About DWELL

DWELL children's ministry and Sunday school curriculum actively engages kids in God’s story using interactive games, reflective wondering, dramatic storytelling, and a whole lot of fun.

Colorful story symbols create visual timelines; songs with kid appeal help memory verses stick; and wonderfully illustrated take-home pieces provide support to families. ​DWELL is grounded in a Reformed perspective and solid pedagogy. Each lesson includes activities based on multiple intelligence theory. 

​Through it all, DWELL invites kids to find their place in God’s story, living into and out of it for the rest of their lives.
​Online access to all leader resources on any device. Anytime.

Session Overview

New!
Each DWELL session offers kids the opportunity to wonder and interact with God’s story.
​Tools to nurture faith in and through families.

Structure

​With DWELL, kids do more than hear a story. They experience it. And each level of DWELL has a name that reflects that experience:
  • Play (one year of Preschool) - Based on 36 stories from Genesis through Acts, through Play four- and five-year-olds experience God’s Big Story with their whole bodies as it leads them on a joyful discovery of God's love.
  • Imagine (two years for Kindergarten and Grade 1) - At this level children get to use their vivid imaginations to experience the sights, sounds, and people in God's story and to explore how they can live into and out of that story.
  • Wonder (two years for Grades 2 and 3) - Second- and third-graders are encouraged to ask their favorite “why” and “how” questions as they engage God’s Big Story, experiencing a sense of wonder and awe at the greatness and love of our God.
  • Marvel (two years for Grades 4 and 5) - In this level, fourth- and fifth-graders explore smaller portions of Scripture in more depth, allowing students to dig deep into and marvel at God’s Word.
  • Dive (three years for Grades 6, 7, and 8) - Sixth- through eighth-graders explore Bible stories, pairing them with important teachings from the Reformed/Presbyterian confessions. This guides students to dive deeper into more complex concepts as they study God’s Word.

A carefully-crafted scope and sequence covers the entire arc of God's story—creation, fall, redemption, and restoration—at every level.

With DWELL, you get 10 years of curriculum in one, integrated program. 
  • Each year builds on the previous year.
  • Each level explores both Old and New Testaments in deepening ways as kids grow.
  • Each year has 36 sessions (divided into six units per year).
  • Across all 10 years of curriculum, that's 360 sessions.
  • Materials are undated to offer flexibility.
  • Christmas and Easter sessions are incorporated.​​

Components

DWELL's components are user-friendly and designed to engage both leaders and kids. Student pieces are colorful, varied, and age-appropriate.
Leader Resources and Support
Leader guides include session plans, song lyrics, and more. Available in print or online via DWELL Digital.  Beyond the leader guide, DWELL supports leaders with:
  • Story symbols for each lesson that can create a visual timeline of the Bible in your room.
  • DwellSongs (CD or download) to engage kids musically.
  • Monthly Dwelling enewsletter offers encouragement and teaching tips.
  • Leader training and other resources to help volunteers gain skills and confidence.
VIDEO: Overview of a Dwell lesson
Children's Resources
DWELL keeps kids (and their families!) engaged with resources that are colorful, varied, and age-appropriate.
  • Play - Cards include a paraphrase of the story written specifically with this age group in mind.
  • Imagine - Papers include a variety of ways you can connect learning to home with game boards, mazes, stories, and other activities.
  • Wonder - Papers include a helpful, "On the Way Home" prompt along with fun activities for engaging with the story at home.
  • Marvel - Cards fit into a Bible and are packed full of helpful activities to connect what these children are learning to the rest of their week.
  • Dive - Magazines are used primarily during the DWELL session and are meant to be something students work through with their leader.
VIDEO: Overview of Children's Resources

Connect With Families

DWELL helps you connect church and home.
  • With a subscription to DWELL Digital parents can see overviews of any session (example). You can also email families a link to their child's session overview, to follow what they are learning each week.
  • God's Big Story cards offers a fun way to help families have faith conversations at home.
  • A growing series of DWELL at Home resources help your church connect your children's ministry with everyday family life at home.
VIDEO: God's Big Story cards
DWELL presents the Bible as a life-transforming story of God's amazing love for his people and world. It invites children to find their place in that story, and join God's mission to transform the world through Jesus Christ.
“We are using the first year of DWELL and really like it a lot. I also find the Dwelling e-newsletters to be very informative and useful!” ​
​—Donnie, Children’s Worship Coordinator & Teacher

DWELL's Theology
DWELL presents the Bible as a life-transforming story of God's amazing love for his people and world. It invites children to find their place in that story, and join God's mission to transform the world through Jesus Christ.
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Biblical
First and foremost, DWELL is biblical. Scripture is the foundation of every DWELL session. DWELL is not based on human morals or virtues, but on God’s actions in God’s Big Story. 

Reformed
DWELL is rooted in a Reformed perspective. This perspective interprets the Bible first of all as the story of God. It approaches each story as part of the overarching story of God’s redemption and restoration of our fallen world through Jesus Christ. Each session focuses on what God has done and is doing today as God’s people help to bring in God’s kingdom.

While intentionally not denomination-specific, DWELL affirms the three ecumenical Christian creeds: Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed. While DWELL does not specifically reference any of the doctrinal standards of the Reformed and Presbyterian churches, it is fully consistent with all of them.

A simple, clear presentation of the doctrinal stance of DWELL can be found in Q&A: A Summary of Biblical Teachings, a simplified Q&A-style summary of Reformed/Presbyterian doctrine that forms the basis for the doctrinal teaching offered in the Dive level of DWELL.

DWELL ​is published by Faith Alive Christian Resources, a nonprofit publishing ministry of the Christian Reformed Church in North America and the Reformed Church in America.

Check out some of DWELL's beautiful art.