If getting to use a journal with a sketch of Bruce Reyes-Chow’s face isn’t enough of a reason to go buy the Animate curriculum for this fall…I guess I’ll share more about why I’m excited about it.
First of all, the videos are great – it’s a really unique and creative approach that stays away from the “Living the Questions” style of the “talking head theologian” but still brings some really thoughtful people into conversation with folks in your churches. The Animate journals are amazing quality – they just “feel good” and are filled with wonderful illustrations, questions, spaces for writing questions, reflections, etc., along the course. And the leader guide is really helpful in how it guides you through how to prepare for the lesson.
We are getting this to use as our kickoff to our Adult Education Series. Because of our previous worship schedules at First Pres Ashland, we haven’t been able to have a regular, consistent adult Christian Education class…and now, after making some changes to the worship schedule, we have that opportunity, and we’re going to use Animate to kick it off.
We’ll be using it as a 7-week series – and these are the topics that Animate will guide us through:
- Brian McLaren – God: Faith is a Quest
- Lillian Daniel – Religion: Spirituality is Not Enough
- Mark Scandrette – Jesus: The Revolution of Love
- Shane Hipps – Salvation: Abundant Life Now
- Nadia Bolz-Weber – Cross: Where God Is
- Lauren Winner – Bible: A Book Like No Other
- Bruce Reyes-Chow – Church: An Imperfect Family
You can also check out a short video of the people involved in Animate and hear why they are excited about the final product as well. I’m looking forward to the conversations that we’ll be having in our class this fall.