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STUDY INTO EFFICACY OF

OPEN THE BOOK

IN TELLING THE BIBLE STORY TO CHILDREN

APRIL 2015

A man who disbelieved the Christian story as fact but continually fed on it as myth would, perhaps,

be more spiritually alive than one who assented and did not think much about it.1

GOD’S STORY - A DISTANT ECHO

In the 1950’s the majority of children had attended Sunday school at some stage of their childhood;

a third of 14 year-olds were still attending Sunday school. Ever since, the church has seen a rapid

decline of young people resulting in a virtual collapse of Sunday school in its traditional sense by

the new millennium.2 James Sire writes that from the early Middle Ages, ‘Christianity had so

penetrated the Western world that whether or not people believed in Christ or acted as Christians

should, they all lived in a context of ideas influenced and informed by the Christian faith.’ 3 This is

no longer the case. Christianity reflecting God’s story as told in the Bible is heard as a distant echo

to the majority of Generation Z. In school, Christianity is taught alongside Hinduism, Buddhism,

Islam and other religions; the emphasis on awareness and tolerance of all religion rather than

Christian teaching. In their essay Religion, Welfare and Education Adam Dinham and Robert

Jackson write that school based R.E. has shifted ‘significantly from an emphasis on the teaching of

Christian doctrine and morality to teaching about ‘world religions’.4

So how do we communicate God’s story to this current generation? A generation who, for some,

have never set foot inside a church? How do we make Christianity appear relevant? What does the

church offer the next generation? How do we get young families into church? These are the

questions that plague the local church today. It is naive to believe that it ever was that children ran

to church in eager anticipation, but it is not ingenuous to realise that the Bible narrative underpinned

their own human story, defined their worldview and placed their lives in a context that had

coherence, offered stability, created hope and provided purpose to their existence. For the young

child, what began as an act of obedience on Sunday when there was little else to do anyway, grew

into a framework that provided a refuge in time of trouble, definition to rites of passage, offered

someone to praise and blame throughout live, and biblical truth became a ‘touchstone’ to help live

life to the full. For Generation Z, there is no longer the security of a proclaimed and assumed

national religion, one that binds their family and other families together. There is no grand narrative

that assures children that they are created beings, have purpose, hope and can look forward to an

eternal life with God. There is very little stability left at all, not only in terms of faith, but in the

home as well. ‘Worldviews have proliferated’, writes James Sire, and within one child

Baby Jane, a twentieth and twentieth first century child of the Western world, often gets

reality defined in two widely divergent forms - her mother’s and father’s. Then if the family

breaks apart, the court may enter with a third definition of human reality. This poses a

distinct problem for deciding what the shape of the world actually is.5

1Lewis, C.S., Myth Became Fact, in C.S.Lewis, Essay Collection, ed. Lesley Walmsley (London: Harper Collins, 2000) p.141

2 Guest, M., Olson, E., Wolfe, J., Christianity in Religion and Change in Modern Britain, ed. Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto (Oxford: Routledge, 2012) p.63

3 Sire, J.W., The Universe Next Door (USA: Intervarsity Press, 2004) p.24

4 Dinham, A., Jackson, R. Religion, Welfare and Education in Religion and Change in Modern Britain. p.288

5 Sire, J., The Universe Next Door p.24

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In January 2014 an online YouGov survey was conducted on behalf of the Bible Society to assess

Bible literacy in children and young people. In its foreword, the Bishop of London, Dr Richard

Chartres said sharing Bible stories ‘is as vital now as it has ever been.’ The findings of the survey

revealed the fact that many children had never read, seen or even heard these stories - Bible literacy

is declining through the generations. The report indicated that over 60% of children had not read,

seen or heard the Feeding of the Five Thousand, the Good Samaritan or the Creation Story. The

story of Daniel and the Lion's Den was not recognised by over 70% of children. 45% of parents say

they never read Bible stories to their child contrasted to the 86% of parents who said that they had

read, heard or watched Bible stories as a child.

