Attitudes That Cripple Sunday School Class Growth

Wednesday 23rd May, 2012

It would have been easy to have changed the word, "attitudes" in the title to "actions." I believe, however, that attitudes are the source of those actions, and the attitudes can be more subtle and therefore deadly. Consider the following list and check your attitudes and those of others in your class:

I DON'T NEED HELP. Few teachers can accomplish alone all the class work needed for growth: great teaching-learning, fellowship, reaching, ministering to needs, missions projects, and more. Besides that, the class, church, and Kingdom will benefit from "all hands on deck."

I DON'T NEED TRAINING. When we stop learning, we stop growing, teaching, and leading. The Lord and His bride, the church, deserve our best efforts. Training reminds of why we do things and challenges us to try new things.

I AM TOO BUSY. Each of us has the same 168 hours each week. The potential impact of Sunday School deserve prioritizing some of our time. At the same time, busyness also demands that we enlist some help within the class to carry out this important work because more needs to be done than only teaching.

I DON'T BELIEVE IN GOALS. Everything we do has some goal. Our work has goals, even if it is only to secure pay. Grocery shopping has the goal of bringing home needed food. The goal of Sunday School is to reach and make disciples of my assigned age group. In that effort, several actions deserve focus and specific goals can be helpful in motivating yourself and class members.

PLENTY ARE COMING. This is a sign of space or relationships that are full. It is inward focused. It is ignoring those who are not in class who are dying without Jesus or not growing as Christians. It may also be a sign of poor class organization.

THEY KNOW WHERE WE ARE. Thom Rainer discovered that 82% of the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to come to church if invited. Few come without invitation and it will likely take multiple invitations and expressions of our genuine care for them.

CLASS TIME'S TOO SHORT. Not everything has to be done on Sunday, but the investment of a few minutes in class growth actions makes a huge difference. Managing those few minutes well is, of course, key.

WE DON'T NEED GREETERS. Often when something is everyone's job, no one does it. Greeting members and first impressions with guests is important. Greeters are essential for leading the class in this effort.

WE DON'T KEEP RECORDS. Records of attendance along with member and prospect/guest contact information are essential for caring for each other and for reaching out. They help to focus immediate and ongoing care. A secretary is the key in keeping good records and notifying class leaders of the need for caring action.

These are but a few of the attitudes that make class growth challenging, difficult, or impossible. What attitude would you add to the list? Which one(s) listed are you and your class struggling with the most? What can you do to address this attitude in order to make growth more likely? Take steps this month. Reach and make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about growing your class, check out these blog posts:

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Posted in:  Outreach  Pastors/Sunday School Directors  at 11:31:00 AM
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Sixth Anniversary: Top Twenty Sunday School Revolutionary Posts

Friday 11th May, 2012

I began writing posts for The Sunday School Revolutionary back in April 2006. Since that time, I have added more than 1,070 posts and readers have added nearly half a million hits (should reach that mark in early July). Comments by readers left on the blog, by email, and by phone have encouraged me to continue this work when many Sunday School blogs have ended. Thanks for your interest in giving God your best effort through the tool of the Sunday School!

To celebrate the beginning of the seventh year of this blog, I wanted to share the top twenty posts since the blog began (followed by hit totals):

TOP POST:

MORE THAN 5,000 HITS: MORE THAN 3.000 HITS: MORE THAN 2,000 HITS: Check out these top posts. Email them to other Sunday School leaders. Print them out and share them. Give Christ and His bride your best effort through the Sunday School. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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Posted in:  Misc  at 11:12:00 AM
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Plan Now to Avoid the Summer Sunday School Slump

Thursday 10th May, 2012

People are busy today. They are mobile. During the summer months, there are many reasons members may not be present:

  • vacations
  • family visits
  • children's summer sports leagues
  • recreational outings, such as a weekend at the lake
  • late Saturday evening activities
  • and many more.

