After years of hosting vacation Bible school, Mark Tucker, associate pastor of Old Orchard Church (PCA) in Webster Groves, Mo., realized the church’s approach just wasn’t working. The number of children participating in VBS had dwindled to around 30, and most were church kids. Tucker, along with children’s program coordinator, Kelli McKie, thought the idea of VBS might not be culturally appealing anymore. “The VBS approach had become an inside approach,” Tucker said. “We really wanted to reach outsiders, unbelievers.”

McKie wasn’t content to just let the program die. As fans of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, they discussed the idea of finding a Narnia-themed summer children’s program. Anticipation for the movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was building back then, and both felt it would hold appeal both inside and outside the church.
Initially confident they could find something they could use, they were surprised at how few materials were available. The Narnia-based studies McKie found were either theologically off-base or in a format not conducive to a summer children’s program. But Tucker wasn’t dissuaded. “I just thought, well, then let’s write our own.”

McKie took on the writing project with a sense of excitement. “I have a seminary degree in Christian education,” she said, “so it was a great opportunity to use my degree, something I never thought I’d do as a stay-at-home mom.” For the 2004 summer children’s program, McKie wrote a curriculum based on the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and specifically tailored it to their small church, which is home to about 100 families.

Church members eagerly jumped in to create games, crafts, and even snacks to accompany the teaching and storytelling. “People in the church were excited about it because it was ours,” Tucker said.

That summer, attendance at the summer children’s program doubled from the previous year (the church dropped the term “VBS” in an attempt to shed associations and expand the appeal) and drew children from unchurched families in the community. Encouraged by the program’s success, Tucker and McKie decided to try it again the following year, this time based on the book Prince Caspian. Once again, attendance nearly doubled.

Soon Old Orchard’s Narnia-based summer children’s program reached capacity at nearly 100 kids, and due to space limitations, the church had to turn children away. Word quickly spread and families started to sign up their children months in advance.

Each subsequent year since the first Narnia study, McKie has written a new curriculum based on a different Narnia book, eventually creating a five-year cycle of materials. In preparation for writing each installment, McKie reads a book and determines a theme which she then builds the curriculum around. For The Horse and His Boy, the theme was God’s providence; for The Magician’s Nephew, it was Creation and the Fall. Each day of the weeklong program includes a story time and a teaching time incorporating Narnia stories with Bible stories that mirror the themes of the book.

As a result of her role in the program, McKie has a newfound respect for C.S. Lewis. “We’d studied The Chronicles of Narnia in a church study a few years before,” McKie said, “but writing the curriculum has made me appreciate how good a job Lewis has done.”

Beyond the Community

The success and growth of the program greatly encouraged Tucker, and at the same time spurred him to continue looking for additional ways to reach out with the gospel. Emily Roig, a recent college graduate who was active in Old Orchard’s youth group, was on her way to a six-month stint in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic (D.R.), to work with Orphanage Outreach, an organization that helps abandoned and disadvantaged children. Tucker wondered if there might be a way to organize a church missions trip to the D.R. and to present the Narnia program for children there.

Roig connected Old Orchard with Orphanage Outreach, and this summer 14 people from the church brought the Narnia summer children’s program to the Dominican Republic, a country with one of the poorest educational systems in the Western Hemisphere. “We didn’t know how it would work or even if it would work,” Roig said. “We didn’t have all the supplies and we had a language barrier.” Still there was great anticipation among both the Orphanage Outreach staff and the church missions team.

The response was overwhelming. “We were told to expect 200 kids,” Tucker said, “and the first day we had 360.” Children began lining up at 7 a.m., two hours before doors were scheduled to open. And that was just the first day. Word of the program continued to spread throughout the community, and nearly 400 kids came to the orphanage grounds each morning for the remainder of the week to participate. In the afternoon, the team moved to another location in the city and did the program for approximately 100 more children.

Due to the number of kids, the language barrier, and technological limitations, the team had to get creative. “We realized we had to rethink a lot of stuff,” Tucker said. Unable to adhere strictly to the Narnia curriculum as they had in the U.S., the team found ways to expand the visual representations of the gospel. They came up with skits of Bible stories and, when technology was available, showed scenes from the movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. “The kids followed it and were really engaged…” Tucker said.

Tucker’s vision is for God to continue to use the Narnia summer children’s curriculum as an outreach to unchurched children. Narnia’s appeal, he says, stretches across cultural and economic barriers. “It has everything kids love: animals, adventure, mystery, swords, fantasy.”

“It’s been a wonderful experience,” Tucker said, speaking of the church’s trip to the Dominican Republic. “We’ve seen God work. The main goal has been for us to enjoy the kids and to demonstrate Christ to them, but we’ve been the ones who have grown. It’s been an amazing experience for us.”

For more information about the Narnia curriculum at Old Orchard Church, please contact Mark Tucker at maltucker@gmail.com.