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OPEN THE BOOK RESEARCH – April 2015

In April 2015 two surveys were conducted to assess the efficacy of Open the Book as a way of

introducing, embedding and promoting the Bible story into the lives of school children. The

surveys explored the reception teams received within school and the outreach experiences of

participating churches. One of the aims of the research was to assess the average number of

children churches ordinarily teach on a Sunday and compare that endeavour to reaching a whole

school weekly during term time. It also gauged how schools view OTB teams coming into school

and whether teachers thought knowledge of the Bible was good for the children’s literacy, spiritual

and moral development.

The surveys were carried out as work towards a M.A. dissertation in Apologetics at King’s College

London. The full dissertation ultimately seeks to rediscover the power of story as a convincing and

authentic way to communicate the Christian gospel to young people in order to sustain the Bible story, shape identity, empower lives and ultimately sustain the church for the future.

SURVEY 1

SENT TO PARTICIPATING CHURCHES THAT HAVE AN OPEN THE BOOK TEAM

This survey was completed by 465 churches.6 See Appendix C for breakdown of respondents by

county, denomination and size of congregation.

The findings highlighted the churches outreach to children aged 5-11 years old:

1. Average weekly church attendance: 6.5 children 2. Average weekly OTB audience: 156 school children 3. Average OTB team size: 8 church volunteers 4. 4% of the OTB teams were working ecumenically.

5. Church teams were keen to encourage the spread of OTB - 57% of churches have propagated further teams.

Comment on findings:

6 The survey was sent to 2000 email addresses

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For Sunday school to be facilitated, work has to be prepared, activities and craft items organised,

teams arranged and age appropriate settings have to be thought through. The behaviour of

children has to be supervised and irregular attendance of children interferes with continuity of

topic from week to week. Happily occupying the children for an hour or more is sometimes difficult

- although the children may enjoy a short amount of time away from their parents, time can drag on

for some.

It is easier to get volunteers for children’s work outside of the Sunday service. With OTB, duration

of teaching (sharing) is short and to the point, the Bible is taught consecutively and discipline is

provided by the school and does not fall to the church members. The OTB team’s presentation can

be a blessing to the children without any of the bureaucracy of rota’s, schemes of work and

discipline issues - also the team can attend their usual Sunday service yet still be involved with

children’s ministry. The scripts are ready to go and after a short rehearsal period before

performance and a minimum of props, the team can take the story into school. It can be something

the team really look forward to - leading, acting, narrating and collectively sharing the Bible

stories with scores of children. Maximum effect for minimum effort.

This is in no way a denouncement of Sunday school, it is the realisation that for many churches the

irregularity of Sunday school attendance coupled with very low numbers can be discouraging.

OTB offers not an alternative but an effective means to teach children the Bible stories. Ideally, of

course, churches would do both OTB and Sunday school.

6. Roughly 50% of churches that participated in Open the Book ran a Messy Church (231 out of 465) those that did were asked what day of the week they ran it and their average

attendance:


It was interesting to note that Sunday was the most popular day for running Messy Church. The

average attendance was second lowest at just 31 compared to Wednesday and Friday attendance of

c.50). Interestingly, this statistic highlights that Sunday is not the most popular day for families to

attend church activities.

It is often the children that bring their parents along to Messy Church as they become familiar and

intrigued by Bible stories from OTB assemblies and recognise and trust church members from the

team.

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It is easier to promote Messy Church and other church activities at the school if the OTB team

already visits - schools have cemented a relationship with the church and are happy to put notices

up and details on school newsletters. School’s engagement with OTB can only be beneficial in

strengthening links between community and church.

Open the Book provides a foundation of biblical knowledge for the children and Messy Church can

become a stepping stone into more regular church attendance for young families.

SURVEY 2

SENT TO PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS THAT RECEIVE OTB INTO THEIR SCHOOL.

This survey was completed by 165 schools. 73 (44%) of the respondents were from faith schools

and 92 (56%) were from non-faith schools.

