A Stepping-Stone Year addresses children who are taking their first structured steps in forming religious identities and concepts. Younger children may identify with their church or have religious experiences that will influence their religious thinking, but they are not ready developmentally to begin to understand and articulate these concepts until they reach around age eight or nine; hence, a stepping-stone year.

A Stepping-Stone Year focuses on these important religious questions: How did the world begin? How did life begin? How did I begin? How can I live so as to make my life worthwhile? Why do people die? What is right and wrong? How can I make decisions?