THE IMPROVED ADULT TEACHER QUARTERLY​​​

​We are excited to introduce to you the new structure of the adult quarterly lessons – Liberating Faith Studies. The Bible is our sacred text and therein lies the grand story of which we are a part. It is our hope that with this new lesson structure rooted in stories, we will enter with open eyes and hearts to encounter the wonders of God. Storytelling will offer us the opportunity to engage the wrestling, to encounter the questions, and to join together in a communal pursuit toward faithful living and liberation. Each lesson’s storytelling format will consist of the following sections:

Introduction: Each lesson begins with a brief paragraph that will set the stage for the readings and will open up our minds toward the liberative lens of scripture.

Telling the Bible Story: These lessons use storytelling as the main mode of teaching. This section allows us to enter the story of the gospel through critical thinking. In addition, this section includes creative retellings of the story to make it easier for us to understand in our modern contexts.

Sankofa: This is an African term that means, “go back and get it.” The Sankofa section of each lesson offers us the chance to connect the biblical story to the story of the African continent, the African diaspora, and those of African descent. We can use this section of the lesson to “go back and get” those things that connect us culturally toward liberation.

Case Study: Every lesson includes a case study that presents real and relatively current stories that connect to the Bible story and help to bring out the lesson goals for the session. Most of these stories are tailored to the needs of people of color in our world, offering us a chance to connect to the grander story of creation.

Life Application: Lastly, we are invited to consider how our individual stories connect with the big story of the lesson. After absorbing all of the material, we are able to find ways for us to mature our faith, to become aware of what God requires from us, and to find guidance for our daily living.

Closing Devotions: We believe that all that we do must be centered and guided by God. Relevant hymns, prayers, or other reflections are provided to close out each week’s lessons with a time of devotion and introspection.

These lessons serve to enrich the lives of people of color in particular and oppressed peoples in general through the liberating and transformative power of the gospel. Our lives have been transformed by the story of Jesus and by the retelling of that story in new and imaginative ways. It is our hope that this new format of storytelling will extend the reach of our Church School’s impact in our churches and in our lives.

​​APOSTLES’ CREED
I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried; the third day He arose from the dead, He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Church Universal, the communion of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

D E C A L O G U E
Superintendent: And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law

Superintendent: Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law

Superintendent: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Superintendent: Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord hath made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day: Wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day and hallowed it.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

My soul be on thy guard,
Ten Thousand foes arise;
And hosts of sins are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies

Superintendent: Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Superintendent: Thou shalt not kill.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Superintendent: Thou shalt not commit adultery.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Superintendent: Thou shalt not steal.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Superintendent: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law.

Superintendent: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor’s.

School: Lord, have mercy upon us, and write these laws upon our hearts.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to Thee!
Nearer to Thee!

Superintendent: Hear what Christ, our Savior saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great Commandment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two Commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

All: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen