Jill Benson
I work as the Dwell Curriculum Coordinator from my home just outside of Pittsburgh, PA. I've interacted with Dwell as a teacher, parent and Children's Ministry Director and am passionate about bringing the big story of the Bible to kids of all ages. I enjoy in-depth study of God's Word and hold degrees in Biblical Languages and Old Testament from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. I love that in my role I get to connect with Dwell users throughout the continent and connect them with one another. Outside of work, I fill my days with reading, writing, knitting and chasing after my two young children with my husband.
Posted in: What Faith-Forming Children's Books Do You Love?
5 of my favorites for telling particular Bible stories are in this post, and there are some great books for celebrating diversity at the end of this resource. Some other favorites that come to mind (not necessarily "Christian" but they have certainly been faith-forming for my kids):
- After the Fall and Beekle by Dan Santat
- The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
- Lubna and Pebble by Wendy Meddour
- The Invisible String by Patrice Karst
- Can I Play Too by Mo Willems
Posted in: COVID-Moments From A to Z: How Making a List Helped Me Practice Gratitude
I love this, Trudy! Thanks so much for sharing.
Posted in: From a Garden to a City: Looking Forward With Hope
Thanks, Melissa. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Posted in: From a Garden to a City: Looking Forward With Hope
Yes, so true! That combination of action and reflection is so important.
Posted in: Freedom to Lament: Journeying Together Through Pandemic Pain
Thanks, Karen!
Posted in: Resources for Teaching Youth About Worship?
The middle school level of the DWELL curriculum has a unit on worship during which the group plans their own worship service. It's year 3, unit 1 of the Dive level of DWELL. CRC churches can access the leader materials for free on DWELL Digital if you'd like to look at it to see if it would work. You can also preview the leader guide and accompanying DIVE magazine on the Digital Library. You might need to adapt it a bit for it to work with the older kids, but since you can view it for free, it might be worth looking to see if there are parts of it that would work for your group.
Here's a link to the first session of the unit on DWELL Digital (you'll need to log-in to view the whole session, but can preview it without a login). And a link to the leader guide and student resource on the Digital Library.