Sacred Patterns is a nonprofit that helps kids ages 5 to 11 grow in biblical literacy.
We help children read the Bible by exploring its patterns and themes.
Through animated videos, a curriculum, and books and graphic novels, we show children how the Bible’s stories echo one another, and how those patterns lead to Jesus.
WHY WE EXIST
Often children are retold one story at a time, and there’s beauty in that. But kids can come away with a pile of separate stories and no sense of how they fit together.
We believe that if children learn to notice the patterns and themes running through Scripture, they’ll have a foundation for reading the Bible that grows with them for the rest of their lives, helping them see it as one connected story pointing to Jesus.
HOW IT WORKS
In Genesis 3, the serpent deceives Eve, and she “saw” and “took” the fruit. In Genesis 12, Abram deceives the Egyptians, and they “saw” and “took” Sarai. Once a child notices a pattern like that, they tend to start looking for the next one.
This fits how children already learn–they learn to read, count, tie their shoes, and play games by repeating patterns, so we simply help them start looking in the Bible.
OUR STORY
Hakeem Bradley founded Sacred Patterns after seeing how much reading the Bible through its patterns opened up for adults, and wondering what it could do for children.
Then he watched it happen at home: his own kids were memorizing psalms and following stories he’d been fairly sure would go over their heads, and it turned out they were way ahead of him.
That’s where Sacred Patterns began, with the thought that if someone simply helped kids look, they’d see far more than we expect.
“My kids were memorizing psalms and following stories I was sure would go over their heads, and it turned out they were way ahead of me. If someone simply helps kids look, they see far more than we expect.”
For more: hakeembradley.com