'Just Like Me' VBS Aims to Teach Acceptance and Community

by

United Methodist Insight Exclusive

Facing a violent world of prejudice and hatred, concerned Christians have searched long and hard for curricula that teach values of empathy and inclusion. Now an organization historically focused on church political advocacy has taken a new path, producing a Vacation Bible School program that aims to foster acceptance, respect and community,

Reconciling Ministries Network introduced a new VBS program, "Just Like Me: Digging In and Growing Deep" on Nov. 15. "Just Like Me" offers a multigenerational resource that teaches the virtues that build "the beloved community" of Jesus' gospel, said Reconciling Ministries resources director the Rev. Emily Bagwell (who uses she/her pronouns).

Team leader Nick Mudwiller (who uses they/them pronouns) said the VBS curriculum resulted from an "exciting" collaboration among educators, scholars, pastors, musicians and writers that reflected the resource's goal of fostering community.

According to its website, "Just Like Me" comes with:

  • storytelling/scripted Bible lessons for children (K-1, 2-3, 4-5), youths and adults,
  • a create/craft station,
  • a play/recreation station,
  • a daily snack ritual,
  • music recordings and chord sheets,
  • opening and closing daily scripts,
  • volunteer training and vocabulary videos,
  • facilitation guides,
  • a media kit,
  • resource suggestions.

Optional extensions included in the full package are a service/mission component, a music station suggestion and a science station suggestion.

Historically known as a prominent activist in United Methodist politics, Reconciling Ministries Network evolved as an organization since the 2019 special called General Conference. A backlash developed to the adoption of the "Traditional Plan" that reinforced policy holding homosexuality as "incompatible" with Christian teaching and increased penalties for violation of related anti-LGBTQ church laws. Those include bans on ordaining LGBTQ persons and allowing same-gender weddings in United Methodist churches or officiated by UMC clergy.

The background of the VBS curriculum reflects RMN's changing nature and goals, said both Bagwell and Mundwiller.

According to Bagwell, who spoke with United Methodist Insight shortly before going on maternity leave, RMN heeded pleas from pastors, Christian educators and church members for more inclusive resources.

"We were constantly hearing from folks about the need for more inclusive resources for local churches," said Bagwell, who has been RMN's resource director for three years working remotely from Georgia. "We chose to produce from 'the ground up one of the biggest projects we could have picked."

Mundwiller, a freelance writer and former educator who lives in Fresno, Calif., told United Methodist Insight in an online interview that "Just Like Me" began with three days of online conference in early 2023 that included "thought leaders" in multiple theological perspectives. The "thought leaders," as Mundwiller described them, chose scriptures and themes focused on such characteristics as disability, ethnicity, gender, race and more.

Bagwell said the development process had excellent coaching and support from both Cokesbury, the retail arm of the United Methodist Publishing House, and Discipleship Ministries, the program agency responsible for educational resources. One of the earliest decisions was to design "Just Like Me" as a multigenerational curriculum with "scaffolded" lessons tying the program together for various ages, Mundwiller said.

"The developers knew a lot about what we wanted for inclusion, but they had no experience of teaching five-year-olds," Mundwiller said.

With texts drafted, the writing team worked with musicians, child educators, and graphic artists. The resulting curriculum was then vetted three times with focus groups, and each time revised according to their feedback, Mundwiller said. The testing phase included a one-day laboratory at a church in Olympia, Wash. The lead writer said they were especially "thrilled" with the music developed for the program.

"We made sure each part of the day supports the lesson with a key phrase," they said. "I'm amazed at how accurate they are."

The overall message, Mundwiller said, is: "I need my people; my people are those who love me and accept me as I am."

Bagwell said: "The biblical characters they'll meet have very real differences, but we honor differences and respect each other and learn to listen and learn from one another."

Insight asked Bagwell and Mundwiller whether RMN was prepared to respond to potential criticism that "Just Like Me" serves to "groom" children to accept homosexuality, given the organization's history as an advocate for LGBTQ inclusion and the current U.S. cultural climate.

"RMN has never been in the business of grooming," said Bagwell. "'Just Like Me' isn't about homosexuality; 'inclusive' means accepting people as they are, as God's beloved, acknowledging the beauty within each person as God created them."

Mundwiller said, "The curriculum's main objective is affirming kids' identity and our collective need for community. It's also about how to use our voices to stand up for ourselves and others. Although one of the characters uses 'they/them' pronouns, there's not much in the way of LGBT relationships; it's more about affirming self and building community."

Mundwiller added that working on "Just Like Me" fulfilled their personal dream to create educational resources that reduce "church hurt," a trauma that occurs when churches reject people based on prejudices against people of different races, ethnicities and languages, or of disabiling conditions.

"I want a generation of kids to see church as a place to go to be safe, not as a place where they can't be themselves," Mundwiller said.

Bagwell said, "We wrote 'Just Like Me' with the hope that this could be used by a lot of faith communities. It's consciously inclusive but not politically driven; we hope to open some doors for conversations."

"Kids who come will sing songs, read scriptures and meet characters they can identify with," Bagwell said. "We want them to see themselves as belonging to God's community, sing lyrics that are empowering, feel supported and loved.

"We hope 'Just Like Me' will encourage children, youths and adults to be open to what God is doing today," she said.

Learn more at the "Just Like Me" website.

Veteran religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011 as a media channel to provide news and views for and about marginalized and under-served United Methodists.