Awana

[ReginaNova]

yes Awana begins like a summer scout day camp or VBS, with patches, beads, ribbons etc. The kids are then subjected to extremely aggressive recruiting efforts to attend Sunday school and religious instruction in the sponsoring church. Last summer they were invited to an end of summer program where there was an altar call and kids were urged to accept Jesus and be born again, and told that if they remained Catholic they were doomed to hell. Some of our kids who attended are now going to both Baptist Sunday and Wednesday bible programs, and Saturday CCD, with predictable results. In this area the anti-Catholic tone of the program is so offensive that we actively warn Catholic parents against participating.

The biggest problem I see with these Protestant (or non-denominational) youth programs–AWANA, Young Life, etc.–is that the Catholic parents are lulled into how nice and cleancut and Christian everyone is. The kids are taken by the fun, friendship, songs, games, fellowship, and so on. Even if the parents know their Catholic faith, they usually don’t know what the kids are hearing at these events and activities. The kids are encouraged to pray for and evangelize their friends who don’t come to those activities. They are encouraged to target certain friends and work on them until the friends come to these “non-denominational” youth groups. Each of these organizations are just the gateway to drawing the kids into the next step. So AWANA and non-denominational Bible study leads to WYLDLIFE (Young Life for middle school), which leads to Young Life, which leads to Campaigners (their Bible study), which leads to a Protestant college (Gordon College or Liberty University or similar). I have seen it over and over. And I shake my head at the Catholic parents who think it is wonderful that their Catholic kids are participating at these “inclusive”, “non-denominational” Christian activities. Now when I hear “non-denominational Christian”, I think “fundamentalist Protestant”–luring our Catholic kids to Protestantism.

 

[PatienceAndLove]

What amazes me is that a lot of Catholic parents and Churches are not aware of programs that have been created with the Catholic child in mind, other than CCD/RE/etc…

Pilgrims of the Holy Family is like scouting, but is more Catholic focused, and with badges pertaining to learning the faith.

Little Flowers Girl’s Club is a Catholic program for girls ages 5 and up based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Developed by a Catholic mom of nine, Rachel Watkins, and based on Fr. Lasance’s Catholic Girls’ Guide, the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women.

Blue Knights Boy’s Club is the brother program to the Little Flowers club. It is a boys’ club aimed at teaching the truths of the Catholic faith to boys through Scripture, saints’ biographies, games, crafts and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Both Little Flowers and Blue Knights are made for children 5 and up. If I remember correctly, this the age AWANA begins.

 

[puzzleannie]

Patricia refers to some great programs, but like all children’s programs, if parents do not get involved to start and run them, they will not happen. Awana and similar programs succeed in protestant congregations because they are willing to pay the youth pastors to establish and run them. When Catholics tithe they also will have comparable programming for children and youth.

 

[Writer]

I thought I would pop in and give you my perspective.

I am a Baptist who attended AWANAs from K-8th grade. I really think it depends on the church. I have no doubt some of the previous posters are right on about some churches. The one I went to (as well as I can remember) would be fine to send your children too, as long as you are ready to explain a few thing along the way. (yes, they will learn the wrong number of books in the bible… but hey, they will be able to name all but seven of them from memory… you can help them with the other seven later)
By the time I was in 8th grade I could quote unbelievable amounts of scripture. I would absolutely send my child/children (who are being raised Catholic) to an AWANA program. However, I would also attend with them and hover in the background for a while to make sure nothing crazy was going on. I want my kids to know scripture the way I did, and while my family was hardcore at the bible studies etc. I would have never memorized that many scriptures just doing it at home with the family.

Our AWANA program had three parts. A small bible lesson, game time and verse time. The bible lessons were bible lesson, the same ones that you have in your Catholic bible. David and Goliath, Jonah and the big fish… etc. Game time, was great. They have certain games you practice and then have an AWANA Olympics. Churches from all over get together and compete against one another. It was awesome as a kid. Then there was verse time. We studied until we knew the verse, then said it to the teacher… If we made less than two mistakes, she signed off.

