Scripture Union Report Final 12-5-14

Redemptive Enterprises-Helping You to Experience Things Differently

1 SuperKids ® Study 2014

INTRODUCTION

Redemptive Enterprises was commissioned by Scripture Union USA to perform a survey of their SuperKids program. The purpose of the survey was to assess several aspects of program by interviewing program participants and volunteers. Scripture Union is most interested in ensuring that the program is in-line with its mission “to show that each child is a ‘super kid’ because she or he was uniquely created by God.” It also is concerned with receiving information that will assist with improving the long-term success of the program. More specifically objectives identified for this research were to determine:

Program Attributes

Reasons for Participating in the Program

Satisfaction with Program

Bible Readership

Beliefs in Jesus Christ

Use of Specific Components

This report contains the findings of the survey, including a brief background and history of Scripture Union and SuperKids, data analysis including explanation of results, general observations, notable comments and recommendations. There is an appendix, which includes research methodology and literature review to assist with justification of SuperKids program.

BACKGROUND

Scripture Union/USA began in 1959 and is committed to "helping children, young people and their families know God’s love, follow Jesus and meet God daily in His Word." Today, Scripture Union conducts evangelism and discipleship programs for children, youth and families in various locations across the country. In addition, Scripture Union has a variety of Bible reading publications and programs for all ages.

SuperKids are one or two-week events where a team of volunteers communicates God’s Word to children wherever they are. SuperKids can be adapted to any children’s outreach ministry and to a wide variety of settings, including churches, public beaches, city parks and playgrounds, camps, or any other location where children gather.

SuperKids Participation

2013 2014

SuperKids Sites 125 136

SuperKids Participants 6683 6852



DATA ANALYSIS: Children Survey

Survey Demographics

101 Children Surveyed

Age 8-9 10-11 12 +

23% 45% 33%

Gender Male Female

46% 54%



The first set of questions has

to deal with why children

wanted to come to SuperKids.

Over 90% of kids wanted to

come because they heard it

was fun from either a parent,

an adult or because they

previously attended the

program. The children all

expressed having fun while at

SuperKids camp.

Approximately 85% of parents

wanted their children to come

to SuperKids at their local

organizations. Only 20% of

children brought a friend or were invited by a friend to SuperKids. This may be an opportunity to

explore for next year as an outreach tool.

20%

43%

85%

85%

92%

98%

18%

46%

8%

8%

8%

6%

7%

7%

62%

6%

2%

My friends came or invited me to SuperKids

I wanted to find out what it means to be aChristian

My parents wanted me to go

I want to learn more about the bible

I heard it was fun

It was better than staying at home

Children Q1: Why did you want to be a part of SuperKids?

A Lot Somewhat A Little Not At All



The second set of questions asked students how would they described the SuperKids program to

a friend. One hundred percent of the Children responded that SuperKids helps them to learn

more about Jesus. All children said that the SuperKids either taught them something new or help

them revisit something they heard from another source. Over 85% of children believe that

Superkids helps them learn more about the Bible and what it means to be a part of God’s family.

“Nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their

Savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out

of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to

Christ before their 18th birthday.” –George Barna

69%

69%

77%

85%

86%

100%

8%

23%

15%

15%

14%

15%

8%

8%

8%

Good place to make new friends

Makes me think about what I believe

Fun place to hang out

Helps me learn about the Bible

Shows what it is like to be part of God's family

Helps me know more about Jesus

Children Q2: How would you describe this program to a friend?




The third set of questions asked

students what aspects of the

program they liked most. Over 92%

said they liked that they feel more

loved by God after participating in

SuperKids. Nearly 80% of children

enjoyed learning new things about

Jesus and the Bible. The children

who “somewhat liked” learning

new things about Jesus or the Bible

expressed that they already knew

the information but enjoyed

hearing it again. Only 39% of

children liked memorizing a bible

verse “a lot.” Some children noted that some of the verses were too long to remember or they

did not have a chance to remember the verse from the previous day. There might be an

opportunity to help volunteers choose appropriate Bible verses for children.

