LAM is an incredibly flexible Bible study method, and can be done with both short and long Bible stories. A “standard” LAM session is based around approximately one hour of active ministry, however you can shorten or expand LAM Bible stories to make the sessions fit your allotted time between 40 to 90 minutes, as well. If you have young children we recommend keeping the LAM session to one hour.

LAM doesn't need furniture, equipment, a sound system, a stage or anything else! All you need is enough space for children to gather in what we call a Smiley Face seating arrangement, and enough space to move around as you do Sweet Action. You can even do LAM outside under a tree or in a field. LAM is fun, simple, adaptable and can go anywhere! No special facility needed!

By learning LAM, you will be equipped with the methodology and tools to prepare for any ministry session, without being dependent upon any outside curriculum or materials. Ultimately, once you learn LAM you can use it as a teaching tool with any Bible story!

However, as a convenience to anyone who completes the Living Active Method journey, we offer access to CIC’s curated LAM Bible stories library to help you launch LAM throughout your ministry. This library of LAM Bible stories currently offers guidance for 75+ unique ministry sessions, and is periodically updated with new Bible stories.

LAM is fun and engaging for all ages - from toddlers to seniors! It is most enjoyable and rewarding to mix ages and learn together, but it can also be learned amongst participants in the same age and peer groups.

LAM is “easy to catch and pass on.” Over time you will be able to equip and empower extra tweens and teens to prepare with you and serve in some facilitator roles. One of the many beautiful things about LAM is that using the method regularly equips others to be able to do the ministry, so that the burden is easy and light and you are equipping the younger generation to serve today and in the future!

Yes! LAM is a meaningful, fun, engaging methodology of learning God’s Word in a highly transformational way. Instead of relying on written material, crafts, and activities, all you need is the LAM method and a Bible.

All of the fun and active learning is baked right into the method. There is no need for crafts, props, costumes, or other extra materials. In fact, we’ve learned over the years that adding such things can hinder multiplication and impact in ministry! LAM keeps it simple and powerful - easy to do, and easy to empower others.

LAM is an all-in-one Bible curriculum for all ages - young children, youth, and even adults!

There is very little to do on a weekly basis except for a quick review of the Bible story (10-15 minutes.) Once a month the facilitation team gets together to do LAM Sweet Preparation. This only requires 2 to 3 hours as a team, which covers you for 4-5 weeks/lessons. That’s much less preparation time than it typically takes children’s ministry leaders when you include lesson preparation and review, as well as gathering materials and supplies. After you’ve prepared as a small team, the rest of the weeks you can pray for all your children and youth - and do a very quick refresh on the Bible story you already learned. That’s it!

LAM is highly adaptable and can fit groups of most any size. At a minimum, it is ideal to do LAM with a minimum of 3-5 participants. Regarding a group size maximum, we have seen LAM sessions facilitated successfully with 100 children in a single group! If you have over 100 participants you can easily divide into two separate LAM session groups, with 2-3 facilitators to lead each.

Learning LAM is inspiring and helpful for any parent, ministry leader or volunteer. To lead a single LAM session you only need 2-3 facilitators. However, it’s always beneficial to train more facilitators and volunteers. The leaders that you train in LAM will be inspired and blessed by the principles, concepts, and methods learned, and it will also give you flexibility to rotate your facilitators over time, giving everyone a chance to serve.

You can use LAM for a Bible lesson in Children’s Church with all ages in one space, or you can facilitate a LAM Bible lesson as a big group and then break out into smaller groups for the Sweet Discussion part of LAM. If you feel more comfortable keeping a more traditional age-group class structure you could organize one LAM Bible lesson per class. However, you would lose some of the specialness of LAM, since multi-age learning is more fun, lively, and engaging. LAM is flexible and can be used with a wide range of ages, number of participants, and all of these modalities.

Absolutely! LAM was born out of the mission field. We find it works incredibly well with kids of all ages and cultures. It is amazingly adaptable to all learning styles due to its unique multi-sensory method. It’s super-fun, easy to do anywhere, and doesn’t need a single piece of paper or equipment. You can launch ministry in a field without even a backpack! If you are serving in a place that has a different heart language, all you will need is a translator. The rest can be ‘caught’ and ‘taught’ through the method!

The Living Active Method Journey is available through Rali, our training platform host and partner. To access the Journey, you will need a laptop with a stable internet connection in order to stream training videos, participate in discussion boards, and submit challenge poll questions. The training is optimized for a laptop/desktop experience, and not for mobile devices.

The training platform requires a unique email and name for each learner who will be accessing our Living Active Method journey. If you are learning as a team or group, you will want to keep your real name so that your team members can find you in the network menu and see your posts and contributions in the team’s discussion board, reflection questions, etc. If you are part of our open CIC learning community (as an individual learner) and you prefer anonymity, you can sign up to learn LAM under a pseudonym or alias of your choosing during the donation and sign-up process. You can also request to change your account name in the settings option once you log in by emailing support@getrali.com. You will not be able to change your email address since it is tied to your account. If you have additional questions about data privacy, you can contact us at Laminfo@childrenic.org, contact our training platform host, Rali, at support@getrali.com, or read Rali’s data and privacy policy here.

After one year, an individual learner should not need to renew their subscription. If a church or ministry wants to train additional staff and volunteers in LAM, they will need to sign them up to access the Living Active Method journey.

The Living Active Method journey includes everything you need to learn LAM and use it with any Bible story. Once you learn LAM you will have everything you need to do children’s ministry for years to come.

Completing the LAM Journey online takes approximately 3-5 hours of individual learning, and 5-6 hours of organized team or group activities. These group activities are structured to help you practice LAM as you learn LAM, and enables you to start using LAM within your ministry immediately after learning the methodology and philosophy.

Near the end of journey, you will be given 12-15 LAM Bible story sessions that you are encouraged to facilitate with children and youth in your ministry. These lessons provide additional LAM practice and helpful tips, along with inspiring Biblical insights on children and the Kingdom of God.

After finishing these “First LAM Bible Stories” and returning back to the LAM journey online, you receive access to CIC’s curated LAM Bible stories library, as a convenient way to continue facilitating LAM in your ministry. Additionally, we offer a post-LAM journey ministry impact tool that can help you assess the overall impact of LAM on your ministry with children and youth.

Instructions for how to add and find your learning partner(s) are included in the first few page of the LAM journey! If you need additional help, please see our information page here. If you still have questions, you can email support@getrali.com for assitance.