“Teaching kids jazzes us!”

Tom and Rachel Morris met at Christian camp in Pennsylvania. Her family was there for a reunion and Tom was there as a volunteer electrician doing repairs. Rachel is a graduate of Eastern Michigan University and is an Occupational Therapist, currently working with preschool children in the Adams 12 School District. Tom is a graduate of Johnson Bible College and Regis University. He is a Project Manager for Schneider Electric.

How would these two servants, reared in Christian homes describe their early spiritual journey?
“After marriage, I owned my faith.”
“We heard a presentation on church planting from people with the Empire State Evangelizing Association and felt a call to be church planters. We were part of the team that planted Celebrate Life Christian Church in Lancaster, PA.

What did you learn from your first church planting experience?
Rachel: We loved church planting.
Tom: It is easier to change something new than something old.
Rachel: You have to be intentional with what you are doing. “Why” is always the question.
Both: We like to work together. That’s one of the good things about developing curriculum and teaching KidsQuest at Discovery, we work together.

Tell me about the children’s curriculum.
Rachel: Originally, we wanted all kids to study the same lesson – the same text or theme.
Tom: Wouldn’t it be great for parents and kids to ride home and say, “What did you study in church today?” and have them all talk about the same thing only at different grade levels? In the beginning we tried to coordinate the lessons with the sermons, but that was overwhelming.
Rachel: The lessons are on a three-year rotation. We try to summarize the Old Testament and delve more deeply into the New Testament.
Tom: The lessons are divided into 3 – 6 week units. Each unit has a theme that is connected to kid’s culture.
Rachel: We’ve done Disney’s Cars with a hot wheels racetrack. We’ve even done old radio drama clips from back in the ‘30s ‘40’s and ‘50’s. Each unit has a scripture text to memorize. We read and study what the Bible says. We use multi-sensory experiences each week to help the kids learn and remember the lesson. Large group activities bring them together. Small group activities are age-graded. Nothing is done by random occurrence.

Can the typical volunteer who isn’t professionally trained teach the kid’s material?
Rachel: We tell our workers that they are leaders. They are leading children to learn. Yes, these materials are designed for volunteers to use.

How do you keep yourselves refreshed?
Rachel: Teaching children jazzes us. We love feed back from parents. When I look around the room in adult worship and see new Christians – people who weren’t here a year ago – it keeps me going.