Dwell Goes Digital

As children’s ministry leaders in the Christian Reformed Church in North America and beyond ramp up programming for the upcoming church season, they will be able to take advantage of the soon-to-be-released Dwell Digital.

Offering a full range of resources in digital format for Dwell leaders, this is the most significant upgrade to Dwell children's and Sunday school curriculum since its creation nearly a decade ago. Especially exciting: Dwell can now by updated regularly as needed.

 “As a Dwell leader, I love that I’ll be able to access the sessions anytime and anywhere with the new Dwell Digital,” said Karen De Boer, creative resource director for Faith Formation Ministries.

“I can open the session on my phone while I'm out shopping and check if I need to pick up extra supplies for an upcoming session; I can access and read the sessions from my tablet; and I can instantly send a session to the person who is substituting for me.”

As a Dwell editor, she said, the new, more accessible format allows her and other curriculum staff to “add fresh content as it’s developed — and it provides us with multiple opportunities to support leaders by adding easily accessible links and tips.”

The Dwell curricula, for kids in preschool through eighth grade, helps young people better understand and live more deeply into God’s story of salvation.

Once the new digital product is available within the next few weeks, churches will be able to subscribe online through Faith Alive Christian Resources.

“Dwell Digital sets us up for the future,” said Tim Postuma, web manager for the CRCNA. “This new format helps us to make sure that the materials are always relevant.”

By purchasing Dwell Digital, he said, all of the teachers in your church will have full, online access to all 360 lessons in the Dwell curriculum, as well as all of the teacher resources. The pricing structure is based on the number of children in your Sunday school program.

However, churches will still need to purchase the printed student resources, since they are offered in a variety of colorful, take-home formats that would be difficult and more expensive to print at home or church. The hard-copy format thus still allows churches and parents access to high-quality materials that would otherwise print out poorly on a home or church-office printer, making it less likely for kids to fully engage with the lessons.

“Dwell Digital could alleviate a lot of potential headaches. If a teacher is sick, another teacher will have access to the leader guide, making it much easier for them to fill in,” said Gabe Bain, communications specialist.

Also, he said, by subscribing to Dwell Digital, a church can easily share a link to the session overview with parents who would like to know more about what their children are learning in Sunday school.

The overall goal and message of Dwell, for the young children starting in preschool, is to introduce them to and get them familiar with Bible stories and lessons. Then, as they go further into their elementary and middle school years, the curriculum goes deeper to help them better understand and live more deeply into God’s story.

Step by step and year by year, children have the opportunity to see and take part in the unfolding story of God’s love and saving grace for his people, said Nicole Brummel, a curriculum specialist for the CRC.

“Dwell allows kids to have the chance to dig in and imagine and live into the story and to see how they are part of the whole story of salvation,” she said.

Unlike some other curricula, which present Scripture to children as a series of morals or virtues, Dwell nurtures a deep and wide faith as children explore God’s story and its implications for their lives together, said Karen De Boer.

“With Dwell, leaders create a fun learning environment in which relationships are formed and faith is grown through wonder and discovery as children hear, retell, and respond to God’s story through art, drama, pair sharing, games, and more,” she said.

And now, with Dwell Digital, leaders will have more convenient access to the resources they need to make those connections. To learn more about Dwell, visit www.DwellCurriculum.org.