Saturday, March 28, 1998

Executive develops Sunday School curriculum for youth

By DALE HANSON BOURKE

c. 1998 Religion New Service)

(Dale Hanson Bourke is publisher of Religion News Service.)

Like most children of his time and place, Don McKinnon dutifully attended Sunday school. But despite the best intentions of his teachers, he couldn't stand it. For a bright and active boy, sitting still while listening to Bible stories was torture.

So when Don was asked to teach Sunday school as an adult, he resolved to do things differently.

He approached the challenge of teaching sixth grade boys with all the energy and talent he had applied to making his insurance company a success. He carefully observed his own son and other boys to understand how best to reach them.

He reviewed the available curriculum and concluded that some of the principles were good, but the pedantic approach would never make it. So he decided to write his own lessons, develop his own methods and find unique ways to challenge and stimulate boys who would rather be playing baseball or computer games.

No one would have blamed Don for declining to take on such a challenge. He was a busy executive with plenty of responsibilities and interests, as well as two children of his own. Taking the time to teach and prepare for a weekly class was more than most people wanted to tackle.

But when Don decided to do it, he decided to do it right. No 10 minute reviews of lesson plans on Saturday nights. Instead, he spent as much as 10 hours preparing for each class, writing out the stories and finding creative ways to illustrate it.

Knowing the competitive nature of boys, Don developed a point system that gave them rewards for memorizing Scripture, preparing for lessons and knowing where to find verses in the Bible.

The prizes were never glow-in-the-dark crosses or book marks. He spent almost as much time preparing the awards as the boys did earning them. He wrote to sports stars who talked about their faith and asked for autographs for the boys. He designed special plaques. He found just the right treasure to fit each boy's personality.

Understanding that boys need a challenge, he came up with the ultimate goal: becoming a man of God. He placed every lesson and every assignment under this greater umbrella.

Don's Sunday school class soon became a legend. Boys began arriving early, not wanting to miss a minute. While the other classrooms were quiet, his was a constant buzz of activity.

He asked a lot of the boys. They took home an assignment each week and he gave them points for taking time to memorize verses and spend time praying and reading their Bibles. It was all part of becoming men of God, he explained. Boot camp for Christian manhood.

After a few years, some of his graduates were well on their way to maturity and a surprising number were less interested in being party animals than godly men. Teens talked openly about the impact of Don's class on their lives. They warned younger boys: "Wait 'til you get to Mr. McKinnon's class. He'll shape you up." But they talked about it in a way that made boys count the years until they could be in his class.

Even when a brain tumor sapped his energy and left him searching for words, Don McKinnon wore a suit and gave everything he had to teaching his class. In the hospital after brain surgery, he rallied his strength to grade his boys' assignments.

Next Sunday, Mr. McKinnon's class will go on without him. This man of God has gone "home." But even the way he persevered to the end will remain an object lesson his boys will one day share with their sons.

It is natural to wonder how we will be remembered. It is human to imagine if our legacy will one of great courage or an achievement of grand success. But it is often a divine whisper that calls us to something much simpler, something that may be our true purpose in life.

Don McKinnon enjoyed great professional success in his 50 years. He was a loving husband, a devoted father, a witty friend.

But he was also willing to invest himself in a job most of us would consider a duty or a chore. He was a Sunday school teacher, yet he was so much more. Just ask the boys who went through his class what it means to be a man of God.