So what can we do to make up for more frequent "irregularity" of member attendance during the summer months? Don't limit your thinking to the following suggestions. Rather allow this list to lead you to brainstorm your own list and to adopt a summer Sunday School strategy:

  • invite your absentees each week
  • implement Saturday night calling of every member, guest, and prospect (perhaps by class care group leaders)
  • focus on inviting guests every week
  • have a class or Sunday School-wide photo Sunday (work to have the whole class present)
  • conduct a contact contest during one month or the entire summer between two halves of your Sunday School
  • have a monthly class fellowship with strong encouragement to invite guests (before the end of the fellowship, invite everyone to be present in class)
  • plan a meal and fellowship immediately after Sunday School and worship
  • have a teacher/worker appreciation Sunday and encourage members to bring appreciation gifts to teachers/workers
  • provide a breakfast for everyone 45 minutes before the official start of Sunday School (end promptly)
  • add the names of your Sunday School members to the 90 days of the summer to pray for them by name throughout the summer (have seen this work great!)

What would you add to this list? What have you done that worked? You may not be able to avoid some Sundays with lower attendance, but with a strategy, you can keep your average attendance high and make it fun at the same time. Remember, it is difficult to disciple people who are not present. Work to get people present. Do so because you care. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about growing your Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

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Posted in:  Assimilation  Outreach  at 02:39:00 PM
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Expressing Appreciation for Sunday School Teachers/Workers

Wednesday 2nd May, 2012

Assume that a teacher has spent at least five hours of lesson preparation and/or other class work or ministry each week. When added to the hour on Sunday morning, that would be an investment of six hours for 50 weeks, meaning that 300 hours have been invested by each teacher. Other class leaders may not have invested as many hours but their contributions add up as well over the course of each year.

May is a common month for recognizing the time, effort, and commitment of Sunday School teachers and workers. It is before summer and after several months invested in teaching, caring, and reaching together. It is always a good time to pause to express appreciation for those involved in our church ministries, and especially for Sunday School teachers and workers.

I have written about expressing appreciation previously:

I want to make sure that I remind church leaders to recognize not only the teachers but others who have served faithfully in Sunday School through the year. Remember to express your appreciation to the pastor, minister of education, Sunday School director, and Sunday School secretary. Express appreciation to any age group leaders, department leaders, Sunday School greeters, or other general officers. Express appreciation to other class leaders such as outreach leaders, care group leaders, and class greeters.

Expressions of appreciation do not have to be expensive, but they should be well done. Inexpensive options include worship recognition, testimonies from class participants, certificates of recognition, and notes of appreciation. Additional options which do not cost the church budget can be asking class participants to express appreciation through giving teachers and workers gifts. Other options are well covered in the blog posts shared above: from appreciation banquets/meals with or without speakers to church gifts of book, mugs, and other expressions.

It is never too late to express appreciation. Make plans now to make your expression of appreciation special! Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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Posted in:  Misc  Pastors/Sunday School Directors  at 02:26:00 PM
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Suggested Sunday School Launch Week Activities

Monday 30th April, 2012

When does your new Sunday School year begin? Is it September or October or June or another time? What are you doing to make launch week special? What are you doing to promote Sunday School? Press Comments below to share things you plan to do this year or have done previously to launch the Sunday School year well.

Allow me to share some experiences, thoughts, and suggestions for making Launch Week special. Consider the following:

  • CLEAN UP. Set aside one or more days for teachers/workers to prepare for the new Sunday School year by cleaning up teaching-learning space. Ask them to throw away used literature. Ask them to take down old posters. Invite them to dust and clean space, including windows, doors, and more. Invite them to rearrange the room. Make the room feel special and new.
  • NEW SIGNS. Provide new signs, even if old ones are fine. Add color, logo, or graphic. Make sure accurate age groups are included on signs to help guests. Make sure all rooms have room numbers (include on sign if not otherwise available). Make wording large and bold. (Signs might also include other groups that meet in the room during the week.)
  • TRAINING. Train every teacher and every worker during the week. Provide childcare and a meal. Start and stop on time. Make it fun. Make it relevant. Be creative. Give it a theme. Do it well. Promote it well.
  • INVITATIONS. Call, text, visit, and/or send postcards to every member and every prospect inviting them to attend Sunday School. Send invitation cards out with members for them to give to friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors. Invite attenders from the pulpit the previous couple of Sundays.
  • CLASS FELLOWSHIP. Encourage classes to plan fellowships (avoiding the date for teacher/worker training). Expect them to invite guests. Before the fellowships begin, stop long enough to say thanks to all fellowship attenders and invite them to come to class the following Sunday. Make sure the group connects well with guests who attend.
  • NEW GROUPS. Plan to start one or more classes during Launch Week. Promote the new class for the month prior to Launch Sunday. Ask the church family to invite to and pray for the new class(es). Invite people after worship to meet with the teacher(s) of the new class(es).
  • PROMOTION. Make it a big emphasis on your church website. Make it a big emphasis from the pulpit. Emphasize it in classes for two weeks prior. Encourage members to invite friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors. Set up a table near worship to help attenders find out about Sunday School classes, where they meet, what they are studying, and who is teaching. Share a simple classes brochure.

