Craig-
For me it is important to distinguish between full discipleship and a tool being used toward that end. For us, AWANA is a tool, not the end. It is a success because God is glorified. He is glorified because there are more and more children committing His word to memory. Because there are more adults involved in ministry. Because there are more families drawn in through AWANA. Because kids can’t wait to get there and it isn’t all because of “game time.”
Bob-
I couldn’t agree more. Every children’s and youth “program” should have at its core “assisting parents in the discipleship of their children.”
growing up we had RA’s GA’s Acteens and Challengers…now I dont think we have any. I dont think its a lack or interest from the kids….we can never find anyone willing to teach the classes.
I enjoy reading the RA success stories although, like Nomad’s above, the successes are mostly of past years. It is my sentimental favorite far more than AWANA or TeamKid.
AWANA has the brand recognition, the intense and enthusiastic sales force, and the successes that Baptists love to hear. RAs no longer have any of that from what I see.
In Branson’s book, there is an offhand reference to a discussion among NAMB people about being handed (from the old Brotherhood Commission) an antique and failing product, RAs.
We have RAs/GAs/AWANA/Mission Friends/Acteens/Challengers… the whole enchilada. Each runs between 10-25 in attendance and are well received by the families within the church.
Marty:
We have active MISSIONS groups from Mission Friends, RAs, GAs, on up to WMU and Men’s groups. Our folks are all over the neighborhood and world sharing the Gospel and meeting needs. We have had 16+ of our congregation go into International MISSIONS and three more in the pipeline and several young people who have made a public committment to give their lives to career MISSIONS. Many of those have said that the foundation they got in the church’s MISSIONS education groups and the strong leadership therein was the catalyst for their decision. We also have a multi-grade Bible Drill program and several of our young people have won state-level awards. They don’t just learn chapter and verse and manual dexterity; they study doctrine and also write apologetics papers. Surely there is a way to teach our children much-needed Bible education and doctrine (hello??? Sunday School and Discipleship Training??? Family devotions???) without throwing out our MISSIONS education programs. Allan and I occasionally get invited to speak to groups about how our church promotes MISSIONS giving and going. At one such gathering I mentioned that we are a church that still has the full range of MISSIONS education groups, and was shocked to get enthusiastic applause. I believe there are many of us who are concerned about the “demise” of our MISSIONS education groups. It is commendable that many are seeking to find ways to teach doctrine, but what good is correct doctrine if it is not expressed through reaching a lost world? We need to teach them both!
We do none of the above.
We attempted to start a Faith Weavers because it appeared to have structure that could be easily adapted but we did not have interest in assistance except for about 4 adults. So now my wife teaches a children’s choir with a Bible study time. Attendance is the same for this on Sunday evening as in the morning for Sunday School and Children’s church.
I agree with Jasonk, way back up at the top. If we do something for kids, it shouldn’t be clone of Boy Scouts. Let’s do something original. I was a long-time scouter, and the idea of RAs/GAs just doesn’t appeal to me. If we want a program like that, I will recommend that we charter a Scout troop.
In Christ,
Tim
Marty,
We no longer have RA’s or GA’s but we do have Children in Action (CIA). CIA is the coed version of RAs and GAs. We went to that because we could not recruit enough male teachers for RAs. We wanted to maintain a missions focused program so that’s why we went with CIA on Wednesday night.
We also have AWANA on Sunday evening.
Regards,
Les
I was a failed Sparkie. Breezed through “Skipper”. But never got past the “Hiker” book. So I never got all the jewels in my silver crown. And never got the gold crown at all. And didn’t have any extra-credit patches or attendance pins. Just a plain half-empty red vest. I guess I just wasn’t committed enough. At that time in my life, I guess I wasn’t walking with the Lord closely and was more interested in the relay games. (Which I was good at since my vest wasn’t weighted down by very manycrowns and pins and jewels and such.)
Spent the next 15 years believing I must “do” more for Jesus to earn His favor and to try to make up for my inadequacies.
One day in college a man named Louie Giglio preached about “Grace plus nothing.” It was liberating.
I was able to move beyond my “Climber” envy.
I feel better now.
We have AWANA.
