| Type: | 501(c)(3) non-profit religious |
| Key People: | Matt Markins, President/CEO; Kevin White, COO; Michael Handler, Chief Innovation/Communications Officer; Brian Rhodes, Chief Revenue Officer/Global Ministries; Art Rorheim, Co-Founder; Valerie Bell, CEO Emeritus |
| Awana | |
| Founded Date: | 1950 |
| Founders: | Lance Latham, Art Rorheim |
| Location: | St. Charles, Illinois, U.S. |
| Area Served: | U.S. and International (133 countries) |
Awana is an international evangelical Christian nonprofit organization in child and youth discipleship. The headquarters is in St. Charles, Illinois, United States.
In 1941, the children's program at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago laid the foundation for the principles of Awana.[1] Lance Latham, North Side's senior pastor, collaborated with the church's youth director, Art Rorheim, to develop weekly clubs that they believed would appeal to all children. Rorheim served as the CoFounder/President Emeritus until he died on January 5, 2018.[2] Other churches became interested in the program and inquired about its availability. In 1950, Latham and Rorheim founded Awana as a parachurch organization.[3] The name is derived from the first letters of "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15., Awana claims to work with over 61,000 churches in 122 countries.[4]
Awana offers resources and Bible-based training programs for children ages 2 to 18 in churches. Children are encouraged, but not required, to memorize Bible verses for credit or to redeem for small prizes.[5]
Each Awana program is arranged into different groups that are separated by the ages and grades of the children attending. These groups include Puggles (ages 2 to 3), Cubbies (preschoolers, ages 4 to 5), Sparks (Kindergarten to 2nd Grade), Truth and Training, or T&T (Grades 3 to 6), Trek (Middle School), and Journey (High School).[6] [7] Although Awana offers programs for ages 2 to 18, churches that run an Awana program are not required to run a club for every age group.