What else would you add to these ideas? Help the new Sunday School year start off with a BANG! Clean up. Change signs. Provide training. Invite. Fellowship. Start new groups. Promote. Make it exciting and special. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about Sunday School launch week, check out these blog posts:

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Posted in:  Outreach  Pastors/Sunday School Directors  Starting New Classes  at 10:24:00 AM
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Has Worker Attrition Caused Your Sunday School Decline?

Tuesday 24th April, 2012

There are several contributing causes for Sunday School decline. For a great new resource outlining several of those causes, check out George Yates' book, Reaching the Summit: Avoiding and Reversing Decline in the Church. Here is what George says about decline from his website:

  • Churches do not intentionally walk away from their purpose (first love). Decline is certainly not in the motives or objectives of any church.
  • It is imperative that church and ministry leaders take an objective evaluation of the reality of all aspects and facts of their ministry setting.
  • Leaders of a declining organization must come to the realization that the organization is in decline and know there is hope.
  • There are principles and steps to reverse the trends of decline. First, there must be a "want to" attitude among the leaders first, and the members of the organization.
  • This book identifies five phases of decline and provides eight principle areas any church or organization can address to avoid or reverse decline of the organization.
I simply want to point out one significant unintentional contributing cause for Sunday School decline: worker reduction. When a church starts Sunday School, few workers are needed to care for few people. There is a natural focus on reaching out to new people. But as a young church grows, frequently the span of care provided by teachers and workers can stretch toward ineffectiveness in providing contact and ministry with members and prospects.

Without regular doses of leadership and training, teachers can become focused on the major repeated responsibility of their role: teaching. They may fail to remember other important class actions and the benefit of class leaders. They will likely fail to enlist (or fill vacancies for) class leaders: outreach leaders, care group leaders, greeters, fellowship leaders, prayer leaders, and more. In the absence of these individuals leading the class to focus on respective responsibilities, the teacher becomes responsible for the missing role and work. Because life is busy and effective class work takes work in many directions, the teacher without class leader assistance will tend to neglect everything but teaching.

As a result of class worker attrition, members are not cared for, guests are not followed up, and ministry projects and fellowships are not planned. Without care, follow up, and plans, the class will struggle to maintain attendance. Decline eventually is inevitable.

As a side note, the lack of adult class leaders contributes toward fewer people in the church who are willing to step up to serve in some capacity in the church's ministry. Fewer people are willing to serve in key roles as committee/team members, Deacons, church greeters, missions and discipleship leaders, preschool and children's ministry leaders, and in other capacities. This can make church ministry, growth, and progress difficult.

Not only is the growth and ministry of the adult class at stake, but the church is impacted by the lack of leadership development through enlisting, training, and mobilizing adult class leaders. Enlist and train class leaders intentionally. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about class growth, check out these blog posts:

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Posted in:  Assimilation  Misc  Outreach  at 01:24:00 PM
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Updated: Free Training Materials for Sunday School Teachers

Tuesday 3rd April, 2012
Training to give God and His Body our best effort is essential. I could spend days and lots of blog posts highlighting great materials you can purchase and conferences you can attend. But we live in a great day of technology. Much information is available to us for free. Some of it is very helpful and comes with a variety of tools for putting it to effective use.

