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Christian education is no longer limited to Sunday mornings at most churches. Increasingly, it's spilling into afternoon and evening programs to reach adults with special interests or children who cannot attend Sunday morning programs. To accommodate the variety of needs, there are a multitude of offerings that make use of new and old technology. A sampling of them:

Standard Publishing (800-543-1353) has changed its "Middler" curriculum for 3rd and 4th grade Sunday school from a four-year program to a two-year cycle with weekly lessons. The lessons move from the Old Testament through the New Testament but focus on different stories each year. The program includes a teacher book, student book, and weekly take-home sheets for students. The audiovisual packet includes posters, Scripture-memorization drills, and a song cassette.

The weekly lesson plan is especially helpful because each week is divided into four 15-minute segments. The three options in each segment are designed to meet the needs of visual and tactile learners. Extra material is available if class time lasts more than an hour.

Elaine Meyers, a 3rd and 4th grade Sunday school teacher, edited the series. An introductory kit is $20, or you can order items separately.

• Gospel Light's three-year "KidsTime" program has a theme for each year and includes 52 lessons per year. This year's theme is God's Big Picture. The kit can be used for grades 1-6 and includes a Bible time line, a leader's guide, and an 18-song cassette.
  
  "KidsTime" can be used as an entire Sunday school program in a small church or for special programs in a larger one. Each year's kit is $130, but you can order parts separately from Gospel Light/Regal Books (800-446-7735).
• "Bible Time Anytime" from Curriculum Publishing (800-524-2612) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is for children ages 3-11. This two-level program includes leaflets for teacher and students. It come in three volumes, each with 13 lessons.

You can use this material for a weekly miniseries during the summer when Sunday school is in recess or during evening sessions when Mom and Dad are in adult programs. This program also works well for a small church with multigrade classes. The teacher pack is about $6. Each student pack, which includes a four-page leaflet suggesting activities to accompany the theme, is also about $6.

Lifeway Press (800-458-2772) recently introduced its "Tm 4-1-2" program for teens, which is built on the principles of 1 Timothy 4:12. The Leader's Guide is $50, and each student book, $6. The materials can be used for 60-90 minute sessions with large or small groups for 36 weeks.

"The Bethel Series," from Adult Christian Education Foundation (608-849-5933), has been updated. Used by 44 different denominations, this Bible-based program includes 20 lessons, each on the Old and New Testament, and is designed to cover a period of two years. A church buys the right to use this program and sends a pastor to a training seminar. The pastor trains a few members of the congregation who then teach the classes.

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