Awana

Awana is an international evangelical Christian nonprofit organization in child and youth discipleship. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Illinois, United States. Its mission is to equip children's and youth ministry leaders throughout the world to reach kids with the Gospel and engage them in lifelong discipleship.

Awana
Founded1950
FoundersLance Latham, Art Rorheim
Type501(c)(3) non-profit religious
Location
Area served
U.S. and International (133 countries)
Key people
Matt Markins, President/CEO; Kevin White, COO; Michael Handler, Chief Innovation/Communications Officer; Brian Rhodes, Chief Revenue Officer/Global Ministries; Art Rorheim, Co-Founder; Valerie Bell, CEO Emeritus
Websitewww.awana.org

History

In 1941, the children's program at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago laid the foundation for the principles of Awana.[1] Lance Latham, North Side's senior pastor, collaborated with the church's youth director, Art Rorheim, to develop weekly clubs that they believed would appeal to all children. Rorheim served as the CoFounder/President Emeritus until he died on January 5, 2018.[2]

Other churches became interested in the program and inquired about its availability. In 1950, Latham and Rorheim founded Awana as a parachurch organization.[3] The name is derived from the first letters of "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15.[3] As of 2019, Awana claims to work with over 61,000 churches in 122 countries.[4]

Programs

Awana offers resources and Bible-based training programs for children ages 2 to 18 in churches. Children will be encouraged, but not required, to memorize Bible verses for credit or to redeem for small prizes.[5]

Each Awana program is arranged into different groups that are separated by the ages and grades of the children attending. These groups include Puggles (ages 2 to 3), Cubbies (preschoolers, ages 4 to 5), Sparks (Kindergarten to 2nd Grade), T&T (Grades 3 to 6), Trek (Middle School), and Journey (High School).[6][7] Although Awana offers programs for ages 2 to 18, churches that run an Awana program are not required to run a club for every age group.[7]

See also

References
  1. Demy, Timothy J.; Shockley, Paul R. (2017). Evangelical America: An Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Religious Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 13.
  2. O'Donnell, Maureen (January 12, 2018). "Art Rorheim, who co-founded global Awana youth ministry in Chicago, dead at 99". chicago.suntimes.com.
  3. Balmer, Randall Herbert (2004). "Awana". Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism (Revised and expanded ed.). Baylor University Press. p. 45.
  4. Smith, Samuel. Evangelical youth ministry leader Awana to release first-ever Sunday school curriculum, christianpost.com, November 17, 2019.
  5. Awana, About, awana.org, USA, retrieved January 25, 2023
  6. "Awana Curriculum". Awana. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  7. "Northcliffe Baptist offers Awana fellowship for youngsters of all ages". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
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