39%

61%

69%

77%

77%

78%

91%

92%

47%

15%

23%

15%

23%

10%

8%

7%

8%

8%

8%

8%

16%

12%

9%

Memorizing a Bible verse

Being in Bible Diggers

Playing games

Learning new things about Jesus

Learning more about the Bible

Singing songs

Making new friends

Feeling more loved by God

Children Q3: What part of SuperKids did you like most?




The fourth set of questions asked children what they thought about reading the bible.

Approximately 85% of children want to read the bible and 78% of children believe the bible helps

them with their life. Yet 54% are less likely and 32% are not likely at all to read the bible on a daily

basis. There is more opportunity for SuperKids to help children make a connection between their

desire to read the bible and their actual reading of the Bible.

This was my first year in SuperKids. I feel more knowledgeable about the Bible and had a lot of fun at the same time!

–Blessed, age 10

0%

7%

16%

29%

43%

62%

68%

78%

85%

6%

7%

21%

40%

34%

24%

17%

12%

15%

16%

54%

32%

24%

7%

15%

78%

32%

32%

32%

7%

10%

The Bible is boring

I read the Bible every day

The Bible is hard for me to understand

Your parents/an adult reads the Bible to…

The Bible has stories like my life

I believe the Bible is true

I like to read the Bible

The Bible helps me with my life

I want to read the Bible

Children Q4: What do you think about reading the Bible?




The fifth set of questions

asked children what were

their beliefs about Jesus.

One hundred percent of the

children believed that Jesus

loved them, Jesus will

forgive their sins, Jesus will

teach them a new and

better way to live and Jesus

will give them strength to

handle any situation. This

indications that SuperKids

programming is indeed

achieving its mission about

teaching Children about

Jesus Christ.

95%

95%

96%

97%

100%

100%

100%

100%

5%

5%

4%

3%

If I believe in Jesus I will have eternal life

Jesus is the son of God

Jesus hears and answers my prayers

Jesus will help me follow him

Jesus will forgive my sins

Jesus gives me strength to handle anysituation

Jesus will teach me a new and better way tolive

Jesus loves me

Children Q5: Children's beliefs about Jesus

Totally Believe Sort of Believe Do Not Believe



Volunteer Survey

42 volunteers surveyed Average volunteer has served 3 years with SuperKids

100% of volunteers plan to return next year

The first set of questions asked volunteers why they wanted to be a part of SuperKids.

Approximately 90% stated that they wanted to share the love of Jesus and wanted to help

children learn more about the Bible. Only 57% agreed this was part of their church commitment.

This is primarily due to the nature of some of the groups that organized SuperKids programs.

Churches were not the sole organizer of SuperKids programs. In addition, a number of volunteers

did not come from their church, but were participants of SuperKids as youth.

17%

57%

74%

88%

88%

12%

21%

26%

7%

12%

5%

100%

71%

21%

There was nothing better to do

I wanted to work with a friend

It is part of our church commitment

I like to teach children

I want to help children learn more about theBible

It was a way to share the love of Jesus withyoung children

Volunteers Q1: Why did you want to be a part of SuperKids?




The second set of questions asked

volunteers what the bible means to

them. Approximately 90% responded

that the bible helps them in their lives

a lot. Approximately 80% responded

that they like to read the bible a lot.

Seventy-seven percent of volunteers

had a parent read the bible to them

either a lot (at least average 3-4 times

a week) or somewhat (at least average

1-2 per week). Approximately half of

volunteers said that the bible is

somewhat hard for them to

understand. They also stated that working with children helped them with their understanding

of the bible. One volunteer reported doing a story about forgiveness from SuperKids. The very

night he was confronted with a situation where he had to forgive a family member for something.

He said “I was reminded by the Holy Spirit about what I just taught my class, SuperKids helps

make the Bible real for volunteers too.”