Later I realized, they never taught us how to apply those scriptures, which I thought was a downfall… but now, since I want my child to go to AWANA, it works for our benefit. It is just rote memory. You can teach your child how to apply those verses in a Catholic setting once she gets home. She/he has a workbook, you can go through it with her and make sure everything lines up with Catholic teaching.

The Roman Road etc, was never a big thing at my AWANAs. (now church camp was a totally different story) I just think it depends on the church. When your child is in middle school, things might start getting tough because then you have to complete bible studies to pass parts of your books, but until then, I think AWANAs, in an appropriate church, is an excellent idea.

That is just my thoughts and my experience with one church. Maybe mine was the only church that wasn’t anti-catholic, but I find that hard to believe.

just my thoughts.

RyanL’s Wife

Thank you for your great post… I was baptized in the Baptist Church as a child before recently bringing my family home to the Catholic Church (many years after that baptism, may I add). I tend to agree that it depends on the church–whether AWANA should be attended by Catholic kids, or not. Both of our kids were involved for years in the programs, and they seemed to get a lot out of their participation. I think if the Catholic knows their own faith and is confident and makes sure to be involved in what the children are learning, it may be fine. There is too little in the way of programs like this for Catholic kids. To often it seems many Catholics are satisfied rushing out early from weekly Mass and not taking their spiritual lives beyond the church. Maybe we can all work to change this.

 

[PatienceAndLove]

but like all children’s programs, if parents do not get involved to start and run them, they will not happen.

I think that part of that is

1. the lack of knowledge about available programs
2. the fact that some parents are more concerned about working extra hours at work to give their kids “the things I/we never had”
3. sports and school overrule any church obligation

So, there needs to be a parental awakening and reevaluation of what is important for the upbringing of children.

 

[chaddavis333]

Dear Friends,
I could not believe the words I read I saw on this forum tonight. I am a leader of this hersey you call AWANA. I really feel that you have it all wrong. You really made us sound almost like a cult. First of all, AWANA teaches something that every child needs to hear. GOD loves them and he sent his only son JESUS to die for their sins. I am not here to critize your belief in the pope, but the bible cleary states that GOD wants a personal relationship with you. He wants it with you and not through the pope or through anyone who has died - “saints”. I really am sorry that you don’t see that. I am sure the pope is really a great leader and loves the Lord, but he can not get you into heaven. There is only one perfect man that ever lived and I am sorry but it is not now nor has it ever been the pope. Only Jesus can. What is wrong with sending your children to AWANA to hear and memorize GOD’s word - nothing. Please, if you don’t care about your salvation, at least let your kids choose theirs.
In Christ

 

[kneeshst]

I would like to add my personal experience with Awana to this old thread.

As a child I was raised as a Catholic and most of my friends and family shared in my faith. I went to parochial school until the second grade. My parents moved our household to the suburbs and placed me in a public school when my siblings reached school age. Being removed from my friends and the Church caused enough problems at that age. I prayed to be returned to the Catholic church. I asked my parents to take me to mass…they were less than sympathetic. At this point in my life one of the neighborhood kids invited me to Awana. At first I declined but she really wanted to earn some kind of badge so I agreed to go. I was given a new bible, a workbook, and a collection of verses to memorize over the next week. The verses were out of context, but I memorized them anyways…to earn the pins. I think I attended Awana for a period of 3-6mo. The reason I left, the final straw, was due to the father/daughter race. I was given a block of wood, I spent weeks forming it into the shape of a car, and my father helped me paint it an place wheels on it. I payed attention to the aerodynamics an everything, I was proud of what I had created together with my father. On the day of the race we went to the church…My father pointed out that some of the other children and their fathers, in the church, were drilling holes into the front of their cars and filling them with lead. I was horrified. How could members of a community so devoted to memorizing the scripture not understand and follow what was being said? I lost the race, but that’s besides the point, I went home brokenhearted that day.

