The final book in the Harry Potter series was released June 21st. I have followed the series since book one although I confess that I came in after four of the books had been released so I only waited around for three of them. After reading the first book, I was hooked. It was well written and I made a lot of theological connections. Those connections and my fascination with Harry have not stopped.
So why write about this on a blog designed to talk about the best there is in Christian Education? My personal conviction is that resources like the Harry Potter series can help educators talk with their congregations about theological topics and that people in the church can then talk with co-workers and neighbors or school friends about God using lessons learned through cultural works.
I hear educators say they would like to do something like this but that there is no curriculum written for use in the church. First, they are wrong because curriculum does exist. Second, why do they have to wait for someone to design curriculum? If you do not know how to design curriculum, find out how. You might begin by reading this post by Israel Galindo from this blog. Maybe take an online course, bring in a consultant, make some phone calls to other educators but don’t settle for not knowing how. If you don’t won’t to do those things or don’t have those resources, take a published curriculum and look at all the parts: objectives, content, timing, structure, etc. This will help you begin to understand what curriculum should contain but understand that curriculum is more than one lesson. How does this fit in to the what a particular age group is learning for the year? How about how it fits in to the life of the learner? Is this new information or building on previous knowledge? A good resource to help you write your own curriculum is Understanding by Design. Understand that this is one approach to writing curriculum and that others exist.
The truth is if you are not on the journey with Harry and his friends and your children are, you are missing a golden opportunity of a teachable moment. If you are on the journey with your kids and all you talk about is the book without talking about theology, you are missing a golden opportunity of a teachable moment. Learning happens all the time. As an educator, the people in your church are there at best three hours a week. What can you do in three hours a week that will not be undone in the other 165 hours? Using current cultural icons, you can lead your congregation into a deeper understanding of God and the Church. You can do so on the fly, trying to make the mental connections or you can create a plan that will bring everyone along with you: curriculum.
Take advantage of the wonderful world J.K. Rowling has established in Harry Potter. You will enjoy the story and you will love how easy it will be to talk about God. Below are other resources to help you plan for using Harry Potter but don’t stop with Harry. You can use works of art, poems, newspaper articles and so much more to talk about God. Hopefully, Harry will inspire you as much as he has me.
- Understanding By Design
- Sample Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Bible Study
- To purchase above Bible Study
- Hidden Key to Harry Potter by John Granger
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Thanks, Jon. I’m fearful to confess that I’ve not read any of the Harry Potter books. At the time of the frenetic hey-day of the books my youngest was reading Brian Jacque’s Redwall series and my oldest was into Michael Crichton. So, our literary conversations centered on those works. Perhaps one day I’ll begin the HP corpus.
I appreciate your challenge on two things: (1) the importance of reading with children as a formative experience that parents need to give attention, and (2) the emphasis on the appropriate function of the resident Christian educator related to curriculum. Local church curriculum is what “real†resident Christian educators DO, not what they purchase from a publisher.
My youth are crazy about HP, and frankly, so am I – although I’m not as 100% crazy as they are. Over the past few years that I have known them, they have written several of their own HP stories. Even several adults in my congregation love this series.
In addition to the HP series, I also read other books that my youth read. Some of them have even given me their recommendation lists! Not only have I discovered how much I like fantasy fiction, but I have also a natural way of connecting with my youth.
John, I agree with you that things like books and movies can lead to theological questions, and I have found this to be true with my own youth. My youth happen to love reading, so this is a good way to connect with them. It also helps me to know what to recommend to them, to help them grow. Just this past week, I mentioned to my youth that I finished reading the Golden Compass Series. One of them immediately said, “I didn’t like the theology of the last book.†What came next was a great conversation that I couldn’t have planned any better.
Maybe there is really something to knowing our people and reaching out to them where they are!
At my former church my Sunday school class was the type that would go “on hiatus” for the summer as members traveled and vacationed. Two summers I offered a “summer reading” and discussion class, partly to provide a place for those members who did NOT go away for the summer and as a way to provide a place for those who did not get much out of the regular fare of Sunday school classes. It was always surprising to see who showed up.
The books were novels like Wangerin’s The Book of the Dun Cow. We’d read a chapter or two a week and provide time for some rippin’ good discussion. Inevitably the discussions tilted toward matters of faith, ofen raising questions and soliciting opinions decidedly un-Sunday-school-like. It was great fun and a meaningful learning experience.