10 Things You Need to Know About Awana
Did you go to an Awana Ministry Conference this fall? We hope you did because a lot of updated information was given about Awana core programs and initiatives. Thousands of ideas were shared to help leaders do new and creative activities in their clubs. And many leaders learned about components of the Awana program they didn’t know about before.
In case you didn’t get to a conference, here is an example of one of the workshops you missed – taught by Nathan W. Karn. Nathan is an attorney from Pennsylvania and also (along with his wife, Laura) commander of Awana at Grace Bible Church in Hollidaysburg – where they’ve served as commanders since 2004. (Nathan took the job over from his parents.)
Here’s what Nathan told the leaders at his workshop. So imagine it’s a Saturday morning and you’re sitting in a church classroom, coffee (or tea) and doughnut in hand. You have your handout and your pen and the workshop is ready to start.
How many of these things do YOU know?
#10 – Awana is flexible.
– You can chose the night (or day) you run club.
– You can chose the order of the segments.
– You can chose to have a share store or not.
– You can chose to have a lot of theme nights or not so many.
– You can chose your curriculum option.
You can chose to run the program to best meet the needs of your church.
#9 – Awana is fun.
Fun is the tool that attracts kids to Awana.
– Games should be fun.
– Theme nights should be interesting.
– Competition (when done appropriately) should be exciting.
– Leaders should be enthusiastic.
#8 – Awana is foremost about sharing the Gospel.
– In Large Group Time.
– In Handbook Time.
– In Game Time.
– Through TruthSeekers.
– By using the Gospel Wheel.
– By using the Gospel App.
– By using Security Checkpoint and What’s Next?.
#7 – Awana has great training tools.
– Hitting the Mark and Getting Started (formerly Basic Training).
– Rolebooks: commanders, directors, leaders, secretary …
– Commander College.
– A new website with dozens of ideas.
– Life Threads blog with dozes of ideas for running your club.
– Ministry conferences.
#6 – Awana has resources to help your leaders and the families of your clubbers grow spiritually.
– Parent Handbooks for Sparks and T&T books.
– Awana at Home
– Modern-day Joseph books
– Master Life Threads
– Parenting blog
#5 – Awana has special area events.
– Opportunity for non-churched families to hear the gospel.
– Fellowship with other churches.
– Reinforcement of understanding and Scripture memory through Bible Quizzing.
– Opportunity for students to use their talents at Summit.
#4 – Awana provides resources and opportunities to help teach our leaders and clubbers about missions.
– Through GO
– More initiative
– Through T&T Passports.
– Through Awana Lifeline and Returning Hearts.
#3 – Awana does not start with Cubbies and end with T&T.
– Puggles (year before Cubbies)
– Trek (middle school)
– Journey (high school)
– Student leaders (teens who lead in younger clubs)
– C-track (for middle school and high school students whose churches don’t have Awana Youth Ministry).
– TruthSeekers
– Awana Homeschool
#2 – Awana needs to be integrated with your other church ministries and your church mission.
– Awana is not in competition with other programs/services happening in your church.
– Awana should share resources with other church ministries and coordinate activities and events.
– Awana leadership needs to be informed and flexible.
#1 – It’s never too late to do something new in your club.