It wasn’t until the age of 28, that I sought out the Catholic Church and returned home…in my situation Awana did not reinforce my sense of faith and community…it was the exact opposite…

Stacey

 

[sanctamaria17]

Dear Friends,
I could not believe the words I read I saw on this forum tonight. I am a leader of this hersey you call AWANA. I really feel that you have it all wrong. You really made us sound almost like a cult. First of all, AWANA teaches something that every child needs to hear. GOD loves them and he sent his only son JESUS to die for their sins. I am not here to critize your belief in the pope, but the bible cleary states that GOD wants a personal relationship with you. He wants it with you and not through the pope or through anyone who has died - “saints”. I really am sorry that you don’t see that. I am sure the pope is really a great leader and loves the Lord, but he can not get you into heaven. There is only one perfect man that ever lived and I am sorry but it is not now nor has it ever been the pope. Only Jesus can. What is wrong with sending your children to AWANA to hear and memorize GOD’s word - nothing. Please, if you don’t care about your salvation, at least let your kids choose theirs.
In Christ

Because this is a Catholic board and we believe our salvation comes from following Christ in the Church He founded. We don’t believe the Pope is perfect, nor do we believe he gets us into Heaven. We believe, however, that the Church has the same authority as the Bible, as does Tradition passed through the Apostles. We believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist and that it is necessary for our salvation, as mentioned in John 6:53.

Where did you get the idea that we Catholics do NOT have a personal relationship with God? I’m pretty sure He’s the one I’m asking for stuff and freaking out at…Saints and Mary are just there to pray for us and with us…and honestly, I think knowing the faith of the great ones who passed on magnifies God’s glory, it does not diminish it. Contemplation happens under the Spirit, not under Mary or the saints…we just ask that they pray for US so that WE might know God more fully. The Epistle of St. James talks about the importance of the prayers of a righteous man. How much more effective can they be if the soul is perfected? Finally, our God is a God of the living, not of the dead, so all who’ve left to be with Him are still with us as well.

As for our Scriptures, yes, we want our kids to memorize Scriptures, but we want them to understand it through the context and lens of our faith. First, we use different translations than Protestants do and we also have more books, so it’s automatically different. Second, we want kids to understand why their faith is important. There are several Biblical passages on the importance of Holy Communion…something our second/third graders should know before they partake. The Old Testament is important in understanding liturgical heritage. Not to mention there are many verses that talk about our morals as Catholics. There are many things in the Bible that do speak to our faith and we want our children to understand through that lens.

Finally, if you believe the Pope is probably a great man who “loves the Lord”, why are you concerned about our children reaching salvation? If you believe that Catholics can “love the Lord”, why is it so problematic that we want our kids to grow up as Catholics?

I have no issue with Catholic and Protestant children playing together or for teens to take service trips with truly ecumenical organizations (as in, we’re not trying to convert you), provided it’s as ecumenical as they say and these teens have the opportunity to attend Mass on Sundays (Father said Mass every day for us when I took one of these trips). As for me, I have many Protestant friends with whom I enjoy a good theological conversation (Protestant pastors on campus think it’s sad that, as a woman, I can’t be ordained and be colleagues with them! Btw, they don’t want me to leave my faith…They actually wanted me to make sure I can go to Mass while I’m in Kenya. They also know that, if I attend services of theirs, I am not to receive Communion, so they’ll just give me a blessing). I just think that, while they’re young, Catholic children should only take part in religious activities that are Catholic, unless their parents are there to explain if the child has questions.

Non-denominational does NOT automatically mean ecumenical. Let’s not pretend it does.

If you really want to learn what our faith is, not just the misconceptions you’ve posted, I encourage you to take a look at all the wonderful resources on the board. Seriously, our faith is grounded in nothing but Jesus Christ and it’s a very beautiful religion. Wonderful people have come out of Catholicism (Mother Teresa, Dorothy Day, Archbishop Romero, St. Joan of Arc), as well as some horrible people who disgraced us (some of our history is quite colorful). Maybe you’ll understand why many Catholic parents have no need to send their children to Awana…

 

[defenderoftruth]

My 4 yr. old daughter went to awana with her cousin. She loved it. My wife thought it would be ok if she went regularly. I’m not so sure. I looked at the website and obviously its doctrinal statement was fundamentalist. Do any of you have experience with awana? Are they trying to save the poor Catholic children?

My niece is Southern Baptist and has invited our daughter to AWANA’s as well. The get together itself may not try to “save” your daughter but depending on the church she’s going to a zealous adult might try it on their own. I would (if you are taking her there) stay in the room while they are doing the class so you can hear what’s being said and taught, if there’s any “funny” business you can take her out.

