I hope you’re asking yourself, “I wonder what she means by that?! Aren’t we all human already?” In one sense, yes. We are all human beings. But what our culture focuses on is us as “human doings,” or “human do-ers,” NOT human be-ings. It’s interesting: productivity is NOT a fruit of the spirit, and yet when someone asks us how we are, we reply, “Good. Good. Just busy,” as if that is a badge of honor. “My life is meaningful if I’m busy; devoid of meaning if I’m not.” I know we don’t actively think that…but it’s how we live.
How did we get to this point? Well, all of us are being formed ALL THE TIME by our environments, schools, groups we’re part of, family relationships, social media, churches, music…everything that touches our lives forms or malforms us in some way. Unfortunately, for many of us, our success-driven and productivity-obsessed world has left its mark on our hearts. John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry and Practicing the Way, writes,“…we are each becoming something. That’s the crux of the human experience: the process of becoming a person. To be human is to change. To grow. To evolve. This is by God’s design.” (PTW,xiii) (I HIGHLY recommend both books, by the way! If you’re joining us for the Monday Moms Study, we’ll be reading Practicing the Way.)
So to be clear: we are being formed. All.The.Time. YOU are being formed. I am being formed. Your CHILDREN are being formed. If we are breathing, we are being formed.
One of our core values at CCS is that we “focus on Christ-exalting spiritual formation.” We want to be very intentional with our spiritual formation as a staff AND with your child’s spiritual formation (to be clear, they are being formed in EVERY way while they are with us—physically, socially, emotionally, educationally—all the ways…They are “catching” who we are and what we love all day long. The same thing is happening at your house.)
To accomplish a focus on Christ-exalting spiritual formation in our program, we hire, train, and retain a quality staff who love Jesus and want to follow Him. They are joyful, loving, kind, and qualified in their various age groups to deliver instruction. We pray together as a faculty each morning and would love to pray with and for you if the occasion arises. On Tuesdays, we gather for devotional time as a staff and are marching through the Psalms.
All this prepares us to meet each day in the strength of the Lord and do what He’s called us to do: namely, to teach your children. To that end, each carpool area has a separate morning meeting that gets increasingly complex as children age. This morning in elementary morning meeting, we sang Rock of Ages and Amazing Grace, recited the first 5 verses of Matthew 5, learned a new verse, recovered the Love Chapter, and sang a few other songs! Our hearts were joyful leaving the fellowship hall, and the kids (and adults) were ready to meet the day knowing that God made us, cares for us, and desires us to walk in His ways.
Likewise, in the 2s morning meeting, we sang, “This is the Day,” “I Had a Tiny Turtle, His Name Was Tiny Tim,” “Jesus Loves Me,” and began learning 1 Corinthians 4:4-8 (the Love chapter!). We also do a shorter kid's catechism in each age group. (See below for our scripture recitation plan as it fits in into our spiritual formation piece.)
We aim to help children be formed as followers of Jesus by increasing their biblical literacy, teaching them to recognize the good, the true, and the beautiful, and by adhering to our core values. We want to be Christ-exalting in all of our classrooms, programs, and policies—not so that we can check a box that we pointed them to Jesus, but SO THAT they ultimately will be LIKE him.
I truly think the spiritual formation emphasis of CCS is unique: we are clear about who we are and what we’re trying to do. My prayer is that your children will come to know Jesus in a way that makes them (and you and us!)want to be with him, become like him, and do as he did.
“May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi.”
--first-century Jewish blessing
Scripture Memory Plan for CCS:
2s: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (“The Love Chapter”)
10 catechism questions
3s: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Days of Creation 21 catechism questions
Psalm139:1-18 Disciples Books of OT/NT
Psalm100 Closing prayer
4s & TK:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Days of Creation 21 catechism questions
Psalm139:1-18 Disciples Books of OT/NT
Psalm100 Closing prayer 10 Commandments
Psalm23 The Lord’s Prayer Various set prayers
K-3:
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Days of Creation Matthew 5
Psalm139:1-18 Disciples 10 Commandments
Psalm100 Closing prayer 14 Hymns
Psalm23 The Lord’s Prayer Nicene Creed
33 catechism questions Books of OT/NT Various set prayers