We used to have a good RA program, but when the leaders quit, the program tanked. Not enough workers for the work. We do an indepent children’s time on Wednesday nights….my wifey runs it. :)
Tim
Pam Blume, post #27, is right on target. I guess not many bloggers were students in Christian education at seminary. When you replace GA’s, RA’s, Acteens, Pioneers, etc., with AWANA, you are making a major curriculum change in your church. It’s not just a matter of replacing a “kid’s club” type organization because of the appeal. When you stop RA’s and GA’s you are ending missions education for kids as it exists in Southern Baptist churches. AWANA isn’t missions education.
I don’t have any objection to AWANA, but if you use it, you need to find a place to do missions education with your children. We have it on Wednesday night. We have home groups on Sunday night and the parents of kids drop them off at church. That’s when we do missions education. And I don’t go along with the notion that RA’s and GA’s are not as exciting or “fun.” If you have good leadership, they will accomplish their purpose and kids will want to be there.
Hey Kevin,
I was one of those kids…and guess what? All those verses I learned to “get checked off” stuck in my head…and then when the Holy Spirit opened my eyes and converted me…guess what? I still remembered those verses! And then guess what? Those verses that I learned to “get checked off” have never left me and have bore much fruit in my life…God used those verses that I wanted to “get checked off” became the very foundation of my life Kevin…even though my motivation was a candy bar or something when I was 9 or whatever.
Your comment totally shocked me my friend. Please pray about it.
hey Mike Woodward…my last comment is for you as well.
awana was too rigid for our schedule, as we wanted our kids to get some missions training and teach them worship songs and the arts. we have developed our own program called “blast” that accomplishes that for us that has been just as successful as awana (so far).
irreverand fox,
I yield to your point of the way the Holy Spirit uses scripture memorization! If all of the boys in my group would work at this to just get a “checkoff”, that would be a good thing.
I probably brought some other frustrations into my comments. My wife and I are working through the issue of driving 20 minutes away from our immediate community to our church building to interact with folks we primarily see only on Wed/Sunday. Awanas is just another program at our program heavy church. To be fair, our church is probably no different than the average SBC church, in that 99.5% of “church” is done at the building/campus.
I grew up in small churches that didn’t have programs as such. I remember learning about missions in Sunday School. There was always a baby food jar to be filled with pennies and quarters from chores to be sent to the missionaries, and we prayed for the missionaries by their birthdays, and even looked up where they were on wall maps. Yet, I also learned the Bible during that time. Perhaps the issue isn’t what program is best for a Sunday or Wednesday night, but rather have we gotten away from making full use of the Sunday School hour … teaching the Bible stories, outreach to other children, education in Christian basics like tithing, and the importance of the great commission and our mission efforts. All of this I received in Sunday School. The rest of the time on Sundays and Wednesdays I was sitting in “big church” with my folks.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with these specialized programs, I’m just saying that if you don’t have a missions emphasis elsewhere … start in Sunday School … all you need is an empty baby food jar with a picture of a missionary taped to it and a challenge to kids to do extra chores around the house or mow people’s lawns during the summer. It doesn’t take a program to inspire young one’s hearts to reach the world.
Foxy-
You’ve brought out the point that I was ineffective at doing. The verses that come most quickly to my mind are the ones I’ve known since I was a pre-teen and teen. The ones I have the hardest time remembering are the ones I’ve “memorized” as an adult.
As I mentioned, we RA’s and our own hybrid for girls. Just to touch on missions education in the absence of GA’s - the girls are currently raising a mile of pennies for Lottie Moon, sending pen pal cards to overseas friends, emailing our adopted IMB missionaries, and helping lead our congregational worship each week. Missions education is too important for us to not do it.
Agreeing with all who have gone before, I too believe that teaching mission is imperative from the cradle to the grave.
Fox,
Fair enough. Why don’t you pray about your comments about Dr. Reccord too!
thanks Marty…I’m sure my shock and offense was apparent…I just could not believe how those two comments minimized the long term benefit of kids MEMORIZING God’s Word…
I mean…where is our concept of “planting seeds”? Or what about God’s Word being “living” and “active” and “sharper then any double edged sword”? That just shocked me…it really did.
