Main Street Curriculum

“What would you teach children?” I asked a mentor.

“Bible stories. I would immerse elementary students in the stories of the Bible in chronological order so they would have a significant base upon which to understand the unfolding of redemptive history, the gospel, and any lived theology.”

And the basic idea for what I would later call Main Street Curriculum was born.

Main Street

When I started as a children’s pastor at Hayward Wesleyan Church in June 2003, I had the summer to prepare how I planned to kick off Sunday school, both in content and format, that fall. I had a couple of guiding principles:

  1. I wanted to teach the Bible in order. That’s often the way a story is told: chronological order. The story tends to make more sense and is more memorable when told in the order it happens and is written. It would make sense then to teach Adam and Eve before Abraham, Moses before David, and Jesus before Solomon. Teaching the Scriptures in order helps with review (because it usually sets up the story for the current week by recollecting what happened the previous week) and with anticipating what might happen next in the story (a teaser for how might God work or what might happen to this character or group of people next?).
  2. The biblical story itself was paramount and application was secondary. What I had experienced in my initial quest to understand typical children’s ministry curriculum was that it seemed like application drove what Bible story was used and even how it was understood. In how I understand the Scriptures, it is used by God to inform his people of the unfolding narrative of redemption: what this world is that we live in, how it has come to be in its current state, and what has God done and is currently doing about it, are the primary questions the Bible is attempting to answer. Having taught the Scriptures this way for over 16 years, I found that application is easy once the biblical story is accurately and creatively communicated. I have also found that children have an uncanny ability to apply great stories to their everyday lives in ways us adults can’t even begin to comprehend let alone write curriculum for. And since the Bible has great stories in it, disciple-making adults have the best source material: the Old and New Testament!

I sat down with my trusty blue NIV Bible and proceeded to write down all the major stories of the Bible in both the Old and New Testament. Once I did that I began to break them up and organize them into various parts. Pretty quickly it fell into helpful proportions. About 2/3 of the Bible is the OT and the other 1/3 is the NT (rough estimate). As I added up all the stories, it seemed like I could fit them into 3 one-year segments, with the first 2 years focusing on the OT and third year addressing the NT.

I made the decision to settle with focusing each year on 39 stories during the school year, from the beginning of September to the end of May. This encompassed three 13-week quarters in a sense with the fourth 13-week quarter being the summertime. I decided to use the summers to fill in any gaps or do some creative things to supplement anything we deemed necessary along the way.

Here is how the stories laid out in three, 39-week sections:

Year One – The Old Testament (Torah)

  1. Days of Creation (Genesis 1:1 – 2:3)
  2. Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:4-25)
  3. Fall of Mankind (Genesis 3:1-24)
  4. Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1-26)
  5. Noah and the Flood (Genesis 6:1 – 9:19)
  6. Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)
  7. Call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1 – 14:24)
  8. God’s Covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15:1-21)
  9. Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:1 – 19:29)
  10. Birth of Isaac (Genesis 21:1-21)
  11. Sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19)
  12. Isaac Marries Rebekah (Genesis 24:1-67)
  13. Jacob and His Brother Esau (Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-41)
  14. Jacob’s Dream & Marriage (Genesis 29:1 – 30:24)
  15. Jacob Goes Back to the Land (and Wrestles) (Genesis 31:1 – 33:20; 35:1-15)
  16. Joseph’s Journey to Slavery (Genesis 37:1-36)
  17. Joseph’s Slavery @ Potiphar’s House (Genesis 39:1-20)
  18. Joseph’s Slavery in Jail (Genesis 39:21 – 40:23)
  19. Joseph’s Slavery Ends (Genesis 41:1-57)
  20. Joseph’s Family Comes to Egypt (Genesis 42:1 – 46:7)
  21. Israelites in Slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1:1-22)
  22. Birth of Moses (Exodus 2:1-10)
  23. Moses is Exiled (Exodus 2:11-25)
  24. The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1 – 4:17)
  25. Moses Confronts Pharaoh (Exodus 4:18 – 7:13)
  26. Ten Plagues Against Egypt (Exodus 7:14 – 12:30)
  27. The Escape From Egypt (Exodus 12:31 – 14:31)
  28. Water and Food in the Desert (Exodus 15:22 – 18:27)
  29. Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1 – 20:21)
  30. Golden Calf Incident at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1-35)
  31. Moses and the Glory of Yahweh at Mount Sinai (Exodus 33:12-23; 34:29-35)
  32. Tabernacle at Mount Sinai (Exodus 35:4 – 40:38)
  33. Cloud, Fire, and Quail at Mount Sinai (Numbers 9:15 – 10:36; 11:1-3, 4-35)
  34. Twelve Spies, Rebellion, and Wandering (Numbers 13:1 – 14:45)
  35. The Korah Rebellion and the Budding of Aaron’s Staff (Numbers 16:1-50)
  36. Moses Messes Up (Numbers 20:1-13)
  37. The Bronze Snake (Numbers 21:4-9)
  38. Balaam’s Donkey Talks (Numbers 22:1 – 24:25)
  39. Love the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Year 2 – Old Testament (Historical Books)

