[1]ENID, Okla. (BP)–Concordance is a big word — and a big book.
To a person who knows little about the Bible, especially a child, both the word and the book can be overwhelming.
With that in mind, Tracye Wilson White, a registered nurse who has taught fourth-grade Sunday school for 27 years, has produced a concordance that even a kid can use.
White, of First Baptist Church, Enid, Okla., and a curriculum writer for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention for 10 years, is the author of “The Holman Bible Concordance for Kids,” her response to the seeming lack of biblical word studies for children.
“There is at least one children’s activity in the Sunday school quarterly each year that asks the students to use a concordance,” White recounted. “Eight to 10 years ago, the idea of a children’s concordance formed in my mind. I began looking for one and found nothing available.”
White said she has watched children struggling with the use of an exhaustive concordance. Eventually, they become overwhelmed with the number of Scripture entries and lose interest.
[2]“For most children, the Bible is a mystery,” White said. “They may be able to find Genesis and Revelation or open their Bibles to the middle and find Psalms, but how do they find a verse that talks about a specific subject, like being a friend or obeying their parents?”
While some concordances contain every word in the Bible and every occurrence of that word, White’s book contains 1,600 words that are of special interest to children and new Christians.
She used Strong’s Concordance, King James Version, and selected words she thought children would use.
“Each word has a pronunciation and a definition, followed by one or more Scripture verses with the word included,” she said.
White said she hopes the book will allow and encourage children to access and find treasures in the Bible.
“The book can be used with the Bible with little or no assistance from adults,” she said. “After children learn how to use the concordance, they can use the Bible more independently.”
Learning to use the Bible on their own is more important than ever for children, said White, who has watched as parental involvement in Bible study has dwindled.
“As teachers, we have gone from sending the Sunday school quarterly home with the children, to copying each week’s lesson because they forget to bring back the quarterly,” she said.
The concordance begins with Aaron (EHR uhn), the brother of Moses, and ends with Zipporah, (zi POH ruh) the wife of Moses. In between are names of people, cities and towns, rivers and mountains. Names include information about people or places that might interest children.
Also included in the 350-page book are maps to help children locate certain towns, rivers and seas, pictures and drawings, and a listing of the books of the Bible by divisions.
“Adults have told me they want one of the books for themselves,” she noted. “It would be especially good for any new Christian.”