I never use a manuscript when I preach…I just have a very simple set of notes that could fit on a note card and then my Bible…when I “get going” verses just fly out of me sometimes…most of which were all hid in my heart when I was a kid trying to get my book signed that week or win the big jar of candy or whatever… in AWANA.
no hard feelings at all Mike, none at all…I see where you where coming from.
Foxy-
No problem; I think we were all talking past each other a little bit. I know that Kevin wasn’t trying to denigrate scripture memory nor AWANA; he was more trying to brag on his new co-laborer which is to be highly commended!
Irreverand Fox,
I did not mean to offend anyone. Since I did I ask for forgivess from you and anyone else I offended. I was just giving my opinion from my observations at 2 churches. Please forgive me.
We have Club Maccabee, a Messianic Jewish version of AWANA.
Derek Leman
Just an observation: What is lacking in churches is a ready group of people ready to be servants, regardless of the name of the program.
Until we realize that far too many Christians are consumers of Christian experiences, as opposed to creators of those experiences for others (i.e. servant-hearted leaders), programs will just be programs.
What is needed is an upside down reorganization of what we call church so that every thing we do develops leaders of every single believer, especially new ones, and we stop accomodating the Christian consumer mentality.
Not sure about the past, although I think we used to do AWANA at Edgewater. Kevin Bussey can speak to our old church, but at EBC right now we’re doing something called Mission Friends. But I don’t do the kid thing and have about as much of a clue as a rock.
I liked the Boy Scouts. It would be pretty cool for our local churches to sponsor Cub Scouts (and the others) and then work their way up maybe. Then again, I’m just an old fashioned 25 year old.
Kevin,
on a scale of 1-10…this was a hair above a zero…so you are released. my point is that your observation in 2 churches is just plain wrong. you are welcome.
you can e-mail me your response because this is off topic…but did I write anything about Dr. Reccord that was unfair, out of context or unChristlike?
The secret to a succesful AWANA program is dumping RAs and giving the boys back to the ladies. After all, working with kids is womens work. That’s right… AWANA, beside being a non-denomination program, is co-ed, thereby resolving the biggest problem facing a successful RA program and that is its men or the lack thereof. I know this first hand because I am and have been a national trainer for several years now. The story is the same. No men willing to do their job so the church goes co-ed on the kids. Problem solved, except now there is no more missions education at all. What a solution… Seems like the real problem is getting men to do what is their right. Well, in Memphis, we’re growning strong because instead of striking out on our own, we (RA Groups for multiple churches) decided to join forces and help each other through encouragement, training and joint events. Our efforts have allowed our programs to strengthen and it has encouraged other men to get invovled. Yeah… I guess if we did nothing but sat in the pews and let the ladies do our job we’d be doing AWANA too.. Check our website - http://www.midsouthras.org. (I can do all things through him who strengthens me, you can too)
My church has a thriving AWANA program.
But I would like to see more missions education mixed in with it.
Some of the comments here are pretty down on lay leaders, especially men. I think that sometimes we put guilt on lay people and give them little or no training, and then we act so surprised when they get discouraged and give up. I would like to encourage pastors to model some of the behaviour they want their members to exhibit, and to make sure that there is appropriate training.
Mike Freeman-
Thy name is “presumption.”
Our AWANA ministry is led by men and staffed with a good number of men (though probably a few more women). Just because the men in some churches didn’t step up, doesn’t mean it’s across the board. Since you are a “national trainer” you should know this. We have 11 times the men involved in AWANA than we did with RA’s when it was dropped.
As with any other program, weaknesses must be addressed. AWANA does not jettison mission, it simply isn’t the frontspiece as with RA’s and GA’s. That does not mean that it cannot be supplemented during AWANA or implemented at another time during the week as it should be.
That, IMO, would reflect the leadership and vision of the local church.
Mike,
Yes, AWANA is non-denominational. . . and coed. I don’t understand why this seems a problem. I have been an AWANA worker for a few years. Scripture memorization stretches across denominational lines. It isn’t just a “Baptist thing”, since God’s Word doesn’t return void.
