The Good Life Curriculum

YEAR-ROUND RELEASES

The Good Life Curriculum

"Our curriculum 'THE GOOD LIFE' is free of charge, interactive and flexible," said Gerald Iversen of Simple Living Works! successor to Alternatives.

These "Five Lessons to Nurture Simplicity Within Christian Communities" can be used for Vacation Bible School with children or intergenerational gatherings, or at camps, midweek school, even as confirmation supplement.

Based on the Five Life Standards of "Living More with Less," the basic curriculum by Christine Battjes, is available free of charge at SimpleLivingWorks.org >> Archives. Components of the complete kit are available separately. The music CD includes 27 songs for singing and listening. Contact SimpleLivingWorks@yahoo.com. Visit  SimpleLivingWorks.org >> Archives.

The five sessions are:

• LIFE Lesson #1: Do Justice -- Learn about the nature of God's justice and consider how to be a doer of justice in our world
• LIFE Lesson #2: Cherish the Natural Order -- Create a sense of awe and appreciation for God's creation and become a caretaker of the Earth in our daily life.
• LIFE Lesson #3: Learn from the World Community -- Celebrate the various cultures in our world community and learn how people in other countries live a simply abundant life.
• LIFE Lesson #4: Nurture People -- Celebrate old friendship and make new ones as we discover the treasure of nurturing people over things.
• LIFE Lessons #5: Nonconform Freely -- Compare our values with others and build the kind of community that helps us nonconform freely.

The schedule for each lesson is:

1. Introducing the Theme - gathering and worship time with lots of music and a dramatic Scripture presentation
2. Warming Up -- active games for the whole group with reflection questions at the end
3. Going Deeper -- sharing the day's lesson in small groups
4. Living It Out -- putting the lesson into action

Reviewers of the new curriculum have offered these comments:

"The activities relate well to everyday life. The intergenerational approach is exciting. This allows for a lot of additional learning and promotes family interaction." -- Pastor Elwood Rieke, LaCrescent, MN

"The activities are very do-able and require minimal expense. The program is flexible enough to be used in any congregation." -- Kathleen Connolly, Orlando, FL

"Interesting and fun. A bargain!" -- Dick Webster, Worthington, OH

"A good variety of activities for all age groups. Portions of the resource serve as ideas for Sunday morning children's sermons, openings for meetings, etc." Pastor Greg Hanneman, Sioux City, IA

"The activities break out of the 'cookie cutter' style that seems to be so prominent in the glossy, prepackaged VBS material sold at a high price these days.

"It would be informational and spiritual for the many adults who are unchurched or inexperienced in the church life and its lessons.

"Basic concepts are strong and not often taught. Connecting scripture to real life living is excellent.  Would be very useful in adult study groups and chancel drama to add a new twist to a Sunday service. I plan to use several of the ideas in settings other than VBS. Middle of the week activities, a series of youth group meetings, a short term Sunday study group, rotation curriculum church school with activity centers.

"I like the concept of nurturing people to be change agents in our world. Liked your phrasing of  'a new generation of disciples will rediscover the wisdom of living simply.'  The active learning hands-on sections are great." -- Linda Cron, Mayflower United Church of Christ, Sioux City, IA

"I especially appreciate the scriptures made real and visual. We must get folks to make the application of scripture and their commitment to the Faith more real in the world.

"Wonderful, creative material. The themes are where we need to be. I'm very impressed with the variety of activities and help in making this come alive. I am anxious to tell VBS leaders. It will be none too soon." -- Mel Luetchens, United Methodist Committee on Relief [UMCOR]

Simple Living Works! free Archives contain works on simpler living for children and adults. It is an all-volunteer organization that continues Alternatives' mission of "equipping people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly." We serve everyone.  ####

Editors: For more information contact Gerald Iversen.
Alternatives' current media releases and many feature articles are available at SimpleLivingWorks.org. Click About Us >> News, and Archives >> Articles.

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This page last updated 2 October 2013 (originally 22 March 2005)

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