While my daughter isn’t Catholic (and she won’t be until she’s 18 probably-anti-“Roman” husband) she is “sacramental” (High church Anglican) we take her to American Heritage Girls they have troops in Catholic churches too led by Catholics. Try looking for one in your area at a Catholic Church.

 

[sharmin]

I thought I would pop in and give you my perspective.

I am a Baptist who attended AWANAs from K-8th grade. I really think it depends on the church. I have no doubt some of the previous posters are right on about some churches. The one I went to (as well as I can remember) would be fine to send your children too, as long as you are ready to explain a few thing along the way. (yes, they will learn the wrong number of books in the bible… but hey, they will be able to name all but seven of them from memory… you can help them with the other seven later)
By the time I was in 8th grade I could quote unbelievable amounts of scripture. I would absolutely send my child/children (who are being raised Catholic) to an AWANA program. However, I would also attend with them and hover in the background for a while to make sure nothing crazy was going on. I want my kids to know scripture the way I did, and while my family was hardcore at the bible studies etc. I would have never memorized that many scriptures just doing it at home with the family.

Our AWANA program had three parts. A small bible lesson, game time and verse time. The bible lessons were bible lesson, the same ones that you have in your Catholic bible. David and Goliath, Jonah and the big fish… etc. Game time, was great. They have certain games you practice and then have an AWANA Olympics. Churches from all over get together and compete against one another. It was awesome as a kid. Then there was verse time. We studied until we knew the verse, then said it to the teacher… If we made less than two mistakes, she signed off.

Later I realized, they never taught us how to apply those scriptures, which I thought was a downfall… but now, since I want my child to go to AWANA, it works for our benefit. It is just rote memory. You can teach your child how to apply those verses in a Catholic setting once she gets home. She/he has a workbook, you can go through it with her and make sure everything lines up with Catholic teaching.

The Roman Road etc, was never a big thing at my AWANAs. (now church camp was a totally different story) I just think it depends on the church. When your child is in middle school, things might start getting tough because then you have to complete bible studies to pass parts of your books, but until then, I think AWANAs, in an appropriate church, is an excellent idea.

That is just my thoughts and my experience with one church. Maybe mine was the only church that wasn’t anti-catholic, but I find that hard to believe.

just my thoughts.

RyanL’s Wife

My Catholic children attended AWANA for about 6 or 7 years, and they are still Catholic. I think our program was set up a lot like yours.

 

[Cath123]

My daughter just finished the 2nd year of Cubbies, she really loved it. The people who ran the program she attended are great people and did a great job with the kids. Cubbies concentrates on the fundamentals of Christianity (God is love, Jesus loves me, etc…), so from that part I pretty much saw what a child would learn at any Christian Church. Half way through that second year we stopped attending the Church it was hosted at and starting attending a Catholic Church, but we let her finish the year of Cubbies even though we switched(we are very close to entering RCIA at this point). I think if you want to send your child, you need to look at the Church that is hosting, their teachings, and their attitude torwards Catholics. The one my daughter went to, while we attended that Church, we heard anti-Catholic statements from the pastor during his sermons. I have been at Churches like this before and usually I found the same attitude in the congregation On top of that, I know at the Truth in Training levels(grades 2 - 6), that particular Church was focusing on aspects of their teachings such as being born again. Again, we let her finish the year because even with this situation there was no harm in letting her finish the year, however we will not be sending her back. To me AWANA is like a protestant form of CCD, I could be wrong, but I would imagine any Church that hosts it is probably going to adapt their teachings into AWANA. I think that point needs to be considered too, that has also made us to not want to send her to AWANA at any Church, I would rather concentrate on teaching her the Catholic faith through Catholic school/CCD. If you want other alternatives the Tiger Cubs/Cubs Scouts/Boy Scouts or Daisy Scouts/Brownies/Girl Scouts(depending on your childs gender and age) are great programs too. Just my 2 cents, hope it helps!

God Bless!!!

