Awana is a ministry that has benefited numerous children and families within our church for a number of years. We are extremely grateful to all of those who volunteered to help run the Awana program here at Tabernacle Baptist Church. However, a couple of concerns arose which precipitated our search for an alternative means of ministering to families with children.

First, Awana is a very volunteer-dependent program, both in the number of volunteers needed to successfully run the program and in the demand placed upon those volunteers. Over the years, it has become increasing difficult to maintain the necessary volunteer base to sustain Awana, culminating in a lack of an Awana Director for the coming year.

There is also a growing concern that there has been some theological drift over the past few years that has caused Awana’s theological and ethical beliefs to diverge from our own. For instance, certain individuals whom they have invited to speak at their annual Child Discipleship Forum have publicly endorsed stances regarding human sexuality that we do not believe align with clear biblical principles.

These concerns, coupled with the rise of a viable alternative to help parents disciple their children, led to our decision to make a change.

Adventure Club is a biblically sound children's curriculum program produced by Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California (pastored by Dr. John MacArthur). It is designed to be a fun and meaningful way for children to learn the theological lessons of the Bible by studying various aspects of systematic theology in a simplified and unified manner. Covering a broad range of topics, Adventure Club brings deep theological concepts down to a basic understanding through teaching lessons, Scripture memorization, and songs.

Adventure Club will be of particular benefit to those children who attend our Sunday school classes. Adventure Club’s study of systematic theology will complement our Sunday morning Answers Bible Curriculum, which teaches through the entire narrative of the Bible on a three year cycle.

Foundationally, the purpose of Adventure Club and Awana are virtually the same. Like Awana, Adventure Club is designed to enable a partnership between the church and parents in the home as we seek to make disciples of Jesus Christ and raise up children who love the Lord and live their lives in obedience to His commands. Furthermore, Adventure Club couples sound biblical teaching with many of the same elements utilized by Awana, such as:

Parental involvement. Like Awana, Adventure Club provides a student book that is designed to encourage parents to discuss weekly lessons with their children and to help them to memorize and understand weekly Bible verses.

Age-specific clubs for age-appropriate instruction. Adventure Club organizes children into three age groups: Trackers (3-5), Scouts (6-8), and Trailblazers (9-12).

Scripture memorization. Adventure Club encourages both Scripture memorization and comprehension. Clubbers will have the opportunity to recite memorized verses linked to weekly lessons in order to earn various pins that can be attached to their Adventure Club satchels.

Club nights. Adventure Club has weekly club nights on Sunday evenings which are similarly structured to Awana. There will be time for games/rec, large group teaching time, small group time, and even the option to include a time for singing.

Adventure Club is a systematic study of theology focused on sharing the gospel and making disciples by studying the truth about nine core doctrines of the Christian faith: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, the church, the Bible, end times, man, sin, and salvation.

Adventure Club is also a unified curriculum, meaning that all children will learn about the same theological topic each week, but in a manner that is appropriate for their respective age levels and stages of development. This is a benefit for parents who will now be able to have one weekly discussion with all of their children, no matter their age or club, since all children will be learning about the same topic and memorizing the same verses from week to week. This is also a benefit on Club nights, where one teacher can teach the weekly lesson to all of the children in a large group time, before they break into their age-segregated small groups for follow-up and further clarification.

While at Adventure Club, children will be taught systematic theology broken down for their specific age level. This is accomplished through a large group teaching time focused on the specific lesson topic, a central truth, and a clear presentation of the gospel.

Children will also memorize a memory verse each week that applies to the theological theme and learn how it applies to their lives during small group time.

Games and music are also incorporated as a fun way to keep the children engaged and to encourage them to invite their friends to join them in the program.

Adventure Club is designed to run for 36 weeks from September through May.

Our plan is to start our 2023/24 Adventure Club on Sunday evening, September 10th. The start and end times for each club evening, as well as a calendar of club dates, will be announced soon.

The cost for the year will be $30 for the first child, $55 for two children, and $75 for three or more children. These fees will go towards offsetting the cost of the child’s satchel, student book, award pins, and t-shirt.

The cost of Adventure Club is generously subsidized by our church body. If the cost is prohibitive, do not let that keep you from registering your child to participate.