Here are several free LifeWay Christian Resources training resources (books, PowerPoint presentations, handouts, and teaching plans) for each of the following resources. Rather than print the books, I would recommend purchase since the cost of paper and ink to print them will likely exceed the US cost of $1.00 to $1.50 for the books plus shipping.

LifeWay also provides a set of supplemental current event/illustrations and teaching plans for Bible Studies for Life and for Explore the Bible. You can find those free materials at www.lifeway.com/extra. This list could go on and on. I want to include one more resource that those using LifeWay's literature, Bible Studies for Life, may find helpful. It is a set of support materials developed by Dr. Steve Armstrong who is a professor at LaTourneau University and a senior adult teacher at Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, Texas.

For more training ideas to go with those training materials, check out these blog posts:

My friend, Josh Hunt, has many great free articles and some great books (for sale) along with great questions to go along with LifeWay lessons. You can find Josh's website at www.joshhunt.com.

Need to provide teacher training? Don't have much money? Now you don't have an excuse. You can train your teachers with these high-quality, free materials and ideas for months and years to come. Start planning now. Raise your expectations. Increase your training. Release workers into the harvest. Give God your best. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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Posted in:  Pastors/Sunday School Directors  at 01:10:00 PM
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Highest Praise for a Sunday School Teacher

Monday 2nd April, 2012

Pause a moment to reflect on your favorite Sunday School teacher ever. Who was it? Why was he or she your favorite? What did he/she do to earn your praise and appreciation? Allow me to challenge you to write down a few of your responses in a note, letter, or email to that teacher (if he/she is living). The month of May is a month in which some churches choose to express appreciation for the investment of Sunday School teachers and workers. Save your appreciation for May or send it now while it is fresh on your mind!

What is the highest compliment you could pay to a Sunday School teacher? Beyond your favorite teacher, what are some characteristics which come to mind of teachers worthy of high praise? How would his/her greatness be demonstrated or measured? What would be true of his/her relationship with God? with class members? with the church as a whole? with the community and world beyond the church?

Allow me to put the shoe on the other foot. Teacher, what would you most like to hear your class members say about you? What would you most like your pastor to say about you? What would you most like people in the community to say about you? What would you most like God to say about you?

Do you realize that highest praise sometimes comes in the form of a stretching request? For instance, I sometimes receive preaching requests after a conference or a speaking request after writing a blog post. For pastors, sometimes they are asked by someone in the community to conduct a funeral or a wedding after being heard on Easter, the radio, or at a community event.

When a class has been blessed with growth, the teacher is sometimes asked to serve as a Deacon, on a committee, or in another capacity. Sometimes the pastor will approach the teacher with the highest praise by making a request for the teacher and class to train an apprentice and send out two or three individuals to start another class. What a compliment!

The pastor has seen what God has done through the teacher and the class. The pastor recognizes some excellent class organization and practices that need to be replicated. And the pastor extends a stretching request with full knowledge and expectation that the teacher and class are up to the challenge.

How will you respond to this praise? Jesus said, in Luke 12:48b (ESV), "Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more." Your faithfulness will be rewarded with additional responsibility: "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master'" (Matthew 25:21, ESV).

I challenge you to be revolutionary! I dare you to take the challenge! Stretch to multiply yourself and your class. Stretch to enlarge the work of the Kingdom! Step boldly where God is leading so you can be in dependence on Him! Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas on teacher appreciation and starting new classes, check out these blog posts:

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Posted in:  Starting New Classes  at 12:46:00 PM
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Sunday School Growth through Evangelism Training

Thursday 29th March, 2012
Without inviting people, Sunday School will seldom grow. Without sharing Jesus, seldom will people get saved. Without evangelism training, seldom will Christians take steps to invite and share. My friend, Bob Wood of Baptist State Convention of Michigan, has written a great post on the Sunday School Leader blog. I share it in full:

I believe in evangelism training. It’s personal for me. For years I struggled to share my faith and was frustrated with the lack of results. Then a pastor trained me in personal evangelism (using Evangelism Explosion) and it made all the difference how often I shared my faith and how effective I was.

As I served churches, I found the same to be true. When we mobilized persons to share their faith through personal evangelism training, we saw many people come to faith in Jesus. I found that evangelism training leads to a growing church with a growing Sunday School. Let me mention some resources I’ve found useful to disciple persons in personal evangelism.

