For The Next Generation
Roy Faletti
TOPICS
This list is not exhaustive but gives an overview of some topics I've covered in recent years. The core content for each session can easily be expanded into multiple sessions. I also customize content based on recommendations specific to your ministry. All sessions are highly interactive with time alloted for group activity. If a topic of your choice is not listed, please note this in the contact form.
To Gen Z and Beyond
Defining generations is a modern idea. Even before the ink was dry on books about Gen Z, a name for the next generation was already coined—Gen Alpha. From the oldest senior to the youngest kindergartner, students from both generations attend your school. This session examines challenges common to both generations. We’ll consider ways to promote generational unity and to present time-tested truths in a relevant manner.
Are We Waiting Too Late?
Topics once reserved for discussion only in the home and for older children are now openly presented without restraint. Satan is fighting hard for the minds of children at a much earlier age than ever before. We can no longer wait until middle school to address some of these sensitive topics. We'll discuss a basic framework in which these topics can be tactfully addressed in early elementary years.
Tearing down the Sexual Identity Idol
It's heartbreaking to consider how confused our society is today about sexual identity. Discovering, choosing or changing sexual identity has become a common topic of discussion throughout the culture. We're deeply mistaken if we think this doesn't affect our students. "In late 2020 and early 2021, Gen Z was the only U.S. generation in which a majority believed there are more than two genders." (TIME, May 1, 2023). We must not avoid this topic but lovingly and boldly address it by defining true identity from a biblical perspective.
Raising Resilient Students with Big Hearts and Strong Backbones
Daniel and his peers were exiled to Babylon. Our students are not physically exiled but living in what David Kinnaman calls “Digital Babylon,” the “…pagan but spiritual…crossroads that is home to every person with Wi-Fi and a data plan.” In her book "Resilient" Valerie Bell (Awana) says today’s students “… will need to be disciples as few generations before them. They will need to have spine and heart.” What must remain the same in our approach and what must we change to effectively cultivate a resilient faith in our students?
Christians and Culture—What is our Role?
What is culture? What is good about culture? What is bad about culture? What role has Christianity historically played in culture? How should we guide students to properly engage their culture?
Making the Christian Worldview Real Without Boring Students to Death
An evangelist friend of mine once said that many students in a Christian school suffer from a spiritual version of "Frequent Flyer Syndrome". Frequent flyers have heard the pre-flight instructions too many times to the point of totally tuning them out. Students can have the same thoughts about the Bible because they repeatedly hear the same thing over and over again. The biblical metanarrative and how all of life pertains in some manner to the "Four Acts" of scripture can help students to avoid this syndrome.