Kingdom Life Year 2 COMING SPRING 2022!
This new curriculum is the sequel to The Kingdom Story curriculum, and will go deeper into life in God’s Kingdom as we follow Jesus.
The Kingdom Story – Year 1
Welcome to the newly revised edition of
The Kingdom Story (Year 1)!
Our 2019 updates include new artwork and updates to the lessons, summaries and Kingdom News. Each Old Testament lesson now points more explicitly to Christ, and the lesson summary has been imbedded into the Lesson Plan section to provide a smoother introduction to the overall story.
We highly recommend downloading the new and improved version!
Feel free to use our Kingdom Story videos for Sunday School at home!
You can also visit our playlist on Vimeo
About the Curriculum
CURRICULUM OVERVIEW
The Saint Matthew’s Children’s Ministry curriculum is inspired by the Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm. The curriculum seeks to highlight the grand narrative of the Bible, and to show the children that the stories in the Bible are not isolated stories, but together they weave the rich tapestry of the history of God’s people and the unfolding of the Kingdom of God on earth. It includes both Old and New Testament stories that point to and reveal Christ as the Saviour and Promised Forever King.
Ages and Size of Group
5 to 10 years or Kindergarten to Grade 5. Lesson plans can accommodate a small class of 2 children up to a group of 20 students.
Time
Approximately 45 minutes. There is supplemental material to extend the time, if needed.
Anglicanism
The curriculum has liturgical components such as Lighting of the Candle and a modified Prayer of Confession. However, the main body of the curriculum can be used by any Christian denomination that seeks to give the children the “bigger picture” of Scripture and God’s eternal plan in Christ. Each of the 28 lessons either point to Jesus as the Promised King, or reveal Jesus, his character, attributes and love.
Resources
The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm.
Scripture references in the stories were taken from The Beginning Reader’s Bible, International Children’s Bible.
Anglican Church in North America, To Be A Christian, An Anglican Catechism
COMPONENTS OF THE CURRICULUM
Lesson Plan
Each of the 28 lessons have the following components:
1: Teacher’s Notes (Objectives and Catechism connections)
2: Lesson Outline (Overview of lesson time – 45 minutes)
3: Poster Discussion (Poster Picture & Poster Summary)
4: Story and Life Application
5: Response Activities (Kingdom News and other activities) and Memory Verse
The Story (#4 above) is often a short drama which the children can spontaneously participate in, or they can choose to be an active observer. Easy, representational costumes for a few of the Bible characters can be quickly donned, and the lines or simple actions given to any child who volunteers. In this way, children are learning the stories by hearing, seeing, and doing!
Poster Picture and Summary:
(Print as a double sided document)
Each lesson plan has a poster picture that depicts the Bible story. The lesson is introduced by looking at and talking about the poster picture.
The poster summary on the back of the poster contains key elements of the lesson. These elements can serve as a script for the teacher.
Kingdom News
A take-home paper called the Kingdom News is available for each child to share with their family and to communicate the lesson. When printing, choose the double sided short edge and landscape formats.
Colouring Supplement
There is additional material (i.e. colouring pages)
Curriculum Resources
This includes liturgical and prayer elements such as Collect for Purity, Prayer of Confession, the Lord’s Prayer, and Bible Songs.
The Curriculum
Scroll down this page to find all the free download links to the Curriculum documents as well as the Supplementary documents!
CLICK HERE to download a sample schedule with a synopsis of each lesson.
About the Authors
From this perspective, we developed a curriculum that would engage children and adults alike in digging deep into God’s Word to see the Bible not as isolated stories, but as a grand narrative of the history of God’s people and the unfolding of the Kingdom of God on earth.
Although many people were involved in designing this curriculum, Joan Deeks, Ida Greenwood and Kjers
ti McElrea were the authors and Connie Waldron was the artist of the posters. Each person has come with gifts and experiences that have been a wonderful resource to the completion of this project.
Joan Deeks: Joan has 30 years of experience in human resources and corporate leadership development, currently serves on the ANiC council and has taught Sunday School for 25 years.
Ida Greenwood: Ida has 25 years of elementary school teaching experience, home-schooled her children for several years and was an instructor of the Bethel Bible Series at the congregational level.
Kjersti McElrea: Kjersti worked with YWAM (Youth with A Mission) for 17 years. She teaches Sunday School and is actively involved in leadership in several ministries in our church. Her husband, David, is the associate priest at Saint Matthew’s.
Connie Waldron: Art and crafts has been a life-long focus for Connie, who has offered her talents to the church for over 40 years. She has worked with children in Summer Camp counseling environments and Children’s Ministry.
Special thanks to all the teachers and helpers at Saint Matthew’s who participate in Sunday School and have worked with us on this Curriculum offering suggestions and encouragement along the way.
FAQs
Is there a cost for the curriculum?