2%

52%

60%

79%

88%

12%

48%

19%

17%

17%

7%

14%

5%

14%

7%

5%

5%

74%

45%

14%

17%

The Bible is boring

The Bible is hard for me to understand

I read the Bible every day

My parents read the Bible to me as a child

I like to read the Bible

The Bible helps me in my life

Volunteers Q2: What does the Bible mean to you?




The third set of questions asked volunteers about what aspects of the program did they like.

Overall, the SuperKids materials and concepts were well received. The four categories that were

ranked below 80% were: The Materials were age appropriate (69% a lot, 31% somewhat); Bible

diggers was easy for children to understand (74% a lot, 17% somewhat); children did not get

bored (76% a lot, 17% somewhat). When I asked volunteers to expand on this they explained that

the Bible Diggers seems to be great until age 11. They expressed that the worksheets become

too elementary for children 12 and up. Volunteers either had a hard time keeping their attention

or had to devise their study to keep them engaged.

69%

74%

76%

79%

83%

88%

88%

93%

95%

95%

95%

95%

31%

17%

17%

21%

12%

12%

12%

5%

5%

5%

5%

5%

10%

7%

5%

2%

The material was age appropriate

Bible diggers was easy for children to understand

Children did not get bored

The material used was easy to understand

You were not rushed to cover the material

Increased children's use knowledge of the Bible

Superkids strengthened children's commitment toJesus

Makes Bible learning fun for children

Church provided good support for the program

Shows what it is like to be a part of God's family

Helped children learn more about the Bible

Helped children learn more about Jesus

Volunteers Q3: Evaluate attributes of SuperKids

Agree A Lot Agree Somewhat Not at All



The fourth set of questions asked volunteers what aspects of the SuperKids components they

utilized. With the exception of three categories volunteers reported utilizing components of

SuperKids over 90% or more. The Bible Diggers worksheets were utilized 86% of the time. This is

in correlation with volunteers having to use supplement worksheets for middle school sheets.

Team devotionals were utilized 62% of time. Volunteers and directors often did team devotionals

but utilized their own materials. The pre-reader materials were only utilize only 36%. When asked

volunteers stated various reasons, some did not know there was pre-reader material or did not

have time to read before SuperKids started.

SuperKids is a good foundation for children to learn about the

Bible. It is great to see children from the neighborhood that don’t

normally come to our church. –Bernice, Volunteer

36%

62%

86%

98%

98%

100%

100%

64%

38%

14%

2%

2%

Pre-reader materials

Team Devotionals

Bible Diggers study sheets

Games

Memory verse

Dramas

Bible story presentation

Volunteers Q4: Which SuperKids components did you use?

Yes No



Finally volunteers were asked about

what growth they saw in children in 3

key areas over the course of week. All

volunteers reported growth in

understanding of who God is (98% “a

lot”); Children knew they were loved

(98% “a lot”); and increase ease of

praying (86% “a lot”). Additionally,

volunteers reported that towards the

end of the session, children were

raising their hands to participate and

pray.

GENERAL OBSERVATION

86%

98%

98%

14%

2%

2%

Increased ease of praying

Increased understanding of who God is

Increased knowledge that they are loved

Volunteers Q5: Observed growth in childrenAgree A Lot



In addition to conducting surveys, Redemptive Enterprises was able to observe and participate

in the SuperKids program. Here are some qualitative observations from our experience:

1. Structure and Flexibility—The programs we observed were all structured by utilizing the

SuperKids model, yet each was uniquely different. It was obvious that the SuperKids

allows for creativity and empowers volunteers to adapt aspects of the program to the

children they are serving. One of many examples, include how each group adapted the

drama presentation to the volunteer’s talents and abilities as well as to the age and

cultural differences of their children they served.

2. Broad Appeal—We had the opportunity to visit SuperKids in various environments. We

were in urban communities as well as the beach vacation communities. We visited

students in suburban communities and more rural areas. SuperKids serviced White,

Hispanic, African-American, and multi-ethnic churches and organizations. Children were

from Christian homes as well as from local neighborhood. In the midst of these different

socio economic demographics one thing remain consistent, Children Loved SuperKids!