1. Regardless of faith, Bible knowledge is important to a child's education.

2. Knowing the Bible stories help children to become richer, more sophisticated readers.

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3. Open the Book is something that the children really look forward to.

4. Would you say that Open the Book has had a positive effect on the spirituality of the

children?

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5. Would you say that Open the Book has had a positive impact on the life of your

school?


The reception of OTB teams into school is very encouraging - most especially taking into

consideration that 56% of the respondents were from non-faith schools. A small minority (less than

4%) of the 165 responding schools were neutral to the effect OTB had on the life of the school

leaving 96% of schools agreeing that OTB was really something that the children looked forward

to. 10% of all schools did not agree that it raised spirituality amongst the children leaving 90%

confirming that they thought it did with 29% of those going further to state that it had a positive

impact on the children’s maturity, understanding and overall response to life. 65% of the the non-

faith schools agreed that OTB had a positive influence on the children’s spirituality with 23% of

those agreeing most definitely. 100% of all school respondents confirmed that they believed that

Bible knowledge is important to a child’s education regardless of faith with 88% agreeing that it

helped to make more sophisticated readers. 96% of schools agree that OTB had a positive impact

on the life of the school.

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CONCLUSION

FEED MY LAMBS

C S Lewis came to understand that the story recounted in the Gospels, rather than the one

commented upon and outworked in the Epistles, was the essence of Christianity’s meaning. After this breakthrough, Lewis approached the story of Christ in a similar way to the way he approached

pagan myths - for him it was a huge breakthrough and edified his faith. Christianity, he came to

realise, was a true myth, whereas pagan myths were ‘men’s myths’.7

With fewer and fewer parents teaching their children faith stories, and the majority of schools no

longer deliberating the Christian faith, the responsibility falls to the church to propagate the Bible

story to this generation. Without basic biblical literacy, what is the apologist defending? The

Christian apologist has to admit some questions are unanswerable and some are only discoverable

over time and application. Key to being able to defend the gospel, one’s audience/listener must have some kind of understanding or at least, intrigue as to the relevance of God. The Bible story

needs to be told in such a way that children are not only aware of, but charmed by the narrative. If

not, or left too long without knowledge of the story, their probing and forming belief systems will

be wrongly infiltrated by the mass media. The proliferation of inaccurate, polemical portrayals of

biblical truth will distort any hope of a Christian worldview and the children will be at the mercy of

a pluralistic culture - the Bible will become an irrelevance. It requires Christians to reach children

with biblical truth at a young age, in order to allow developing minds space and time to wonder, to

doubt, and to hopefully discover, develop and deepen faith for themselves.

Alister McGrath writes:

The apologetic task cannot be limited to developing arguments. In some way we must

realise that apologetics involves enabling people to glimpse something of the glory and

beauty of God. It is these, not slick arguments, that will ultimately convert and hold people.

True apologetics engages not only the mind but also the heart and the imagination, and we

impoverish the gospel if we neglect the impact it has on all of our God-given faculties.8

In churches across the land there are many in the congregation who would relish getting out into the

community to share the gospel with children - but have neither the know how, or legitimacy to do

so. Open the Book provides a way. Age is not a barrier, in a sense, the older the better - a

generational gap (or two!) lends itself to storytelling. The school is the obvious place to

communicate God’s story to the maximum amount of young people in the local area. Historically

Sunday school has been the place to tell God’s story in order to disciple young people, but the

survey shows that in the majority of churches only a very small number of children attend. In times

past, parents read the Bible to their children and the school reinforced this teaching in assemblies,

saying grace at mealtimes and in R.K. lessons (based on the Christian faith). This is no longer so.

If churches do not play their part in disseminating the gospel through schools, the Bible narrative

will be lost to the majority of children.

