National Conference on Christian Apologetics (NCAA)
Last week was the annual National Christian Conference on Apologetics (NCCA). I have attended 8 years in a row and delivered a speaking engagement for the third year in a row.
My topic was of course, Apologetics for Tweens. The key message from my discussion is that we need to teach apologetics to a much younger audience than ever before, because:
- Doubts about Christianity form by middle school
- By end of high school, 84% of Christian youth have doubts
- After age 12, only 7-10% of youth accept Christ
- Atheism for Generation Z is double the average for the US population
- Only 4% of Gen Z have a biblical worldview
It seems my audience agreed with me completely. In a max capacity room of 55 people, we filled it and turned away another half dozen people who could not fit in. The interest in apologetics for a younger group is intense. But virtually everyone I discussed apologetics with told me that there is no material for the elementary and middle school age that can be delivered in a curriculum format for parents, homeschool teachers, Christian school teachers and Sunday School teachers.
However, that is specifically why I produced Apologetics for Tweens. Even a colleague of mine, Natasha Crain, who is known for her apologetics approach to youth, came by my booth and took pictures of my material and stated she will refer people to me who are looking for curriculum. She acknowledged that she is not a competitor and does not have such content for that purpose.
Nearly half my audience purchased one or more curriculum years. As a result, just since late January, we now have about 180 locations implemented with the curriculum. Several purchased the entire set of 5th to 8th grade curriculum. Truly God is working closely for teachers and parents for this age group who have concerns about how to address doubts and to help them learn how we can know our faith is reasonable and also reach out to share this knowledge with others.
First Baptist Church Orders Apologetics for Tweens for Children’s Ministry Teachers
Barely back from the conference, our Children’s Minister informed me that a donor from our church elected to purchase 10 curriculums of 6th and 7th grade for all the elementary teachers in our church. It is humbling to see the support from our church. But the support comes directly from the ongoing feedback of students in my 5th grade classes and their parents and other teachers.
Updates From Our 5th Grade Sunday School Class
- Recently, one of our students explained an exciting witnessing story. Sam, the son of my assistant teacher in our class, was playing video games with a friend. He happened to ask the friend if he was a Christian. The friend said no and Sam asked, “Why not?” The friend said because science does not support the Bible and God. But Sam said, “But how do you explain creation then because whatever caused it was outside nature?” His friend did not have an answer. Sam was tempted to say his friend was doomed without God but refrained from going that far. He expects to have more conversations in the future. This is a direct result of our teaching about how to dialogue with others using apologetics. It was an awesome beginning to a hopeful ongoing dialogue. All this and we are only a couple months into our new class teaching these lessons. Does anyone still think it is not important to teach at this age?
- In last week’s class, we conducted our popular contest called the Bible Bowl. It divides our class into teams and they compete by answering tough questions about the Bible, Christianity, other religions and apologetics teachings.
One of the questions was addressed again to Sam. The question was what would you say to someone who told you they believe there is no God. Without flinching, Sam said, “First I would ask them why they believe that. Then I would ask them how they explain the cause of the universe and of DNA.” I just grinned with a measure of gratification that the teachings are being absorbed in this way. How many adults could have fared better given such a question or real life situation?
- Finally, after the Bible Bowl finished we were cleaning up and preparing to dismiss class. Another student, Daniel, came up to me privately. He typically has quite a sober demeanor during class but I can tell he is listening intently. In this case, he was smiling profusely and said, “Thank you for being my teacher in this class. I love the class so much and it is really fun and we learn a lot of interesting things. I really appreciate you.” Well, that almost sent me to tears.
Wouldn’t you like to receive these results and feedback from your Sunday School class, or homeschool group, or Christian School class? You can also achieve this by starting to teach apologetics to your students. What better tool is available to do so than the Apologetics for Tweens curriculum? Please go to www.resurgensconsulting.com and select the age group that fits your situation best. Contact me at tjgconsult@aol.com for any questions. Blessings,
Tom Griffin