3. Balance Learning Styles—SuperKids engaged students by presenting high energy kinetic

styles of learning. Drama presentations, memory verses, singing, games and other

SuperKids materials allowed children to not only be engaged, but to be actively learning.

In addition, Bible Diggers also gave time for traditional learning styles and allowed

students to reflect on what they learned. SuperKids offers a comprehensive learning style

that is fun and engaging for students, volunteers and parents.

4. Great Support—SuperKids was well supported by Scripture Union staff. Each site raved

about their staff person and how helpful and supportive they were. Regional managers

had done a great job with training directors and supporting programs on-site. They are a

major factor in the success of the program.

NOTABLE COMMENTS

The following are open-ended comments given at the end of the Survey about

SuperKids.

Children:

Kira—“I had a lot of fun, it was something different every day.”

Kyle—“I like the program especially the outside activities. I learned a lot about

the bible. I never prayed before, it was awesome to pray aloud.”

Blessed—“This was my first year in SuperKids, I feel more knowledgeable about

the Bible and had a lot of fun at the same time.”

Diego—“I really like singing songs!”

Ian—“I like the games and the bible worksheets.”

Tyrese-The teachers were very kind and friendly I felt safe

Volunteers:



Maiya—“It’s a really good program. I am encouraged by the growth of our

youth.”

Celia—“The atmosphere for learning was awesome, we were able not only to

help the children learn more but also encourage each other in the faith.”

Justin—“It is awesome to be able to focus on the Gospel. The SuperKids material

is very creative.”

Bernice—“This is a good foundation for Children to learn about the Bible. It is

great to see children from the neighborhood that don’t normally come to our

church.”

Rizer—“Kids loved the drama presentation…SuperKids makes the bible kid

friendly.”

Rebecca—“SuperKids provides an opportunity for children to be safe and not in

the streets. It also gives them tools how to handle situations in the streets.”

Colin—“SuperKids is the best program I have seen designed to help children.”

Angel—“Some children who did not attend our church have brought their

parents here after attending SuperKids. SuperKids has helped our church grow

spiritually and numerically.”

RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations came from students and volunteers in their efforts to help

make SuperKids even better:

1. Create a SuperKids App— A SuperKids App would allow Children to be engaged with

SuperKids and Bible study after the program is over. It will also allow us to inform them

about events throughout the year and help with recruitment for next year. SuperKids

App will also help get parents more involved. SuperKids App could assist in managing

volunteers including getting pre-reading material to them efficiently.

2. Middle School Content—Create a separate or supplemental Diggers Bible Worksheet

for middle school students with more in-depth questions and challenging games for

their ages (12, 13, and 14)

Volunteers reported on children’s attendance for the week 69% Steady

24% Increase 7% Decreased



CONCLUSION

The conclusions of the SuperKids Survey is good news indeed--that there are many strong

indications that SuperKids is making a significant impact on sharing the gospel by creating a fun

and effective learning environment at such a crucial time in their growth and development as

people.

SuperKids is definitely leaving child participants with the impression that they are a “super kid”

who is “because of being uniquely created by God.” With 100% saying “Jesus loves them, will

teach them a new and better way to live, will give them strength to handle any situation, and will

forgive their sins,” and 92% saying they “feel loved by God,” there is little doubt that Superkids

is in-line with Scripture Union’s overall mission.

Also, 95% of child participants said SuperKids helped them learn more about Jesus, learn more

about the Bible, and showed them what it’s like to be part of God’s family, which in an age of

declining church attendance and Bible literacy is encouraging data.

There is always room for improvement, and the survey has yielded some insights into how this

could best be accomplished. Only 20% of children brought a friend or were invited by a friend to

SuperKids. This leaves ample opportunity to explore ways to get children excited about inviting

friends for next year.