7 Ward, M., The Good Serves the Better and Both the Best in Imaginative Apologetics, Ed.Andrew Davison (London: SCM Press, 2011) p65

8 McGraph, A., The Passionate Intellect (USA: InterVaristyPress 2010) p.88

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Children need to be introduced to the Bible in the hope that it will pervade and persuade their

emerging worldview. Through hearing the stories, they can consider the possibility and implication

of God’s existence, their inherent value and His created world. They can develop self worth through knowing their lives are purposed, gain security by knowing all things are held together by

Him, and learn humility and justice through acknowledging that He is the standard by which to

measure all things. They can begin to form an understanding that makes sense of the overwhelming

suffering in the world through hearing the stories of the Old Testament; and then discover the grace

of Jesus who can speak directly to their vulnerable hearts, giving them hope and a future.

So much has been lost to children in the postmodern world in terms of continuity, aspiration and

plain truth - all things needed to gain security in life. Through the Bible, God has revealed himself

to his people - children need to hear it. Grace once said at school before mealtime served to

acknowledge God as provider of all things. Stories of God’s people doing right and wrong,

atonement made possible through sacrifice and grace, God writing rules in people’s hearts developed a moral argument in young minds; the acknowledgement of evil was underpinned and

understood by the awareness of man’s refusal to obey God. School age children need to be

mindful of the world around them, to think through the various ‘stories’ they are told about its inception and humanity’s relationship to God and decide for themselves between ‘men’s myths’ and the ‘true myth’. This foundation has to be laid before they can engage in conversations about Christian doctrine, substantiality and historicity.

G K Chesterton talks of his own inquisitive nature that tried to make sense of the world.

In short, I had always believed that the world involved magic: now I thought that perhaps it

involved a magician. And this pointed a profound emotion always present and

subconscious; that this world of ours has some purpose; and if there is a purpose, there is a

person. I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story there is a story-teller.9

When children hear God’s truth though Bible stories being read or acted out, the ‘Storyteller’

communicates God’s Word and the story itself becomes its own defence. Mark Snowden writes on

Paul’s advice in Ephesians 6:17 ‘take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.’ Snowden imagines a hypothetical soldier verbally defending his sword to an attacking enemy saying

Watch out! A master craftsman made this word long ago of the finest iron. The edge is sharp

enough to peel an apple. The tip is hard enough to penetrate your shield. The handle is

strong enough to withstand your weight when I lift you over my head in triumph.’ No, he doesn’t defend the sword; he uses it (emphasis mine). The truth of the Word proves itself authoritative when we use it.

10

The best defence a Christian apologist has to convince children of the validity of God is God’s own

Word. Don’t just defend the Word, use it. It can be joyfully shared by the church with the children in the local school. And shared in a way that the children can fully engage with. Darla Rothman

writes of Generation Z, ‘This is the first generation born into an Internet-connected world. Because their use of technology has developed the visual ability portion of their brains, visual forms of

learning are more effective for these learners.’11 The Bible can come alive through Open the Book,

9 Chesterton, G.K., Orthodoxy (USA: Sam Torode Publishing, 2009) p.53

10 Snowden, M.and Willis, Jnr. A.T. Truth that Sticks (USA: NavPress, 2010) p.106 11 Rothman, D., Ph.D. A Tsunami of Learners Called Generation Z

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engaging the imaginations of the school children in fresh and exciting ways. The children can

involve their whole bodies in the process. Becoming the crowd at Pentecost, the Red Sea parting,

the animals boarding the ark, the shepherds hearing the angels proclaiming Jesus’ birth. Hopefully it will lead to a more detailed search of their own and they will begin to see their life ahead as a race

that is to be run and completed well. Through hearing and seeing the Bible played out, week by

week, they can realise the power of God’s story and find their place within it.

Edmund Burke famously said ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do

nothing.’ Churches want children and families to come to their services. If that proves difficult

there is something they can do that - and as the surveys suggest, promises great results. An OTB

team can consist of a narrator and one or two actors, or it could be a large cast of ten. The stories

can be adapted to suit each team’s capabilities - if the team is small, children can be used (there will

be a long queue of willing volunteers). Churches can then go into schools, developing strong

community links and arming the children in their locality with the ‘Sword of the Spirit’.