The church where I’m a member does both, and has a fairly good response with both…in numbers. Several years ago I was a pastor doing premarital counseling for a young couple…he ‘bragged’ that he’d won highest honors in AWANA by memorizing 6,000 verses…but that didn’t stop him from later having an affair and abandoning his wife and 2 kids. That’s not a condemnation of AWANA–it just shows us that no program can make real change–only God’s power does that.
I was involved in the revamp of RA program materials a few years ago, and since becoming a freelance writer, have written for CiA, the coed materials from WMU.
One major problem that I see is that in many churches, the leaders don’t really get the concept of what the organization’s purpose really is…AWANAS is evangelism, with a bit of discipleship and a bit (optional) of missions…and that’s fine. Let it be what it is. But know that kids also need true discipleship and to catch the concept that all of us are to be on mission for Christ. RAs and GAs, DONE RIGHT, can help do that. The sad thing is, it seems to me that only a minority of the churches that “claim to have” RAs/GAs really train the leaders, get them motivated, and help the kids have real, significant mission experiences.
But I think there’s hope. AWANAS seems to recognize that there’s a missions “hole” in their curriculum. Staff at NAMB (RAs) and WMU (GA/CiA) are burning themselves out to produce top-notch materials, and to find ways to train leaders. Dedicated lay people are also volunteering their time not only at their own churches, but to help other groups.
Where’s all this leading? Don’t know…but I know that God is always doing a new thing… sometimes even using old ministries and ‘dead programs.’ After all, He is in the resurrection business!
Royal Ambassadors is nearing 100 years of existence. Most SBC missionaries were either RAs or GAs. Current RA cirriculum is better than ever. It focuses on ten Christian character virtues that are the DNA of the group as found in the RA Pledge. According to NAMB, thousands of boys have come to know Christ through Royal Ambassadors. Thousands of pastors were Royal Ambassadors. RAs seeks to bring boys to Christ, disciple them into On Mission Christians, and deploy them for the Mission of Christ. It also teaches them that they are missionaries now and for life.
There are many opinions on this issue–but few actually compare and contrast the distinctions between the programs and their intended purposes. Leadership at individual churches will frequently make one program “excel” over another-but that really isn’t the point and can be said about any program or ministry at our Batist Churches including Sunday School and Choir.
Mission education programs like RAs/GAs/Challengers/Acteens/Children in Action/Mission Friends are just that–”Mission Education Programs.” They are usually gender specific and most have matching gender leadership. All these missioin education programs are sponsored by Southern Baptist Convention entities/auxilliaries like the North American Mission Board and the Woman’s Missionary Union using Cooperative Program funding. The SBC entities and auxilliaries prepare literature and materials for the programs–and the writers and editors are members of Southern Baptist Churches. They develope an awards system based on mission education concepts and related interest activities designed to promote mission skills. Leadership training is offered, but not required, by the SBC entitities, state/regional convention–ministries and associational leadership. The training offerred is usually free or for nominal sums. There is little or no marketing and promotion of these programs outside publication of resource catalogues and quarterly ordering forms/flyers. Most of these programs have been around in one form or the other for about 100 years. All were initially created by the Woman’s Missionary Union
AWANA is a descipleship program–coeducational for participants (but more frequently led by ladies) owned and operated for a profit by a company. AWANA is a non-denominational program and is used by many Christian churches of widely varying denominations–particularly independent churches. Its materials are non-denominational and the program purposefully does not distinquish between Christian denominations and for obvious reasons does not promote any denomination over the other. The AWANA program requires contractual commitments and prohibits blending of its program, materials, logos, and activities with other children’s programs for a number of good reasons–which help preserve the integrity and identity of its program. (For those of you that use AWANA–please closely read the contract and documentation referenced in the AWANA contracts you are required to sign) AWANA is available to most Baptist Churches because of our treasured autonomy. It is not used in Christian denominations where the Denominational leadership controls the substance of materials and funding for their member congregations. Most of the teachings of AWANA appear consistent with the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message. AWANA requires regular training of its leadership (as part of the cost for use of its materials) and employs an extensive group of “Missionaries” who market the program to pastors, congregations, and parents in a way that totally eclipses the SBC’s promotion of its mission education programs. (Many of the bloggers seem offended by the use of the term “non-denominational.” There isn’t anything wrong with that–it is simply an acurate label and meaningful only because we are members of Baptist Churches and presumably discussing what programs Baptist Churches are using).