Only 39% of children liked memorizing a bible verse “a lot.” Some children noted that some of

the verses were too long to remember or they did not have a chance to remember the verse from

the previous day. There might be an opportunity to help volunteers choose appropriate Bible

verses for children.

Approximately 85% of children want to read the bible and 78% of children believe the Bible helps

them with their life. Yet 54% are less likely and 32% are not likely at all to read the Bible on a daily

basis. There is more opportunity for SuperKids to help children make a connection between their

desire to read the bible and their actual reading of the Bible.

Regarding the volunteers who put on SuperKids, the materials and concepts were well received.

The four categories that were ranked below 80% were: The Materials were age appropriate (69%

a lot, 31% somewhat); Bible Diggers was easy for children to understand (74% a lot, 17%

somewhat); children did not get bored (76% a lot, 17% somewhat). When asked, volunteers

explained that the Bible Diggers seems to be great until age 11. They expressed that the

worksheets become too elementary for children 12 and up. Volunteers either had a hard time

keeping their attention or had to revise their study to keep them engaged.

Overall, SuperKids is fulfilling its mission and having an impact on generations to come. SuperKids

has proven to be effective in shaping the hearts, minds and spirits of children. SuperKids is truly

inspiring children to be “Super Kids” in the image of Jesus Christ.



APPENDIX

Methodology

The primary objective of our research was to assess the impact of the SuperKids® program from two perspectives: 1) Children who were participating in the program; and 2) Volunteers who assisted with organizing, and delivered SuperKids content to the children. Sample sizes for the study: 101 children were interviewed and 41 volunteers were interviewed. All interviews were conducted on a one-to-one basis. All questions were asked directly to children and volunteers. The following sentence was used an introduction to the survey “Scripture Union wants to know how effective their program is on the community it serves. All they ask is that you be honest during this survey.” The survey has both qualitative and quantitative measurements. The survey had set questions with ranges for answers. In addition, the interviewer asked two open ended questions at the end: 1) What were the best features of the program; and 2) Do you have any suggestions for improvement. LITERATURE REVIEW

SuperKids and other Scripture Union program are being delivered at a time where the attitude about Christianity seems to be in decline and the misconceptions about Christianity seems to be on the rise. A Pew Research Center study concludes, “The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the US public—and a third of adults under 30—are religiously unaffiliated today…In the last five years alone, the unaffiliated have increased from just over 15% to just under 20% of all US adults.” The General Social Surveys (GSS), conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago for roughly four decades, show that the number of religiously unaffiliated adults remained below 10% from the 1970s through the early 1990s. The percentage of religiously unaffiliated respondents began to rise noticeably in the 1990s and stood at 18% in the 2010 GSS (Funk & Smith, 2013). LifeWay Research conducted a survey in March 2013 to gauge opinions of the expected roles of parents at a time when Americans typically begin giving thoughts toward Mother's Day and Father's Day. Most Americans believe good mothers and fathers must be loving, supportive and protecting, but few see the necessity of parents having a commitment to Christianity or religion. According to the survey, "Loving" is the No. 1 characteristic deemed mandatory for mothers (85 percent) and fathers (79 percent). After "loving," four of the next five characteristics are shared, including "supporting," "protecting," "encouraging," and "involved." Mothers (35 percent) and fathers (31 percent) being "Religious" garnered a slightly higher return than being a "Committed Christian" (26 percent for both mothers and fathers) on the survey of mandatory traits." Clearly Americans who are not Christians themselves would not be expected to value a Christian commitment among parents today," McConnell noted. "However, 3 out of 4 Americans indicate



their religious preference is Christian, Catholic or Protestant. This means only a third of these people appear to value parents modeling a commitment to Jesus Christ to their children (Rankin, 2013). In 2013 The Barna Group conducted a study entitled “The State of Vacation Bible School.” One of the important findings in the study states, “VBS programs have declined 16 percent in the last 15 years, from 81 percent of American churches in 1997 to 68 percent in 2012.” The study also points out the importance of Vacation Bible School [or similar programming]. Vacation Bible School is not just fun and games. Today, the kids gluing popsicle sticks together in a church classroom, are in the near future, the next wave of emerging adults on the Church’s doorstep—deciding whether to step in or out for a lifetime. In fact, previous Barna research--George Barna’s book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions— indicates nearly half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday. Additionally, the trajectory for a person’s lifetime habits and behaviors—including spiritual behaviors—are often set in childhood (Group, 2013).