Let’s use the story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (The Marvellous Picnic) to highlight this

act. Take a child’s book (The Lion Storybook Bible, Page 102) and a few worn out church

members, dress them in tea towels and tablecloths. Sit the children down in the school hall and let

every sensory experience be played out (Mark 6:39). Imagine the scene alive with colours, sounds,

smells, and tastes. The OTB team become Jesus and his disciples - the children become the crowd,

eager to be fed. God will take these negligible ‘crumbs’ and turn the fifteen minutes into a celebration - a feast. Time will be suspended and the children will be caught up in the wonder of

the miracle acted out before them. Afterwards, questions can be asked. ‘Who’s going to share their

lunchbox now?’ Allowing the children to wonder - the ‘green grass’ is evoking a faint recollection of other stories the OTB team have told - David the shepherd boy who became a ‘giant-killer’ and then the very best king God’s people ever had. The lambs are being fed, the Old and the New

envelop and develop in the child’s imagination - the incorruptible seed has fallen and God’s story has taken root (1 Peter 1:23 ).

In an interview regarding the life of C S Lewis, Professor Alister McGrath spoke about Lewis’s

own conversion taking place in two stages. From atheism to believing in God, and then from belief

in God to accepting Christianity and this transpired chiefly through the gospel stories.

Lewis realised that Christianity told a story - a true story - which made sense of every other

story that people told about themselves. That had a major impact on the way that Lewis did

apologetics. He would retell the story of Jesus in a way that connected up with the culture of

his own day and age. Lewis realised that his own story had been totally transformed and

redirected when it became part of God’s story, and wanted to help others realise that their

lives could be changed as well.’12

www.mdle.net/.../A_Tsunami_of_Learners_Called_Generation_Z.pdf 12 Petersen, J., If I had lunch with C.S.Lewis: An Interview with Alister McGrath. Bible Gateway Blog, June 4th 2014 https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2014/06/if-

i-had-lunch-with-c-s-lewis-an-interview-with-alister-mcgrath/

http://www.mdle.net/.../A_Tsunami_of_Learners_Called_Generation_Z.pdfhttps://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2014/06/if-i-had-lunch-with-c-s-lewis-an-interview-with-alister-mcgrath/https://www.biblegateway.com/blog/2014/06/if-i-had-lunch-with-c-s-lewis-an-interview-with-alister-mcgrath/

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APPENDICES:

Appendix A: Survey to Churches

Appendix B: Survey to Schools

Appendix C: Church Survey Respondents’ Data

Appendix D: Comments from the OTB Church Survey

Appendix E: Comments from the OTB School Survey

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APPENDIX A

SURVEY TO CHURCHES.

OPEN THE BOOK RESEARCH FOR PARTICIPATING CHURCHES.

You have received this survey because you are registered as a member of an Open the Book team. So am I! I would

appreciate you spending 1 minute in completing this online questionnaire. The results will be used as part of a

research dissertation into the efficacy of Open the Book within schools especially with regard to Generation Z

(today's under 18's) and their preferred learning styles.

Thank you in anticipation for your cooperation.

Tricia Owen

King's College London

1. It would be good to know what kind of church that you belong to.

Please fill in the town/village and county, that your church is situated in.

Please enter the denomination.

2. Please enter approximate number of adults and children in your congregation

3. Please enter how many people are in your Open the Book team.

4. Please enter the town/village of the school(s) that you visit with Open the Book.

5. How many children within the school watch Open the Book and how often do you go into school? This is just

to get an idea of the amount of children who watch OTB, so rough figures will suffice. (Sample answer 220,

weekly).

6. How many other churches has your OTB team encouraged to start their own Open the Book team?

7. Concerning your church - approximately how many young people are there in your church on a regular

Sunday? This is just to get an idea of your young people's ministry within church. Rough estimates will suffice.

5 - 11 yrs.

11 - 18 yrs.

8. It would be good to know if your church runs Messy Church? If so, how frequently and what day of the week

is it held and roughly how many children come to it? (Sample answer: Yes, Monthly, Wednesday, 40).

