Inside the Process: Writing Bible Curriculum

When Nancy graduated from Trinity, she never expected a dinner conversation to lead to a dream job.

Shortly after moving to California in 2019 with her husband, Keith, Nancy Wood happened to meet the senior editor of Deep Roots Bible Curriculum at a dinner event.  As a published author with additional editing experience and a strong Christian worldview, Nancy found Deep Roots was a great fit for her interests and skill set.  Within a matter of weeks, she accepted a position on the team as a proofreader.

Today, she is the developmental editor at Deep Roots, helping develop Bible curriculum for Christian schools across the country and abroad.

Currently, Nancy and her team are developing a seventh grade Old Testament Survey curriculum, having already built out similar curriculum for lower grades.  With a cohesive worldview approach to teaching Bible, Nancy says that the curriculum includes lecture content as well as supporting components such as archeology, philosophy, apologetics, worldview, logic, and spiritual formation. 

Writing Bible curriculum is multi-faceted and complicated. 

Nancy’s team includes various individuals in different areas of specialization who work together to create scripture-rich content. It all starts with a theologian.

“Of course, he {the theologian associated with Deep Roots} isn’t writing for seventh grade level. So that’s where my team comes in.  We take his content and rewrite it into a grade-appropriate level.” says Nancy.

The re-writing includes incorporating engaging visuals, group activities, and critical thinking exercises to create a well-rounded unit. 

Reworking the material to suit a specific grade-level audience requires more than copy writing skills. 

To do her job well, Nancy must know her theology!  This is essential when translating theological depth into age-appropriate language.  Nancy says this is one of her favorite aspects of the job.  Thanks to growing up in ministry, attending a Christian college that incorporates Bible courses into every degree program, and being a dedicated Christian herself, Nancy already had a great foundation in theology.  But there is always more to learn, and she enjoys it all!

“One of the best perks of my job is we read a ton. It’s part of our job to read Systematic Theology, Old Testament commentaries, and things like that… we are doing our research and studying up on the topic as we write. I have a whole shelf of books that I go through when needed.  It’s slow work,” she admits, “but we’re literally paid to read theology and research biblical truth. I love it.”

Having current and former teachers on the team is an immense asset to the process. 

Representing teaching experience in home school, private school, and public school, the team is able to develop a solid baseline product.  They continue to review and revise as much as needed based on multiple rounds of alpha and beta testing and teacher reviewers. 

Nancy remembers one major revision required cutting daily lesson plans from 45 to 25 minutes “It was months of rewriting,” Nancy says, but in the end, she feels they were able to build something that really works for teachers while communicating life-changing truth.

Nancy is grateful that she can honor God through the gifts He has given her.

In addition to editing and writing, she enjoys working on the visual representation of the content.  As Developmental Editor she works with the team on storyboards, visual layouts, and selecting supplemental content. 

She also has represented Deep Roots at a few conferences, and enjoys interacting with teachers and administrators who use the product she has helped to develop.

As she researches and collaborates with others, she is growing in her own understanding of Scripture while helping students to think critically and logically.  By focusing on what the Bible says and affirms, she has the platform to help others work through age-old as well as current cultural issues (like marriage, gender, and sexuality) through a biblical lens.

“It’s been such a blessing,” she reflects. “And I really do feel like God placed me exactly where I needed to be.”

Nancy Wood graduated with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies (with English and Music Components) in 2018.  She married Keith Wood, a fellow Trinity alumnus and now Trinity faculty member.  Nancy and Keith recently welcomed their first-born daughter, Verity, into the world and are also licensed foster parents.