No, the lesson plans and materials are free of cost for use in your Sunday School, Children’s Ministry, Home-schooling etc. If copying the materials for other uses, please acknowledge Saint Matthew’s Anglican Church.
Scroll down this page to find the free download links for the lessons and supplementary documents.
Is this curriculum for Anglicans, or can other church denominations use it?
The lessons are linked to the ACNA Catechism to ensure that the lessons are structured to include many of the truths of our faith. However, the curriculum can be used by any Christian denomination that seeks to give the children the “bigger picture” of Scripture and God’s eternal plan in Christ.
What is the best way to use and print the Poster, Poster Summary and Kingdom News?
The Poster and the Poster Summary should be printed together as a double sided teaching aid. This allows the teacher to hold the poster and read the lesson summary at the same time. The poster is best printed on 11×17 paper and laminated to be used for years to come and as classroom displays. This can be done for a reasonable cost at outlet office stores. When printing the Poster & Summary, choose the double sided short edge and landscape format options.
The Kingdom News is a take-home paper that can also be used during the lesson time. It includes the story summary for parents and a space for children to make a response drawing. On the back side of the Kingdom News is a word search puzzle that develops the vocabulary that was introduced in the story. This is a double sided document which folds in half with print on all four sides. When printing the Kingdom News, choose the double sided short edge and landscape format options. Children enjoy decorating the cover, drawing and doing the word search.
When is the best time to start using the curriculum?
At Saint Matthews, we started the curriculum in September. Often, we would have the first Sunday of each month as a “review” of the lessons in the previous month. We would also use the “Review Sunday” to teach children how to pray. We try to time the Christmas and Easter lessons to occur within those seasons. As the date for Easter varies, we have often filled in the extra Sundays with teachings on the four Foundations (The Lord’s Prayer, The Apostles’ Creed, The Ten Commandments and the Greatest Commandment). We will add these lessons to the Curriculum Resources section at a later date.
A sample schedule is available in the supplementary documents section at the bottom of this page.
What is the best way to include the four Foundation documents into the lesson plan?
We usually introduce these gradually throughout the year in a way that relates well to the lessons. We often start the year by praying the Lord’s Prayer together, and then we start learning the 10 Commandments after the Moses & Pharaoh lesson. After that we learn the Apostles’ Creed in stages, starting with the first article leading up to Christmas, following on with the second article after Christmas, and bringing in the third article at Pentecost. The Greatest Commandment is used sometime during the spring. Using at least one of the Foundations each week, helps the children to become very familiar with them and perhaps even remember them by heart.
We are developing the resource lessons that teach the Foundations more in depth. These components will be added to the Curriculum Resources section as they are completed.
Would you like to save the information in the sections above? Click on the links below to open the .pdfs.
Featured Events
Lesson 1 – Creation
Lesson 2 – The Fall
Lesson 3 – Noah and the Flood
Lesson 4 – Abraham
Lesson 5 – Joseph and His Brothers
Lesson 6 – Moses and Pharaoh
Lesson 7 – Joshua and Jericho
Lesson 8 – David and Goliath
Lesson 9 – King David and King Solomon
Lesson 10 – Solomon and the Prophet
Lesson 11 – The Prophets and the Journey Home
Lesson 12 – God's Promised One is Born
Lesson 13 – The Wise Men
Lesson 14 – John the Baptist
Lesson 15 – Jesus and the Disciples
Lesson 16 – Jesus and the Temple
Lesson 17 – Jesus and Nicodemus
Lesson 18 – Jesus and the Blind Man
Lesson 19 – Jesus and Lazarus
Lesson 20 – Palm Sunday
Lesson 21 – The Lord's Supper
Lesson 22 – Jesus is Arrested
Lesson 23 – Jesus is Crucified
Lesson 24 – The Empty Tomb
Lesson 25 – The Road to Emmaus
Lesson 26 – The Holy Spirit Came
Lesson 27 – Letters to God's People
Lesson 28 – A Very Good Ending
Featured Events
Click on the links to open the .pdfs. Once the .pdfs have been opened, the documents can then be saved.
- Greeting & Collect for Purity
- Prayer of Confession
- Preparation for Communion
- Music
- Sample Schedule & Lesson Overview
- Review of Foundations – Apostles’ Creed
- Review of Foundations – The Ten Commandments
- Review of Foundations – The Greatest Commandment
- Review of Foundations – The Lord’s Prayer
- Bonus Lesson 1 – Simeon & Anna, Poster and Summary
- Bonus Lesson 2 – Jesus Grows Up, Poster and Summary
- Bonus Lesson 3 – Breakfast on the Beach, Poster and Summary
- Bonus Lesson 4 – The Ascension, Poster and Summary
- Bonus Lesson 5 – Peter & Cornelius, Poster and Summary