How frequently?

On what day of the week do you run it?

How many children attend? Just a rough estimate will suffice.

9. Lastly, is there anything you would like to add that could help with the research?

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APPENDIX B

SURVEY TO SCHOOLS

OPEN THE BOOK RESEARCH FOR PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS. You have received this survey as your school participates in Open the Book. A recent UK report indicates that over

60% of children have not read, seen or heard the Feeding of the 5000, the Good Samaritan or the Creation

Story. The story of Daniel and the Lion's Den is apparently not recognised by over 70% of children. As an English

graduate, I consider the Bible narrative to be of utmost importance to literature and culture as well as providing

invaluable wisdom to carry one through life. I am a MA student at King's and I am researching the efficacy of Open

the Book in reaching Generation Z with the Bible narrative. I would appreciate you spending 2 minutes in

completing this survey. Thanking you in anticipation!

Tricia Owen

King's College London

1. Please can you provide a few details of your school.

In which town or village is your school?

Is your school a faith school?

If yes, can you please specify the denomination?

2. Please specify how many children experience Open the Book when the team visits your school.

3. Regardless of faith, Bible knowledge is important to a child's education.

Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

4. Knowing the Bible stories help children to become richer, more sophisticated readers.

Disagree

Agree

Strongly Agree

5. Open the Book is something that the children really look forward to.

Mostly true

Definitely true

Generally speaking, it is not considered one of their favourite times of the week

6. Would you say that Open the Book has had a positive effect on the spirituality of the children?

No, it is just something that they enjoy watching.

Most definitely, it has helped with the children's maturity, understanding and overall response to life in general.

The children generally appear more thoughtful and open to spirituality as a result of regular Open the Book visits.

7. Is Open the Book the only time that the church visits your school? Please either leave or tick the relevant

boxes.

The Vicar/Minister/Youth Worker/A Church Member conducts assemblies sometimes.

The church runs a Christian club within school

The congregation get involved generally with the life of the school

8. Would you say that Open the Book has had a positive impact on the life of your school?

Most definitely

Yes

No more than any other visiting group has.

9. This is a chance to enter any further information that has not been covered in the questions above that you

may be keen to share.

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APPENDIX C

CHURCH SURVEY RESPONDENTS’ DATA

1. Distribution of Respondents by County:

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2. Denominations represented by respondents

3. Congregation size of responding churches:

The Church of England represented 70% of respondents. The majority of churches had

congregations of 50 - 100 people with less than 10% of under 18’s.

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APPENDIX D

SOME COMMENTS FROM THE OTB SCHOOL SURVEY

Open the book is a new project for our school. It has helped the children understand the Bible stories and is a powerful

initiative to conveying the Christian message to the children in a fun way. We are thrilled to have this new group in our

school.

Taking part enhances pupils' self-confidence and enjoyment. Helps in recalling stories.

During the assemblies all children from Reception to Year 6 are fully engaged and frequently talk positively about the

assembly.

The assemblies are entertaining and have a very important message. The children love the visits and they also enjoy the

singing.

Open the Book enables the children to feel special.

I have been amazed at just how engaged the children are with Open the Book and I am very grateful to the members of

the parish who prepare so thoroughly for the assemblies.

The children often say that this is their favourite assembly and relish the opportunity to get involved.

Open the Book provides children with an inclusive and engaging introduction (if not Christians) or interpretation (for

Christians) of Bible stories.

The children and staff really look forward to Open the Book and it is an excellent way to familiarise them with stories

from the bible.

Open the book is a wonderful addition to school life and is very much appreciated by our children, parents and staff -

thank you!

The involvement of children in the story telling is positive for their self-esteem. It brings Bible stories to life. It makes

the idea of religion acceptable as opposed to 'old hat'.

We value this in our school. It is also good to see the church in the community, as they reach far more than when they

stay within the church building.

An extremely valuable resource for our school.