The research suggests that SuperKids is distinctively positioned to make an impact on children and their attitudes toward Jesus and the Bible. The SuperKids model places Scripture Union in a unique position to offer resources including materials, technical assistance and training that leverages church and organization’s’ limited resources with regards to money and volunteers.

Works Cited

Funk, C., & Smith, G. A. (2013). "None on the Rise: One-in-FIve Adults Have No Religious Affiliation.

Washington DC: Pew Research Center.

Group, T. B. (2013). The State of Vacation Bible School. Ventura, CA: The Barna Group.

Rankin, R. (2013). Research: Religious Convictions Not Among Most Desired Parental Traits. LifeWay

Jounral, 1-3. Retrieved from LifeWay.



CHILDREN'S SURVEY DATAA Lot

Somewh

at A Little

Not At

All Total

1) You wanted to be a part of superkids because

My friends came or invited me to SuperKids 20 18 0 63 101

I wanted to find out what it means to be a Christian 43 46 6 6 101

My parents wanted me to go 86 8 7 0 101

I want to learn more about the bible 86 8 7 0 101

I heard it was fun 93 8 0 0 101

It was better than staying at home 99 0 0 2 101

2) How would you describe this program to a friend A Lot

Somewh

at A Little

Not At

All Total

Good place to make new friends 70 8 15 8 101

Makes me think about what I believe 70 23 8 0 101

Fun place to hang out 78 15 0 8 101

Helps me learn about the Bible 86 15 0 0 101

Shows what it is like to be part of God's family 87 14 0 0 101

Helps me know more about Jesus 101 0 0 0 101

3) What part of SuperKids did you like most? A Lot

Somewh

at A Little

Not At

All Total

Memorizing a Bible verse 39 47 7 8 101

Being in Bible Diggers 62 15 8 16 101

Playing games 70 23 8 0 101

Learning new things about Jesus 78 15 8 0 101

Learning more about the Bible 78 23 0 0 101Singing songs 79 10 0 12 101

Making new friends 92 0 0 9 101

Feeling more loved by God 93 8 0 0 101

4) What do you think about reading the Bible A Lot

Somewh

at A Little

Not At

All Total

The Bible is boring 0 6 16 79 101

I read the Bible every day 7 7 55 32 101

The Bible is hard for me to understand 16 21 32 32 101

Your parents/an adult reads the Bible to you at home 29 40 0 32 101

The Bible has stories like my life 43 34 24 0 101

I believe the Bible is true 63 24 7 7 101

I like to read the Bible 69 17 15 0 101

The Bible helps me with my life 79 12 0 10 101

I want to read the Bible 86 15 0 0 101

5) Beliefs about Jesus

Totally

Believe

Sort of

Believe

Do Not

Believe Total

If I believe in Jesus I will have eternal life 96 5 0 101

Jesus is the son of God 96 5 0 101

Jesus hears and answers my prayers 97 4 0 101

Jesus will help me follow him 98 3 0 101

Jesus will forgive my sins 101 0 0 101

Jesus gives me strength to handle any situation 101 0 0 101

Jesus will teach me a new and better way to live 101 0 0 101

Jesus loves me 101 0 0 101



Redemptive Enterprises, LLC specializes in providing solution oriented consulting, project management, program development and evaluation services to its clients. For more information about Redemptive Enterprises please visit www.redemptive-enterprises.com.

http://www.redemptive-enterprises.com/

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Scripture Union Report Final 12-5-14

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