Interconfessional Christian — where we stand

God's Little Sprout is an interconfessional Christian devotional series. That word — interconfessional — is deliberate. It means the books stand inside historic Christianity as expressed in the Apostles' Creed, without taking sides on questions that separate one Christian tradition from another. What follows is the honest, full version of where the editorial team stands and where we deliberately don't.

What we affirm — the shared floor

The theological floor of every devotional in the series is the Apostles' Creed. This is the earliest common confession shared across Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity, and it defines the boundaries of what appears in our books. Concretely, this means each devotional rests on these affirmations:

• One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — the historic Trinitarian confession.
• Jesus Christ, fully God and fully human, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, risen on the third day, ascended, and coming again.
• Salvation by grace through faith in Christ, expressed in a life of love and obedience.
• The Bible as the inspired Word of God and the source of authority for Christian formation.
• The universal Church — a communion of believers across time and tradition.
• The resurrection of the body and life everlasting.

What we deliberately do not take a position on

This is the part most sites hide. We'd rather list it plainly. Inside the main text of every devotional, we take no position on the following contested questions, because sincere Christians across traditions disagree in good faith:

• The nature of the Eucharist / Lord's Supper (transubstantiation, consubstantiation, memorial, real presence).
• Papal authority and apostolic succession.
• Predestination, election, and the free will debate (Calvinist vs Arminian positions).
• Eschatology: pre-, mid-, or post-tribulation rapture, amillennialism, dispensationalism.
• Baptism: infant vs believer's baptism, mode of baptism, baptismal regeneration.
• Gifts of the Spirit — cessationism vs continuationism.
• Marian dogmas (Immaculate Conception, Assumption) — see note below.
• Veneration of saints as intercessors.

When a devotional touches a theme adjacent to one of these debates (say, communion or baptism), the language stays at the level all traditions share — the reality of God's love, the community of believers, the child's belonging in Christ.

Marian references — how we handle them

Mary appears in the main text only in the biblical, gospel narrative sense: mother of Jesus, witness to the cross, present at Pentecost. This is uncontroversial across all Christian traditions. Additional Catholic Marian devotion (Hail Mary, rosary, Marian intercession) is not included in the main devotional text — but is warmly invited in a closing note for Catholic families, who may add these prayers as they wish. Protestant and non-denominational families simply skip that note. Nothing in the main text asks a family to pray to Mary or to any saint.

Hermeneutic approach

Bible interpretation in the series is literal-historical, moderately applied. That means: the biblical narratives are read as real events that happened to real people, in the way historic Christianity has always read them. But the series is not fundamentalist in a young-earth-creationist or dispensationalist sense — those are specific interpretive schools, not the shared inheritance of the Church. When a passage has been read symbolically for centuries (parables, apocalyptic imagery, poetic Psalms), it's read symbolically. When a passage has been read as historical (the Exodus, the Resurrection), it's read as historical. Where sincere Christians disagree on genre, the devotional stays at the level of the spiritual meaning that both traditions share.

Independence disclosure

God's Little Sprout is produced by an independent editorial team. There is no denominational endorsement — Catholic, evangelical, Orthodox, or otherwise. There is no imprimatur. There is no sponsoring church, mission, or ministry organization. Books are reviewed before publication by one evangelical pastor and one Catholic lay adviser (see Editorial Policy), but neither reviewer's tradition owns the content. If you're looking for a devotional formally endorsed by a specific denomination, this series is honestly not the right fit and we'll happily recommend alternatives by email. What we offer is a shared table for the whole Christian family — designed so a Catholic grandmother, an evangelical mother, and a non-denominational father can each read the same page to a child and hear the faith of their own tradition inside it.

Denominational notes — how each tradition can use these devotionals

The interconfessional design isn't abstract — it means specific traditions can add specific closings, gestures, or prayers without breaking the main text. Here's how each tradition typically extends what we publish.

Catholic families

The main devotional text uses Bible verses that appear in the Catholic canon and framing that respects Catholic sacramental theology. Catholic families can add: the sign of the cross before and after the prayer; a Marian closing (Hail Mary or a short prayer to Mary); saint intercessions relevant to the theme; the closing "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen." When the devotional touches communion, confession, or baptism themes, the language stays at the level of God's love and the child's belonging — Catholic families are free to layer sacramental teaching on top.

Evangelical families (Baptist, Bible church, non-denominational)

The devotionals use the NIrV (for youngest kids) and NIV (for older kids) — translations widely accepted in evangelical Sunday schools. Evangelical families can add: spontaneous prayer after the written prayer; call-and-response with the child ("God is good — all the time"); an altar-call-style invitation moment for older kids ("do you want to tell Jesus thank you right now?"). The devotionals never treat salvation as ambiguous or a matter of good works — the framing is grace-first, which reads as evangelical-aligned even when it's not explicitly called out.

Pentecostal / Charismatic families

The devotionals reference the Holy Spirit's presence in a child's life without prescribing a specific expression. Pentecostal families can add: prayer in tongues, laying-on-of-hands blessings, calling on the Spirit's specific gifts (peace, courage, discernment), and prophetic encouragement. The zero-trauma policy for young kids (see Editorial Policy) means we don't include material that treats spiritual gifts as fear-inducing — the framing is always the Spirit as gentle companion.

Presbyterian / Reformed families

Reformed families will find the emphasis on grace, God's sovereignty, and Scripture as authority familiar. The devotionals don't take a position on infant vs believer's baptism, predestination, or Reformed distinctives, but they never contradict Reformed theology either. Families can add: catechism-style questions after the reflection ("Who made you? God made me."), Westminster Shorter Catechism excerpts appropriate for the age, family worship rituals from the Reformed tradition.

Methodist / Wesleyan families

Methodist families will recognize the emphasis on prevenient grace (God moving toward the child before the child moves toward God) and the practical/social outworking of faith. Wesleyan families can add: the Wesleyan quadrilateral in age-appropriate form for older kids (Scripture, tradition, reason, experience), Methodist covenant language, and John Wesley's short prayers where they fit. The interconfessional stance is philosophically close to Wesley's own vision of unity across the Christian family.

Orthodox families (a note)

These devotionals use Western Bible translations and Latin-tradition prayer forms; Orthodox families may find the translations and prayer structures less familiar. We recommend Orthodox families layer their own tradition's translations (OSB or Orthodox-approved editions), the Jesus Prayer, and iconography that shapes prayer in the Eastern tradition. The core Scripture-anchored structure of each devotional is compatible with Orthodox use — the framing may need adaptation.

Why interconfessional, and not "non-denominational"

These sound similar but they're different. "Non-denominational" usually means low-church American evangelical Protestant with no formal denominational tie. "Interconfessional" means actively holding space for multiple Christian confessions to meet at the same text without any tradition being asked to translate itself into another's vocabulary. The choice matters: a Catholic grandmother, an evangelical mother, and a non-denominational father can all read the same page to a child and each hear the faith of their own tradition inside it. That's not accidental. It's the entire design.

Have a theological question, a concern, or want to know how a specific topic is handled in a specific book? Email hello@godslittlesprout.com. Our editorial team reads every message.