Mission Education programs and AWANA compete for time at most Baptist Churches because of limitations on funding, leadership, space, time and other factors. The leadership issues which cause the programs to compete is based on the reality that ladies will more easily commit to working with children and thus are leaders in all these programs, whereas men are harder to get to work with children and thus the male gender specific programs tend to flounder if there is a shortage of male leadership. Because of time-commitment and even space dynamics, most Churches have to choose which of these programs they will use. There are also personal preferences by our church pastors, ministers, and children’s directors–many of which are transplants from other denominations–that determine which programs will be used. Also there are simply many decisions made–as revealed by the blogs herein–based on a complete lack of information about the goals and methods of the different programs. Frankly parents desires are last on the list–except it appears that where an existing program seems to be burned out and someone wants change–that of course will light a fire under a local pastor motivated by membership considerations to make a change. Leadership changes also affect the vitality of both kinds of programs and if training and replacements are not routinely made, the programs will wither and fade away or at least change from the goal-orientation purpose of the program to nothing more than a baby-sitting service–which is particularly unappealing to male leadership.
When Mission Education programs and AWANA are operated consistent with their program materials and agendas, Children are brought to Christ. When either kind of program turns into nothing but a baby-sitting service or a place to put your children while adults do their own worship thing–you end up with the kinds of failures described in this blog.
One positive point about AWANA emphasised in these blogs is Bible Scripture memorization. The fact that Bible scripture study is a cornerstone of AWANA programs and the absence of a real dialogue or promotion machine for mission education programs creates a misunderstanding. Mission Education programs actually have more Bible verse study than AWANA–just a different emphasis–Christ’s Great Commission. In RAs for example a boy earns a gold medal for learning 75 mission emphais Bible verses in a year. AWANA doesn’t attempt Bible verse study on that scale.
Another point in this blog seems to frequently compare RAs to Boy Scouts–with one blogger suggesting that he would rather use Boy Scouts at his church than bother with RAs. That reasoning really underscores the lack of understanding of the purpose of mission education programs that seems to permiate this blog and our congregations. Royal Ambassadors is not simply a scouting-like organization. Because the program is directed towards boys–camping and hiking, sports, and competitions are amoung the activities used to get and keep their interest–with the purpose of all being to bring boys to Christ through the activity and designed to help boys learn to be witnesses for Christ in the various mission fields the SBC has identified as part of our day-to-day lives. Boy Scouts is about a lot of good things. Royal Ambassadors and Challengers are about the same things–but Christ is at the center of it all in these mission education programs. How could any Christian want a Boy Scout program at his church instead of Royal Ambassadors and Challengers?
There is much more to mission education than as one blogger above suggested–putting a jar in a Sunday School class with a picture of a missionary on it. We have a denomination devouted to taking the message of Christ to the people of the world. Evangelism and Missions is a primary tenant of the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message (Article XI). We have a wide array of entities and servants supported by funds raised by our member churches in a a way that is unparalleled by any other religious organization in history–The Cooperative Program. From Church to Association, to State/Regional Convention to SBC entities and auxiliaries and the convention itself, we have literraly thousands of people dedicated to taking the message of Christ to the world’s lost. Mission education is about more than just the men and women witnessing in foreign countries. It is about those serving in your families, your churches, your neighborhoods, your children’s schools, your work, your communities, your counties, your states, your nations, and our world. Who is Lottie Moon? Who is Annie Armstrong? Do these bloggers know or care? If our churches do not teach mission education how will our children learn how to do this? More importantly if we do not teach mission education how will our children learn why we do this? We are not doing this for a profit and we aren’t doing it just for membership. We have core beliefs of what it takes to be saved–not a watered down version designed as one size fits all–but with specific declarations and commitments that are distinct from other denominations.