  1. Rahab and the Spies (Joshua 2:1-24)
  2. Fall of Jericho (Joshua 5:13 – 6:27)
  3. Achan’s Sin & the Battle of Ai (Joshua 7:1 – 8:35)
  4. Gibeonite Deception & Rescue (Joshua 9:1 – 10:15)
  5. Dividing the Land and the Story of Caleb (Joshua 13:8 – 14:5; 14:6-15)
  6. Deborah (Judges 4:1 – 5:31)
  7. Gideon (Judges 6:1 – 8:35)
  8. Samson’s Birth & Marriage (Judges 13:1 – 15:20)
  9. Samson & Delilah (Judges 16:1-31)
  10. Story of Ruth (Ruth 1:1 – 4:22)
  11. Birth of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1 – 2:11)
  12. Call of Samuel (1 Samuel 3:1 – 4:1)
  13. Story of the Ark and Hophni & Phinehas (1 Samuel 4:1 – 7:1)
  14. Saul Becomes King (1 Samuel 8:1 – 10:27)
  15. Saul Disobeys Twice (1 Samuel 13:1-15; 15:1-35)
  16. Story of Jonathan (1 Samuel 13:23 – 14:52)
  17. Samuel Anoints David (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
  18. David & Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1-58)
  19. David & Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1 – 20:42)
  20. David Spares Saul’s Life Twice (1 Samuel 24:1-22; 26:1-25)
  21. David, Nabal & Abigail (1 Samuel 25:1-44)
  22. Saul & Jonathan Die (1 Samuel 31:1-13) and David Becomes King (2 Samuel 1:1 – 5:25)
  23. Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:1-29)
  24. David & Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1 – 12:25)
  25. Conspiracy of Absalom (2 Samuel 13:1 – 19:8)
  26. David Takes a Census & Buys a Threshold (2 Samuel 24:1-17)
  27. Solomon Becomes King and Asks for Wisdom (1 Kings 1:1 – 4:34)
  28. Solomon Builds the Temple (1 Kings 5:1 – 9:9)
  29. Kingdom Falls Apart, Divides—Rehoboam & Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26 – 12:33)
  30. Story of Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:1 – 19:18)
  31. Story of Elisha (1 Kings 19:19-21; 2 Kings 2:1-25; 4:1-7, 8-37, 38-41, 42-44; 5:1-27; 6:1-7, 8-23)
  32. Story of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13)
  33. Story of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:4-19)
  34. Fall of Israel, the City of Samaria (2 Kings 17:7-41)
  35. King Hezekiah of Judah (2 Kings 18:1-20:21)
  36. King Josiah of Judah (2 Kings 22:1-23:30)
  37. Fall of Judah, the City of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25:1-26, 27-30)
  38. Rebuilding the Temple (Ezra 1:1 – 10:44)
  39. Rebuilding the Wall of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:1 – 13:31)

Year 3 – New Testament (Gospels and Acts)