Open the book brings Bible stories to life for the children and gives them an opportunity to be more thoughtful about

the messages. This is true for children who are Christian and those who are not. It is also very supportive to non-faith

teachers as a form of professional development.

Open the Book is an invaluable part of our collective worship. It is wonderful to see local churches represented and

working together - children who attend any of the churches in the town can see their congregation represented. The

assemblies are also very engaging - the children love the participation. I also appreciate the opportunity to have

someone other than myself deliver assembly, and feel that they are very successful in conveying Bible stories in an

accessible way to the children.

A very well organised and professional group who contribute a great deal to the school

Knock on benefit of mending bridges with neighbours who are part of the team but used to complain about noise

constantly - they love us now!

The children's knowledge of the Bible has grown.

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APPENDIX E

SOME COMMENTS FROM THE OTB CHURCH SURVEY

Personally I think that OTB is great as children get to hear Bible stories which at primary school age is one of the key

ways in which they learn. OTB enables church members to participate in school assemblies (rather than it being the

vicar's responsibility) and they learn too. It also increases the church/village interactions enabling conversations (in

supermarkets - "you come into our school and tell stories" which enables mission such as the setting up of Messy

church. Finally the church members can learn new things too!

Just that introducing it to my benefice has been my most valuable achievement in 16 years of Reader ministry, in my

estimation! We have established excellent relations with our school, leading to "Experience Easter" presentations; the

visit of a touring religious drama group; a staff member attending a Diocesan training day for a cross-syllabus day on

the Lord's prayer which the whole staff delivered; and one of our team being invited to join the board of governors. This

is not a church school, but has a sympathetic head.

The pupils at the school (local to the church) always look forward to our assemblies. A good spin-off is that our church

is used for their Easter, Harvest and Christmas services, and they are keen to make themselves known to us when we

see them in other situations.

OTB is brilliant. Works on so many levels - it is inclusive (potentially...). Invaluable in so many ways; great fun for all -

children of all ages; and is gentle but profound. The School Council (made up of pupils) were reviewing OTB and

asked if they could have it every day.

The children love hearing the stories and taking part. The teaching staff are very supportive and use the conclusions and

reflective moments to fit with the children's everyday life.

The children love it when OTB come to their school. They love the idea of older people acting the stories, and love

joining in. At the end of each story, the children like to discuss it which shows their interest.

Brilliant initiative when it is so difficult to address Sunday attendance

We are just completing our twelfth year at the school - and they still want us to continue!

Over 14 years, OTB has built on the good relationship between church & school, resulting in the appointment of a

Children's & Families worker, starting in June, who will be shared between the church & the junior school.

The children say that OTB is the best assembly of the week and both staff and children really look forward to it and

learn from it.

One of the reasons why OTB is such an excellent concept (I think) is that we are unlikely to see the children in church

on a Sunday any longer - they are doing family/sport activities (or at the shops!)

The children always great us excitedly when they see us coming.

Children seem to remember details of the stories and enjoy taking part. Several children have spotted Jesus in

Sainsbury’s!

OTB helps with bible literacy because of the exciting way the stories are presented. Not only is this true for generation

Z, but also for the teaching staff and even the OTB volunteers: those that tell the stories, and also the community groups

who help make props, costumes etc. We operate in a rural setting. Most of our volunteers are retired and have not been

brought up to talk about their faith. OTB provides a way for them to move from Church gathered to Church dispersed.

The two schools we visit really appreciate us coming in and the children love listening to the stories. They don't

however want an OTB assembly weekly as prescribed by OTB. We take the view that three a term is better than none.

The open the book project has been met with enthusiasm both by staff and pupils and has had a wonderful knock on

effect in our connections with school and church - the school has been into church for lessons on community and

church, weddings, and what church services are like from a child’s point of view. The OTB scheme has given us a real

opportunity to get to know the school.

Documents

STUDY INTO EFFICACY OF OPEN THE BOOK IN TELLING THE …€¦ · Page 3 of 17 OPEN THE BOOK RESEARCH – April 2015 In April 2015 two surveys were conducted to assess the efficacy