When it comes to measuring the “success” of a program, most of you will agree it really isn’t measured by participation today, tomorrow or even yesterday but by the lasting effects it has on the participants. We pray that all of our children find Christ and that the things we teach them now will help them keep Christ at the center of their lives as they face more and more difficulties than we faced as children. We pray that when they face critical decisions and crisis they will turn to Christ and hold him fast and emerge victorious over sin and as a shining example to others of what Christ can do in their lives. We pray that our children will grow up to serve Christ in ways far better than we have or dreamed of serving. We are all presumably Christians–but we cannot forget that most of us chose to belong to a Southern Baptist church for a reason. Do we want the principles we promote to be available for our children and their children? Are we training our children to be tomorrow’s leaders? Boys in particular in today’s world need Christain men in their lives and need to see men serving as Christain leaders. If men are taken out of the equation or take a back seat in leadership of boys–we get the kind of mixed up identities that have come to be more and more the norm in our society these days. Boys and men need to interact in settings that identify the different responses of men and women to the same situations in ways that promote Christ.
Even though the question wasn’t asked perhaps out of lack of knowledge, is “why some churches that were using AWANA have dropped it and returned to mission education?”. The reasons are varied–cost, commitment, leadership burn-out, lost direction. Many of the reports I have received are because of the desire to expose children to missions and mission education combined with the realization that the goals and purposes of AWANA are more similar to Sunday School.
If we are going to choose “Either/Or” let’s choose the programs that really identify and promote what we believe in and how we share Christ. Let’s promote the program using Cooperative Program dollars to help raise Cooperative Program dollars. Let’s use the program that teaches boys and girls to be witnesses for Christ. Let’s urge our denominational leaders to support the mission education programs that support our denomination. Let’s urge them to promote the programs that pay for their jobs. Let urge them to recognize 100 plus years of successful ministry and missions for Christ taught to our children. Let’s urge leadership to choose prgrams that are developed and sponsored by our denomination. Ask our leaders, locally, regionally, and nationally to actually promote mission education–from the pulpit, in convenitions, through training, with funding, marketing, and even advertising through all mediums. Let’s really get out and give missions education a fighting change and engage in a meaningful dialogue about the benefits of mission education. Ask your pastors and staff to share information available to them about mission education programs in your associations, regions, and state conventions. Send your leaders to the training available that will help them understand the dynamics and benefits of mission education programs in a way that will catch and keep the attention of our children.
If we give these competing programs equal attention and opportunity–there is no doubt as to which will be choosen by Southern Baptist Churches.
Thanks for considering this perspective. My church in Marietta, Georgia has RAs/GAs and Mission Friends.
As a RA Leader our church saw God move through our young boys as they applied what they learned through scriptue memory and the study of missionary principles. God used the RA program and resources to transform ‘braves’ into ‘warriors’ for his service. He not only changed the lives of our young boys, but also their attitude about being on mission. This same transformation was experienced by our men and the entire church. We also saw the GA’s become more active in their service to the Lord.
History shows that many of our SBC pastors, church leaders, and missionaries have a strong RA and GA Mission Education background. Whatever we do, we must preserve the opportunity for our children to hear and answer God’s “Call to Mission”. For, we all are called to be “Ambassadors for Christ”.
Elizabeth, the fact that AWANA is non-denomination is but one issue I have with it, but that’s personal. The main issue deals with what AWANA lacks in substance. In my experience, most every church that uses AWANA has no supplement in place for children’s missions’ education. Secondly, RAs is much more that a missions program. It is a program geared towards teaching leadership, virtues and BIBLE verse memorization. It teaches Loyalty, Friendship, Courage, Responsibility, Honesty, Faith, Compassion, Perseverance, Teamwork and Self Discipline. And one of the greatest attributes that RAs have that AWANA does not, it is written, designed and taught under the guise of Man to Boy mentoring program, which our world is so desperately void of now. No, there is nothing wrong with using AWANA to learn scripture, but RAs does this and much-much more. I’ve got experience in my testimony, not to mention the thousands of RA leaders across this great nation. I’ve seen it change lives in both Men and boys alike. 80% of missionaries say that RAs and GAs played a big part in their decision to be missionaries. Using AWANA instead of RAs or GAs sets a dangerous precedence. It is an incomplete program which only deals with part of the big picture. God’s Word instructs us to hide his word in our heart, not keep it there. RAs is all about the Great Commission.
