Engaging Your Congregation: Training Children and Youth About Origins

Deborah Haarsma

Creation, Design, Evolution. These words mean different things to different people, and they tend to provoke arguments. The issues they represent run close to some of our deepest questions: Does God exist? How does God relate to this universe? How did we get here? Who are we? Some people see these arguments about creation, design, and evolution as a conflict with just two sides: 1. Atheists on one side who try to use science to disprove religion, 2. Religious believers on the other side who reject the work of scientists. A good place to start in making sense of such debates is to remember that more than two options exist. Along with the two above, some of those other options will be discussed.