 

[ronlue]

Thanks for this thread. As I was going through my daughters’ school backpacks tonight (all 4 of them), I found invitations to AWANA in their take home folders. I didn’t really know what it was, but from the brochure, knew it smacked of a “get your kid out of the Catholic Church Free card”. It seemed pretty bold that AWANA would use the public school system to market their program. I am sure every Catholic kid in our school district was asking their parents tonight about this exciting and fun looking program. The intellectual dishonesty of this approach is amazing to me. I don’t see the parents of the kids going to AWANA coming to my door making a case for sola scriptura etc., in an effort to make a reasoned plea for me to leave the Church. Instead, it’s always “come to our Halloween party” where the kids are showered with candy and shiny bicycles as prizes so the kids get all hyped up on how fun these other churches are…“can we go to Sally’s church mommy, huh? huh? can we, can we? Pleeeeeease!!!” Same thing with AWANA - peer pressure applied right in the classroom. I saw a lot of people in this thread ask why the Catholic Church doesn’t have something/do something similar. Frankly, I’m glad we don’t take that approach. I liked the response from the individual who said that we have Catholic Schools, CCD, etc… the types of things that boldly and honestly say “Hey, if your kid goes to CCD, he/she will be taught the Catholic Faith”…but we don’t put CCD fliers in kid’s school folders, cheapening the faith like a coupon ad for Pizza Hut. Like one of the other people on this thread said - we are the the truth business - and it’s not like a choice between pizza sauces. Living our Faith so people have a hard time squaring their misconceptions about Catholics with what they see in our behavior is the way to get people to question their resistance to Catholicism, then let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Let’s not resort to having our kids put the peer pressure on their little friends to become Catholic lest they not be saved.

 

[guerlane]

My 9 year old daughter was invited to AWANA last night by one of her new friends.

When I asked what it was, it was positioned to me that it is like a Vacation Bible Camp. I deeply regret that I did not look it up first and find this thread.

When I dropped her off, I recognized many children from our community, children of friends and acquaintances, even one of the girls in my girl scout troop. I felt pretty safe leaving my daughter there as I knew many of the adults.

When my husband and I returned to pick her up later, she ran to her father with tears in her eyes and hugged him. My husband said she hugged real tight and told him that she loved him.

I was distracted by another mom I knew well who sang the praises of how great AWANA was because it was a safe environment and allowed her and her husband to have a “date” night. She told me it was safe and with a bit of flip and humor said she didn’t even care what denomination it was. Then I turned and saw my daughter’s face.

I asked her what was wrong and she told me she wanted to talk about it at home. I thought that maybe she had a quarrel with her new friend but then the girls hugged and seemed to be fine. I asked my daughter if anyone hurt her or if I needed to take action - she said no. I then took her aside tried to evaluate if she was harmed. She reassured me no. I asked her if she wanted to come back and she said yes. I thought again, it was probably kid’s quarrel or exclusion. I went to find her group leader.

After meeting several smiling and friendly people I was introduced to her leader. This woman was obviously uncomfortable and nervous when I told her who my child was. I asked if anything happened and she looked at me and my daughter and told me no and began to sing my daughter’s praises. She told me where I could register and asked me to bring her back. I picked up a form but did not register her on the spot. I had a bad feeling. Everything seemed kosher but I could not shake the feeling.

My daughter did not want to talk in the car in front of her father - that gave me more concern.

When we came home I took her to her room, hugged her, reminded her that she was my precious gift and that I was there to love and protect her. She started to cry and told me that the AWANA group leaders told them that unbaptized people who aren’t Christian are “God’s enemies” and evil. Apparently these unlucky folks are on the fast track to hell and all manner of horrible things which she could not bring herself to repeat.

While I am Catholic and raise my daughter as a Catholic, my husband is not religious and he was not baptized. He is respectful of my faith and we have had wonderful conversations about religion and faith. Of course, as Catholics, this is not a problem. He was welcomed with open arms at Family Catholic camp, and enjoyed himself. He has attended mass on several occasions and gone to many Catholic events. He also completely supports raising our daughter Catholic.

So here’s my brave little toaster of a 9 year old, hearing that her dad is one of “God’s enemies” and evil. She raises her hand and says that her father is not baptized and he’s a good person. She would not tell me what this woman told her but said she didn’t like it and started crying. Now I know why this woman was so nervous around me.