  1. Birth of Jesus (Matt 1:18 – 2:23; Luke 1:26 – 2:20)
  2. Jesus at the Temple (Luke 2:21-52)
  3. John the Baptist & Jesus’ Baptism (Matt 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-11; Luke 3:1-37; John 3:22-36)
  4. Jesus’ Temptation (Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13)
  5. Sermon on the Mount – Kingdom Presented (Matt 5:1 – 7:29; Luke 6:17-49)
  6. Physical Healings: Healing a Lame Man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9), Healing a Man with a Shriveled Hand (Matt 12:9-13; Mark 3:1-5; Luke 6:6-10), Healing a Paralytic (Matt 9:2-8; Mark 2:3-12; Luke 5:18-26), Healing a Man Born Blind (John 9:1-41)
  7. Miracle: Delivering the Gadarene Maniac (Matt 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39)
  8. Physical Healings: Raising Jairus’ Daughter & Healing the Bleeding Woman (Matt 9:18-26; Mark 5:22-43; Luke 8:41-56), Cleansing Ten Lepers (Luke 17:11-19), Cleansing a Leper (Matt 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-45; Luke 5:12-16)
  9. Miracle: Feeding the 5,000 or 4,000 (Matt 14:14-21; 15:32-39; Mark 6:34-44; 8:1-9Luke 9:12-17; John 6:16-21)
  10. Miracle: Jesus Walks on Water (Matt 14:24-33; Mark 6:45-52; John 6:16-21)
  11. Miracle: Raising of Lazarus (John 11:17-44)
  12. Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:1-23; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:1-15)
  13. Parable of the “Losts” (Luke 15:1-32): Lost Sheep (15:1-7), Lost Coin (15:8-10), Lost Son (15:11-32)
  14. Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
  15. Rich Young Man (Matt 19:16-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-30)
  16. Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matt 20:1-16)
  17. Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30; cf Luke 19:11-27)
  18. Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36)
  19. Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem (Matt 21:1-17; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-48; John 12:12-19)
  20. Greatest Commandment (Matt 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34)
  21. Last Supper & Foot Washing (Matt 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-38; John 13:1-17)
  22. Gethsemane (Matt 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46)
  23. Jesus’ Betrayal, Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Death and Burial (Matt 26:47 – 27:66; Mark 14:43 – 15:47; Luke 22:47 – 23:56; John 18:1 – 19:42)
  24. Resurrection, Emmaus Road, Jesus Appears to the Disciples (Matt 28:1-15; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-49; John 20:1-31)
  25. Great Commission, Jesus Ascends to Heaven (Matt 28:16-20; Mark 16:14-20; Luke 24:50-53)
  26. Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-47)
  27. Peter Heals the Crippled Beggar (Acts 3:1-26)
  28. Peter & John before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:1-37)
  29. Ananias & Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11)
  30. Stephen’s Speech & Stoning (Acts 7:1-60)
  31. Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9-25)
  32. Philip and the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26-40)
  33. Cornelius & Peter (Acts 10:1 – 11:18)
  34. Peter’s Miraculous Escape from Prison (Acts 12:1-25)
  35. Saul’s Conversion on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-31)
  36. Paul’s First Missionary Journey (Acts 13:1 – 15:35); Paul and Barnabbas Sent Off (Acts 13:1-3)
  37. Paul’s Second Missionary Journey (Acts 15:36 – 18:22); Paul & Silas in Jail (Acts 16:16-40)
  38. Paul’s Third Missionary Journey (Acts 18:23 – 21:14); Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-41)
  39. Paul in Jerusalem, Conspiracy, and Paul’s Journey to Rome (Acts 21:15 – 28:31)

So the content (stories of the Bible) is good, now how does one transfer that well and effectively?

In my undergraduate education at Multnomah University, I had some fantastic courses in educational theory and practice, specifically related to children and adolescents. Rather than just teach us about how to do ministry, our professors taught us how to think. One of the core questions the professors tackled was:

How do students learn and grow?

Teaching the content of the Scriptures with elementary students would be a continual experiment in applying what I learned in college.

I’ll never forget one such lesson at Multnomah. Dr. Steve Patty implored our class to not just talk about prayer or simply just teach what the Bible says about prayer, but actually pray! Don’t just talk about love or simply just teach what the Bible says about loving one another, but actually demonstrate love through action and stories all in a loving way.

In other words, involve the students in experiencing the Bible stories in all the creative ways possible.

The first iteration of Main Street Curriculum (the first three years), I asked the individual class teachers to tell the story in their various classes. The second iteration, we did more of a large-group, small-group format where we leveraged the large group for storytelling and the small group for application and connecting elements. What we didn’t realize until we tried this was how powerful a collective Bible storytelling environment was. It was fun to actually act out the story to learn it. This involved the students in engaging with the biblical story. As videos became available, we used these as more creative elements to add to understanding the story in another unique way. We got to be creative and try various ways of engaging with the Bible stories and we all had fun doing it!