Teaching God’s Word to the Next Generation
Tenth’s Bible School for children and youth is a vital part of our ministry to the next generation. Bible School is held Sundays at 9 AM (with limited offerings at 11 AM) and 6:30 PM, providing something for every young person from the ages of 2 months to 18 years. Classes are divided by age or grade and are taught by competent and dedicated members from our congregation.
Children’s Bible School focuses on teaching children the truth of God’s Word to prepare them for ministry and personal witness in future years. In the early years lessons begin with an overview of both the Old and New Testaments, followed by more detailed stories, theology, and practical living applications in the later years. Lessons are accompanied by a robust memory work program including both scripture and catechism. For older students, we conduct an essay contest each year that gives them an opportunity to debate and explain a point of doctrine from the Westminster Confession of Faith.
Scripture Memory Program
Tenth’s Memory Work Program has been a feature of our Children’s Sunday School for more than 60 years. We understand that Bible memorization is a tool for making God’s word known to our covenant children. We hope and pray it helps them, “to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).
Because it is much easier to absorb and retain the verses in youth than in later years, our Memory Work Program applies several basic principles:
- Mastery of whole Bible passages and chapters
The best approach to Bible memorization is for a child to learn longer and related passages of scripture over time so that the contextual meaning of each passage becomes apparent. This is more fruitful than memorizing dozens of important but unrelated verses which may be easily forgotten. - Sequential scope
We gradually increase the length of passages over the course of the program. First graders, for example, begin to memorize Exodus 20. After they complete the passage in the later elementary years, they review the entire chapter. In the same way, children progressively memorize Romans 8. In the early years, they learn parts of a verse; then the entire verse; and finally, neighboring verses until the entire chapter is learned. - Developmentally appropriate, progressively accelerated pace
Children’s ability to memorize increases with age. We aim to match the pace of memorization with their developmental ability. Our youngest children move slowly through verses and passages. We pick up the pace as children enter the elementary years while at the same time reviewing many of the earlier memorized passages.