This is already like a novel so to sum up, I talked to my daughter for about 30min. I told her that some other religions and particularly Protestants have VERY strong opinions of who’s who and what’s what. I also told her that this woman was wrong, what she taught was wrong, and she was absolutely out of line.

In the same conversation, my daughter asked if she could still go back because she liked the games, was really good at memorizing the verses and won a few prizes.

See this is where they get these kids. This is fun and fellowship. As a child she can see how this was hurtful but fun and she could hang out with her friends. She told me Faith Formation was not as fun and they never go outside.

I told her I can’t send her back because I don’t want her exposed to negative teaching and I’d try to find another fun activity/group for her.

This morning I researched AWANA and did not like what I found on their website. I came across this thread and several other pieces of info and deeply regret that I ever exposed her to them. I am going to call them and ask what was taught so I can speak to it and will tell the people I know that are going there about what happened. Hey, they may believe the same thing but I just have to get it out there.

Anyway, AWANA has had an EPIC FAIL in my household - never again!

 

[VeilOfVeronica9]

I participated in Awana as a child. It’s where I memorized my first verse which I can still recite today (John 3:16). I even accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and acknowledged he died on the Cross for my sins. Which I thought back then was the only way to Heaven.

That being said - I wish Catholic parishes had a good alternative too! In fact I have been thinking about this a lot lately. My hope is to make it my mission, once I complete RCIA and join the Catholic Church come next Easter vigil - that I want to start a Catholic alternative for our little ones at my parish. I enjoyed Awana and looked forward to it every Wednesday night. I think its important to teach our kids as parents the faith, but many parents don’t really know and understand their own faith so an alternative would be helpful for the kids who aren’t really being taught the faith at home, and complimentary to parents who do educate their kids on their faith.

 

[brenzgrove]

My 6 year old went last week for the first time with her cousin and their friend. My cousin attended at the same church her school years and told me she never met with any anti-catholic sentiment. I have been trying to get my daughter to watch Faith Factory programming on EWTN but she doesn’t seem very interested. I remember going to a couple of protestant bible schools as a child and to be honest don’t remember being very interested in the religious content…just the social part. I want her to know Jesus in a personal way…I was baptized catholic as an infant, and attended catholic school but learned pretty much nothing and did not know Jesus in a personal way. As a preteen I taught myself scripture from the little Catholic bible the school gave me. I love the idea of them learning scripture. My daughter goes to catholic school in the same district so I am making sure to take her to mass weekly and answer any of her questions about communion and confession etc. Unfortunately within our catholic school system the religious content is pretty generic unless it is in grade 2 or grade 8 (first communion, confession and confirmation). Next year she will get a lot of catholic content through school and I probably will just let her attend awanas this year. She knows that I am in love with the catholic faith after returning fully a couple years ago. EWTN is always on in my house and on the radio in the car. She sees me pray the rosary and I have told her why it is important and special. I don’t see any harm at this point in sending her as I am reviewing the material they send home for her to read (i read with her) and see her creations when she brings them home. She is not yet ready for a bible but I will be getting her a catholic childrens picture bible and a proper catholic one when she gets older. I will not announce her as a catholic to the leaders but will discuss with her the nights activities each time she attends. if i notice any major discrepancies i will address them directly. If i feel any antagonizing i will remove her immediately. I desperately wish there was a catholic equivalent. my daughter likes equally the children’s liturgy on sundays at our church. one day the teachings will clash but in the meantime awanas is teaching some wholesome stuff so i will proceed with caution.

 

[Castello]

Children are too young for a Bible? Parents should be teaching the Scriptures to children from the day they are born. As soon as your child can read, they should have books on the lives of the Saints, a Bible, a children’s Catechism…

Second, the AWANA will have your child admitting to not being “saved” by the second class. Why would you send your child to learn heresy? Enroll her in RE/CCD at your parish, teach her the faith at home.

 

[Cable]

What amazes me is that a lot of Catholic parents and Churches are not aware of programs that have been created with the Catholic child in mind, other than CCD/RE/etc…

Pilgrims of the Holy Family is like scouting, but is more Catholic focused, and with badges pertaining to learning the faith.

