March 25, 2009

CHICAGO – Children, youth and teenagers can play an active role in ending hunger. The Rev. Stacy K. Johnson, a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), hopes that young Lutherans understand that as Christians they are called to work for an end to hunger in creative, imaginative and faithful ways.

To help them understand their roles, Johnson spent two years putting together "Taking Root" – a new ELCA World Hunger curriculum for children in grades 3-6, youth in grades 7-9 and teens in grades 10-12. Taking Root challenges students to imagine a world without hunger.

The heart of the curriculum lies in the idea of transformation, Johnson said.

"Hunger will not stop simply because people are told that it must end. Hunger will end when the human family changes the way it understands hunger and defines it as unacceptable and solvable," she said.

"Taking Root attempts to contribute to ending hunger by helping people to imagine a world without hunger and then consider the steps to transform that image into reality," Johnson said.

A mother of three children, Johnson said she wanted to write a curriculum that would be engaging to kids, "not trite or tired." Taking Root makes a conscious effort to feature projects that are engaging and offer lasting value, she said.

"Many hunger curricula teach about hunger, emphasizing facts, figures and statistics. Taking Root is different. It seeks to focus on the deep, structural and attitudinal reasons for hunger and the strategies that can end hunger," Johnson said.

Taking Root includes five sessions for each age group. All groups share the same biblical texts and themes. For grades 3-6 and 7-9, "hunger newspapers" present ideas and information about the root causes and root solutions of hunger. For senior high students, a "hunger notebook" provides ideas and images for students to engage in the reality of hunger and poverty.

Other components include leader guides, music, children's literature and stories, videos that portray five people who experience hunger and poverty, and art projects. Students will also examine hunger from an African context. Taking Root is meant to be used in vacation Bible school, Sunday school, confirmation, retreats, multigenerational settings and more.

"The curriculum is concerned with fostering a lifelong commitment to faithful stewardship, not only in terms of giving money, but understanding the ways individuals and congregations are connected to relief and development work," Johnson said.

David Creech, ELCA director for hunger education, said trying economic times makes it difficult for Americans to remember their abundance of blessings.

"In times like these God calls the church to be the church. Taking Root reminds us what that will look like," he said. Taking Root's "Bible studies, crafts and activities remind us that poverty and hunger are not God's ideal and that, as the church, as God's people, we are called to strive with and on behalf of those who are most vulnerable for a more just world."

Taking Root will be released formally in a celebration April 29 at the Lutheran Center here. The curriculum is available through Augsburg Fortress, Minneapolis, the publishing ministry of the ELCA.

Information about ELCA World Hunger is at http://tinyurl.com/d8gqz5/, on the ELCA Web site.

ELCA News Service