Beginning later this month, my church will be going through a 12-lesson DVD curriculum put out by Focus on the Family called The Truth Project. During the first six weeks (those that take place during Lent), we will gather on Wednesdays to have dinner together, watch one of the lessons, and then discuss it afterwards in small groups. After a two-week break around Holy Week and Easter, we’ll pick back up again, except some of the small groups will move to homes instead of everyone getting together at the church.
I’m very excited about this. I have not gone through the curriculum with a group, but I have watched all of the DVDs and think that overall it is a very well-done curriculum. It is designed to help Christians have a Christian worldview, to transform them into people who follow Christ in all of life, and I hope that this will be the effect in our church.
While this is going on at church, I’m going to be reviewing each lesson on this blog. I looked around the Internet and couldn’t find a good review of the whole curriculum, so I hope to provide that here. Overall, as I said, I think it is very well done, but I don’t agree with everything in it, and I plan on making note of those things that I think could have been done better or those things that I think could cause problems in the long run. I don’t want to do this in order to gripe at Focus on the Family or the people behind the Truth Project, because as I mentioned, I think this is a very good curriculum overall. I just hope to provide some good critical reflection on it. After all, this series seems designed to help Christians think critically, and so I will approach it with a critical eye – not to tear down, but in hopes of building up.
Update: I’m going to put links here to my reviews of each individual lesson.
1: Veritology (What is Truth?)
2: Philosophy and Ethics (Says Who?)
4: Theology (Who is God?)
5: Science (What is True?)
7: Sociology (The Divine Imprint)
10: The American Experiment (Stepping Stones) – Summary
Elliot Ritzema 
Did you do anything else on Valentine’s Day?
Mom: Mary and I bought gifts for each other, went out to eat, and also watched “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”
I know. That last one is REALLY romantic.
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Elliot,
I look forward to reading your reviews of the Truth Project. I’m also curious to hear how your congregation reacts, as I’ve heard it can be divisive. One of our fellow Regent students described the series as polarizing his church: many over 50 loved it, many under 30 hated it, and watching it made the disagreements much more evident than before. A friend of mine from Edmonton reported similar reactions. Keep St. Francis’ prayer handy!
Peace,
Michael
Michael,
Thanks for the comment, and the suggestion! I can definitely see how it can be divisive, and the pastors of my church see how it could be divisive too. It definitely does seem like a generational thing: those who were weaned on Francis Schaeffer (or even grew up in the culture that spawned Francis Schaeffer) will tend to like it, but the younger people will not. It makes me wonder how much of the Truth Project is influenced by the cultural assumptions of the Boomer and WWII generations. But they’ve decided to give it a shot anyway, and here’s their reasoning: the divisions exist already; they’re just under the surface. The pastors want to deal with this kind of stuff out in the open, in a safe and loving environment. Who knows whether it will work like that, but I think it’s worth a shot too. I’m just the sort of person, though, who would rather have an honest disagreement out in the open than pretend that things are all right. I really do hope that we can deal with these intergenerational differences in a loving spirit. Not all churches can.
Just as an update: things are pretty busy for me this week, so I might not be able to get around to writing about the first “tour” until the weekend.
If you’re interested, there’s a new web site called “The Truth Problem” which addresses, in specific, many of the factual problems in the series, as well as presenting some alternate (but genuinely Christian) viewpoints.
http://www.TheTruthProblem.info
Dear ?.
I have read and deeply appreciate your blog on the 12 tours of the TP. We are considering doing the TP at our church in NH, and you give us a clearer picture of what to expect. I wonder if you would mind sharing some additional information about yourself -are you the pastor of your church? About your church, name, size, how many groups did the TP, etc. And in retrospect, was it a good idea? Was it beneficial to the health of your church, and in what ways? Did your church answer the open-ended question of #12? What next?
Elliot,
My wife and I are leading a Truth Project group in our home on Sunday evenings. We’ve completed four tours to date.
I just found your informative and helpful tour-by-tour reviews this morning, and have given them a quick skimming. Thanks loads for all your hard work. I plan to consult your comments prior to each of the remaining tours.
Grace and shalom,
Brian