{"id":23457,"date":"2017-08-07T16:04:29","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T20:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/?p=23457"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:02:28","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T02:02:28","slug":"letter-editor-group-publishings-vacation-bible-school-curriculums-promoting-contemplativeemergent-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com\/blog\/letter-editor-group-publishings-vacation-bible-school-curriculums-promoting-contemplativeemergent-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter to the Editor: Popular Group Publishing’s Vacation Bible School Curriculums Promoting Contemplative\/Emergent Ideas"},"content":{"rendered":"

LTRP Note: <\/strong>Group Publishing has been listed as a contemplative publisher on the LT Research site<\/a> for many years. Just take a look at this 1999 article<\/a> in the Group Publishing archives written by contemplative pioneer Mark Yaconelli to see an example of their early efforts. This particular article is one that is discussed in Ray Yungen’s book A Time of Departing. <\/em><\/p>\n

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bigstockphoto.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dear Lighthouse Trails:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have been hearing about a number churches using Group Publishing’s Vacation Bible School curriculums this year, including my own.\u00a0 The four 2017 Protestant versions are:\u00a0 Maker Fun Factory, Passport to Peru, Rome, and Campout.\u00a0 My church will be using Campout.\u00a0 Thankfully, someone at our church read through the curriculum and noticed there is no mention of sin, which is the reason why we need our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The discerning individual who noticed the omission is now rewriting some parts of the VBS curriculum in order to teach more sound theology to our church’s children.\u00a0 The Campout curriculum, instead of focusing on what Jesus did on the cross as the sacrifice for man’s sin, focuses on how “Jesus’ life showed God’s love.”\u00a0 I have since been researching more about Group Publishing, and I came across a few things.<\/p>\n

Group Publishing also makes a Catholic version of its Protestant VBS curriculum(s), and apparently the company has been doing this at least since 2009, according this article:\u00a0 http:\/\/baptistbulletin.org\/the-baptist-bulletin-magazine\/is-your-vbs-taking-a-vacation-from-the-gospel\/<\/a> .\u00a0 Here is a link to the Totally Catholic Maker Fun Factory (2017):\u00a0 http:\/\/vbs.osv.com\/totally-catholic-maker-fun-factory<\/a> and Totally Catholic Shipwrecked (2018):\u00a0 http:\/\/vbs.osv.com\/totally-catholic-shipwrecked<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Group Publishing is also hosting two conferences this year, KidMin Children’s Ministry Conference in September and the Future of the Church Summit in October.\u00a0 Two of the five speakers at KidMin are Max Lucado and Mark Batterson [The Circle Maker<\/em> author], both of whom promote contemplative spirituality.\u00a0 Spiritual formation, which is Roman Catholic mysticism based in eastern spiritual practices, will also be a key component of this conference.\u00a0 A session on\u00a0 “Spiritual Formation in Families” will be led by Luz Figueroa during the conference, and here is a description of that session:<\/p>\n

“Spiritual formation is the process of being transformed into the image of Christ for the sake of others. What does it take for children to experience God and spiritual growth? And what implications and applications does that have on families? Just because we know it\u2019s the responsibility of parents to be the nurturers of their children\u2019s faith doesn\u2019t mean they have the tools for the job. Spiritual formation is a family matter as children respond to the spiritual formation reflected by the adults who influence them. In this session, you\u2019ll deepen your desire to grow in Christ and consent more freely to the love of God infiltrating your home and ministry context. You\u2019ll also learn how to help children and families live in ways that are increasingly attentive to God, oneself, and others.<\/p>\n