Little Flowers Girl’s Club is a Catholic program for girls ages 5 and up based on learning Catholic virtues through the lives of Catholic saints, Scripture and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Developed by a Catholic mom of nine, Rachel Watkins, and based on Fr. Lasance’s Catholic Girls’ Guide, the Club strives to bring the Catholic faith alive and inspire the girls to become authentic Catholic women.

Blue Knights Boy’s Club is the brother program to the Little Flowers club. It is a boys’ club aimed at teaching the truths of the Catholic faith to boys through Scripture, saints’ biographies, games, crafts and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Both Little Flowers and Blue Knights are made for children 5 and up. If I remember correctly, this the age AWANA begins.

If someone’s looking to start up a group in their parish, the Blue Knights or Little Flowers Leaders’ Guide can be obtained from: eccehomopress.com/lfgc-guides.html We had each of the parents teach 1 or 2 classes, taking turns and it worked out pretty well. Also, a word of caution to anyone new to reading Bible stories with your children, make sure your Children’s Bible is Catholic and has the Imprimatur or Nihil Obstat on the inside cover which tells you the Bishop found nothing in the book contrary to our Faith. It seems so obvious, yet I’ve read a Children’s Bible that said “Catholic version” printed on the cover, and was anything but - having a non-Catholic approach and direction. We found Catholic materials from our local Catholic bookstore & on the Tan Books site.

 

[Cable]

Maybe this info. will help someone else: we found that after looking at Children’s Bibles and Bible story books, the New Catholic Picture Bible was the one that worked well for our kids in the 5-11 years old group. The stories are one page and a beautiful illustration is on the opposite page. Also, there’s a Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions booklet offered by livingfaith.com in paper & Kindle versions that’s handy for teens and adults, who want to get their feet wet with a daily devotion. It’s short & sweet, one Scripture passage taken from the daily Mass and then a short reflection on it. There’s much more out there, though.

 

[brenzgrove]

Children are too young for a Bible? Parents should be teaching the Scriptures to children from the day they are born. As soon as your child can read, they should have books on the lives of the Saints, a Bible, a children’s Catechism…

Second, the AWANA will have your child admitting to not being “saved” by the second class. Why would you send your child to learn heresy? Enroll her in RE/CCD at your parish, teach her the faith at home.

She is too young to READ the bible by herself…if you read carefully you will see that I intend to buy her a catholic children’s picture bible so that she can understand. We do not have CCD at my parish, or in fact any of the parishes in my region. I was not practicing any form of religion when she was born…I came back to the church 2 years ago. I believe I alluded to my attempts to teach her the faith at home. I never said I gave up and am letting Awanas teach her theirs. My efforts are on-going and will continue until the Good Lord calls me home.

One of the main reasons why i am letting my daughter go there is for socialization. She has had a rough summer with 2 deaths in the family, one being her six year old cousin. He was an awana’s member and now that the little boy is gone she attends with his sister and another girl from the neighbourhood. This is one of the first things she has asked to go to and has been comfortable leaving my side since the two deaths (5 days apart…one a hit and run, the other a house fire) in July. I would rather her go to something like this than hang out outdoors or at a community center where she is in contact with older children, hearing their conversations and picking up bad behaviour.

 

[brenzgrove]

Maybe this info. will help someone else: we found that after looking at Children’s Bibles and Bible story books, the New Catholic Picture Bible was the one that worked well for our kids in the 5-11 years old group. The stories are one page and a beautiful illustration is on the opposite page. Also, there’s a Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions booklet offered by livingfaith.com in paper & Kindle versions that’s handy for teens and adults, who want to get their feet wet with a daily devotion. It’s short & sweet, one Scripture passage taken from the daily Mass and then a short reflection on it. There’s much more out there, though.

I found this same bible on amazon and have it on my wishlist. I found many good books that I intend to get for us to read together. I don’t believe it is at all common for most books to use an imprimateur anymore, especially children’s books, but i agree parents should review the book and not just assume what it teaches is correct.

Thanks for the links to kids groups, I knew about little flowers already, now that she is in grade one I may ask the mothers of other girls in her class if they are interested. My hands are awfully full though with a newborn and an autistic 3 year old.