Mike,
I am thrilled that RA’s is what is most effective in your church. I obviously disagree with your comment, “Using AWANA instead of RAs or GAs sets a dangerous precedence”
We have had both in our church and for us AWANA’s is the direction that God has taken us in. We have seen the result of the kids hiding God’s Word in their hearts. Since we have seen the result, I believe I can say that the kids aren’t “just keeping it there.”
I’m okay with either program, but our church has chosen to stick with the GA/RA format. One of the reasons is that the girls are much more willing to talk when it’s just girls in the room. In Sunday School, they’re hesitant to answer questions and talk, but in GA’s (I’m a GA leader) they open up. The irony is that, as moderates, we’re not an SBC church anymore; the GA/RA curriculum is the only SBC product we still use. My mother, grandmother, sister, and I were GA’s, and I expect my daughters to be GA’s as well. Being a GA got me into a lifelong habit of praying for missionaries. Can other programs teach that? Sure. But I’m glad we have a space for girls to just be girls in that context, and humbled by the chance to teach them as so many faithful women taught me.
Like texasinafrica we are not really an SBC church.
Our church has a very active Mission Friends, RA/GA program. Our community has active Dad’s clubs in the schools and there is strong participation by men in our church. RAs has a few women workers (along with men) in the early years, but later on just men working with the boys. RA/GAs has been a huge longterm success. There is a rotating monthly missionary that visits.
Some mothers of boys work in GAs to get to know the girls in their son’s age group better. I think a staff wife started this trend. Hearing Mission Friends pronounce the name of foreign countries is a real hoot.
Wednesday nights we eat starting at 4:30 (food service to 7:00) , Kids Choirs at 5:30, Missions orgs at 6:30. The schedule is a real success. Our church is very committed to missions and my kids are especially good at Geography in public school. Our church is strongly public school oriented.
The church as I understand it gives more to IMB missions than two of our SBC Mega neighbors combined. We also have lots of ongoing mission efforts in local neighborhoods from tutoring to foodbanks and regular involvement in Guatemala and Cuba missions. Our church is becoming more multi ethnic as well.
In Tim’s comment above, (yes, Tim I did read your encyclical!) this comment struck me:
“Most of the teachings of AWANA appear consistent with the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message.”
Since I have not worked directly with AWANAS in churches I pastored earlier in my career, I can’t answer this for sure, but I understand that AWANAS has a theological statement that must be signed and agreed to before a church can implement it…and that this statement speaks only of trusting Jesus as Savior, NOT as Savior and LORD, as we assert in the BF&M.
Can anyone tell me if this is true? And if it is true, what does that say about our beliefs as Baptists? That we’re willing to sacrifice a core belief to use program materials we view as successful?
I am not against using materials from other groups outside our denomination–but I do believe that we must be careful that the materials don’t reflect theology that is incomplete or suspect.
Elton,
I am one of many AWANA workers in my church. In the second Truth & Training handbook, one of the AWANA books for 3rd to 5th graders, there are seven sections which deal with the question “Who is the Lord Jesus”? I can assure you that your concern about not recognizing Jesus is Lord in the AWANA ministry is unfounded.
Hi “Elton”:
Thanks for reading my … “post” above. I’ve never seen that “encyclical” term you used–but I probably deserve it [laughing at myself].
Thank you and all the other people posting to this site for all the thngs you have done to help not only bring people to Christ but to make them “On Mission” for Christ. That of course is Christ’s Great Commission to us all.
My church did Mission Friends on Wed nights. It was poorly attended (usually around 5-10) In September 2006 we added AWANA and now have 35 children every week. What makes AWANA so great is that the kids not only learn Scripture but they have fun playing games. Plus they can run around a lot.
We moved Mission Friends to Sunday night.
Marty,
I’m one of the “new” RA holdouts. I can’t speak for GA’s, but the change in the RA program from a few years ago is really a phenominal revamp of a tried and true program.
