A Guide to Using Re:form Traditions Reformed Remotely

Are you leading youth ministry in a Reformed congregation? Are you looking for resources that help your youth explore your denomination’s history and theology? Re:form Traditions can help you plan for four weeks of lessons using humorous videos and multisensory activities.

What you’ll need to lead Re:form Traditions: Reformed:

Leader Guide (in print or accessed via your Sparkhouse Digital Youth Subscription)

Lesson videos on DVD or with Sparkhouse Digital
Anti-Workbook for each youth

Here’s a quick look at planning each week of content:

Review the Leader Guide sections, including the prep page.
Watch the video so you know what youth will be viewing.

Choose one or more of the Anti-Workbook activities. Decide whether you’ll ask youth to find these supplies at home or whether you’ll create a supply kit to include with the Anti-Workbook that you mail or deliver to each youth.

Not every Anti-Workbook activity is a good fit with remote learning, so here’s a guide to what adapt and what to skip.

Session 1: History

Was the Reformed tradition really started by a control freak?

House Rules: This activity could give you a window into the family lives of your youth, as they may describe how their house rules are different now during this time of families spending more time together
The New Placard Affair: This activity invites kids to label places in your church building using the cards on page 21, so you can skip it.*
Semper Change-O-Rama: This is another activity a bit too tricky for remote settings because it’s designed for Anti-Workbooks to be passed around.
On Your Mark…Get Set…SCROLL! This is another activity that invites youth to spend time in the worship space as they pass around a scroll (actually toilet paper), so skip it.*

* Since two of these activities invite youth to spend time in the sanctuary, you could feature some photos of your worship space and invite conversation about what they appreciate about this space.

Session 2: Beliefs

If God has already predestined me to heaven or hell, why does it matter what I do?

God’s Got You Covered: This eggy activity could be great fun for kids as long as their parents/caregivers know what’s coming.
!UOY ESOOHC I: As long as they have a mirror, youth can do this. Instead of leaving the promises around the church, they could leave them around their home or deliver them to a neighbor.
Election, Election: If youth are interest in exploring Calvin and Barth’s views more deeply, this could turn into a more in-depth activity that results in them showing campaign ads, videos, and other creative work they develop. Hold an online vote instead of using the ballots on page 23.
Real God, Hooey God: Use the images on the Anti-Workbook page to spark conversation about the scenarios you name from the Leader Guide.

Session 3: Practices

What’s so great about doing things decently and in order?

Remember Your Baptism: Instead of placing the Remember Your Baptism cards around the church after listing the places they use water, youth can place them around their homes.
Text-fession: While you won’t be able to lead the back-to-back activity, you can still invite youth to write their confessions on the two screens in the Anti-Workbook.
Hands of Who? Kids won’t be able to pass their Anti-Workbooks around to collect hand tracings, but they can still trace their own hands and talk about how they can be the hands of God in the world this week.
I Believe, We Believe: Invite kids to write their “I believe” statement on a card, tape it to the center of the Anti-Workbook page, and send you a photo. Make a photo collage of all their pictures.

Session 4: The Tradition Today

Are we reformed or reforming?

Bare Necessities: Invite kids to take a look at the room that is pictured and circle the things that are necessary. Invite conversation about whether their time spent social distancing has led them to discover new things about clutter.
It’s Alive! You may want to lead this mold experiment by showing them your own mold sample rather than asking them to make their own. Then again, this may be the kind of at-home science project/theological discussion your group has been waiting for. Your call.
My Timeline, Our Timeline: Kids can still fill out the colorful timeline in their Anti-Workbooks and send you a photo. Make a picture collage by arranging each four photos into a circle.
Blown Away Tournament: An activity with kids in close proximity blowing through straws at each other is pretty much the opposite of what we are supposed to be doing right now, so you can skip this one unless you want to make up an at-home game involving breath.