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Helping Christian Kids Navigate Gender Identity.
About one year ago, the Holy Spirit began to speak to me to write a curriculum for kids’ church about gender identity.
When I grew up, there was an understanding that all adults had. You didn’t talk to kids about some things, but the culture has changed.
Today in many of our schools, teachers are encouraged to talk to kids about things like gender identity. In some schools, kids are encouraged to talk to their teachers about gender identity, and in turn keep it a secret from their parents. Public schools today think they are safer for kids than their own homes.
The thinking goes something like this. Educators will separate biological sex from gender; your gender is whatever you think it is. If you are a girl, but you think in a masculine way, then your gender is male.
Children as young as kindergarten are encouraged to separate their gender from their biological sex. In one study in Sweden, there was a 5,000% increase in adolescent girls questioning their gender.
The Church cannot remain silent on this issue. Not only do the kids we teach need our guidance, but parents are also pleading for assistance. Most parents know there is a problem, but do not know what to say to their kids.
How do you teach kids about a subject as sensitive as gender identity?
This is what I did, I taught the kids in my class about their identity in Christ.
What does it mean to be a Christian?
Here are the titles of the four lessons and the corresponding memory verses I taught.
- I Am Created in God’s Image. – Genesis 1:27
- I Am a Christian. – Colossians 2:12
- I Am a Girl. I Am a boy. – Genesis 1:27
- I Am Part of a Family – Genesis 1:28
Secondly, I wanted to help kids navigate what is being taught in school, like the confusing use of gender pronouns.
Finally, I gave our kids some guidance on how to respond with kindness if they have a classmate with two dads or two moms.
- Is it possible to love God and love people who don’t love God?
- Is it possible to obey the Bible and be kind to people who don’t believe it?
I believe it is. Teaching our kids how to walk in love is just as important as teaching them the truth about gender identity.
The curriculum title is, Who Am I? and it was released May 26, 2023.
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Thank you, Pastor Mark! I have been looking for material on identity and your new curriculum is so timely as children, youth, and even adults have accepted what is not natural.
Thank you, Heidi. It is a timely message.
The Barbie movie stirs up issues about becoming a mother, implies that males are better at being female than females, also the targeting of “ken” as being the problem. How do you suggest parents respond to these messages conveyed in this movie? What can children’s ministries do in response?
Hi Lori, I would read Genesis chapters 1 and 2 with your kids. If your kids are old enough to read, take turns reading the scriptures. Talk about how when Adam saw Eve, she was similar in that she was not like the animals but also different. God made men and women different, and that difference is part of His goodness. If you are a girl, God created you that way, which is awesome! If you are a boy, God made you a boy, which is amazing! God established the family in the beginning when he said, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” It takes both a man and a woman to create a family. We need to celebrate the way that God created us.