The Trusting 1980’s Fundamentalist Child: Biblical Literacy and the Awana Curriculum

Lance Weldy, Francis Marion University

From a very early age, the Christian fundamentalist child has been trained to put complete trust in authority such as parents, religious figures, and, ultimately, the King James Bible so that the child can internalize the ideology of the sinful child and seek salvation and doctrinal training through biblical literacy. One specific example of curriculum that a fundamentalist child might participate in is called Awana Clubs International, which is described by James Menzies as a “parachurch organization” that seeks to edify and evangelize both “church and non-church youth” (13) through what Randall Balmer calls “Scout-style uniforms, handbooks, and award systems” (45). Since the 1950s, Awana has spread internationally, its website claiming “to reach more than 6 million kids every week in 135 countries.” While the Awana curriculum does encourage physical activity in various forms, the hallmark of this program is its focus on biblical literacy through Bible memorization, as evidenced in its very name, which is an acrostic play on a portion of II Timothy 2:15: Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. Essentially, this verse establishes the child’s need to absorb the Bible consistently and wholeheartedly as the primary source of truth. In my presentation, I catalogue my years-long experience in the Awana program in the early-to-mid 1980’s. Specifically, I focus on my time from Kindergarten through second grade in what is called the Sparks division. Through an interdisciplinary approach combining religious studies, childhood studies, and autoethnography, I illustrate how the 1980’s fundamentalist child was trained to completely trust, memorize, and engage with the King James Bible, which reinforced the ideology of the sinful child and established the fundamentalist control over children.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 41. Challenges of Childhood in the Late Twentieth Century