From personal experience, the reason that AWANA succeeds where RA has failed should not attributed to the quality of the program but to the quality of the effort put into insuring its success. Most SBC churches that drop RA/GA and opt for AWANA have a contingency of “old guard” that oppose AWANA. This tends to only add to the resolve of the pro-AWANA group (especially the pastor and designated AWANA program leader), spurring them on to new heights of commitment, enthusiasm, creativity, advocacy, and energy thus insuring the success of the new program.
If the same level of commitment, enthusiasm, creativity, advocacy, and energy were poured into RA/GA programs, I’m sure the same success (as measured by number of workers and number of kids)would be realized. If success were measured in spiritual maturity, character development, and personal understanding and commitment to The Mission, I’m convinced that there would be a great revival of RA/GA among SBC churches and the AWANA vs RA/GA debate would be relegated to the pages of SBC history.
For our church, AWANA has become a sacred cow program. The identity the workers have is apart from the church as a whole. They define their entire church experience from the standpoint of this program.
Primarily it has become not an outreach ministry to children in our community, but a program for other church’s children.
We strongly feel that our only recourse is to ditch AWANA, not because of the program itself but because of the attitudes behind the people running it.
I’m not against AWANA perse, but I’ve seen this in other churches too. Not sure WHY, but other ministries I know, have ditched it for the same reason.
We are also concerned that real memorization isn’t taking place. There is absolutely no retention in our children, even those who have gone completely through the program from elementary to high school. It is very sad.
RA’s and GA’s not sure if we will go there, though I do like the missionary focus.
Anyway, thought I would put in my 2 cents.
I would first like to clear up a few misconceptions that have been stated about Awana in various posts throughout this ongoing conversation.
Awana does not require any church to sign anything agreeing to their doctrinal statement. This was a past practice, but stopped in 2001. Awana now tells people what they believe and that those beliefs will be reflected in their materials. They simply require that a church not decide to run the program and then rip out pages or add their own material to the books. It is totally up to the church on whether or not to run the program.
Also, it is up to the church whether or not to run the club co-ed or not. If a church wants to, and has enough leaders of both genders. They can have seperate groups, or they can combine. While game time is generally more fun having everyone together, if you have enough children even this could be done separately. The Awana program will work either way!
Someone also stated that Awana was a “owned and operated by a company for a profit”. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Awana is a non-profit organization dedicated to the hope that all children and youth throughout the world will come to know, love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
While the emphasis in Awana is on evangelism and discipleship, Awana does not ignore the importance of missions. Sparks books have the children writing to and praying for missionaries. Truth & Training books have the kids reading a biography of a missionary. Awana has a Missionary In Training (MIT) program for the senior high groups to be involved in that trains and sends the kids on two week short-term missions trips around the world. Awana also does not dictate what a church uses for their large group time lessons. This is allowed for the exact reason that a church might want to have its own emphasis on missions or anything else. My own church just finished 4 weeks of Awana that focused on missions and had interviews with missionaries each of the 4 weeks.
Awana clubs are running in over 100 countries throughout the world and the U.S. organization is funding the outreach effort with a signifigant percentage of it’s total net income each year. So by supporting Awana in the U.S., your church is supporting missions work throughout the world.
Folks, here’s the bottom line as I see it. Ministry to children is extremely important! Christ said so. Studies also reflect the fact that most people come to know the Lord as Saviour between the ages of 4 and 14. There is a window of opportunity there that no church can afford to just let pass by!
If RA’s and GA’s are effective at leading kids to the Lord and helping them grow into mature Christians that actively live out their faith as adults, then participate and be blessed! If Awana does those things in your church, praise the Lord! If TeamKids or some other program do that where you worship or send your kids, then I say, “AMEN!” All these programs are tools that have their good points and not so good points (especially being led by fallible adults of various levels of training, experience and spiritual maturity). So no program should be seen as a “sacred cow”.
But if you are in a church or sending your kids to a church that has no program for young people and no interested or committed people to help lead such programs or take interest in reaching out and developing children and youth, then you need to be very concerned! So feel free to have a preference, but realize no program is perfect. Just be sure to be doing something to help parents in their God given responsibility to raise up their children with a biblical worldview.
God Bless!