FAITH Evangelism Strategy (LifeWay Christian Resources, www.lifeway.com/faith)

FAITH uses a memorized gospel presentation and on-the-job training with an experienced team leader and two learners. It requires commitment, but produces persons who are serious about sharing their faith. Someone has said that evangelism is more caught than taught. I’ve found that to be true; evangelism training that includes on-the-job training makes the difference. FAITH not only strengthens evangelism, it builds Sunday School. It is designed to tie evangelism training closely to Sunday School outreach and ministry. We used FAITH in a church of 500 with good results; one semester we saw at least one profession of faith among our teams each week.

The NET (North American Mission Board, www.namb.net/thenet)

The NET is built around using one’s personal testimony with selected Scriptures. It is simpler than FAITH, but still provides on-the-job training with a trained mentor and two apprentices. We used the NET in a smaller church (about 50) and saw a greater percentage of conversions (converts per member) than in the larger church mentioned above.

Becoming a Contagious Christian (Willow Creek, www.contagiouschristian.com)

This is basic evangelism training for every member. It doesn’t require going out and sharing one’s faith. It doesn’t require memorization. There are a number of basic evangelism training resources, but this is my favorite. I’ve found you can use this to equip all your members with tools for personal evangelism and identify those who are ready to take the next step through on-the-job evangelism training.

Growth that makes a difference for eternity is conversion growth. Do you want to grow your church and class by conversion? Use evangelism training.
___________________________
Bob Wood serves the Baptist State Convention of Michigan assisting churches to fulfill their potential in making disciples.

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Posted in:  Outreach  at 10:55:00 AM
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Top Post: Top Ten Actions to Increase Sunday School Attendance

Friday 23rd March, 2012

The ten actions listed below are intended for revolutionary Sunday Schools. If a Sunday School does not want to be revolutionary, the actions below will simply create stress, resistance, and conflict. But in a revolutionary Sunday School, the listed actions will release power and energy, create excitement and momentum, and lead to maturational and numerical growth. WARNING: Work is required!

Consider the following if you want to increase your Sunday School attendance:

  • PRAY. Don't overlook this action! Power, direction, and blessing will be missed without prayer. Pray for the following actions. Pray for leaders, members, and guests.
  • START NEW CLASSES. New classes add leaders, reachers, focus, energy, and excitement. On average, new classes grow faster than existing classes. A new class will often grow to 20 in enrollment and 10 in attendance in 12-18 months.
  • MAKE MORE CONTACTS. Increasing contacts with members and guests by 7-10 contacts above your usual number of contacts will result in 1 additional person in attendance. Want 10 more persons in attendance? Make 70-100 more contacts.
  • INVITE MEMBERS AND GUESTS TO YOUR MONTHLY FELLOWSHIPS. Fellowships are great tools for developing relationships with each other. Why not invite guests? As guests get to know the people in the class, they will be more likely to attend the class. Don't wait for them to attend. Invite guests to your fellowship now!
  • ENLIST A CLASS LEADERSHIP TEAM. David Francis of LifeWay says in an article entitled, Sunday School is a Team Effort, if you are missing members of your team, you become that leader. If you want to increase attendance, you need everyone to do their job. It takes a team to invite, lead participants to discover God and His Word, and connect with each other and God (3D Sunday School).
  • SET NEW MEMBER, ATTENDANCE, AND CONTACT GOALS. Ask every class to set God-sized goals. Privately and publicly affirm classes who reach/exceed their goals. Make total Sunday School progress visual.
  • ORGANIZE TO REACH OUT AND MEET NEEDS. Care groups in adult and youth classes increase assimilation of attenders and new members when care group leaders care for 3 members and 3 guests. Contact is made weekly to listen, pray together, invite to fellowship activities, and mobilize the class to meet discovered needs. (Many Sunday Schools would increase in attendance if they could keep people from dropping out. Care groups can help!)
  • SEEK MORE PARTICIPATION IN THE LESSON. From the youngest to the oldest, people today want to involve more of their senses. They learn more when they do more than hear. When they say and do something, retention is at 90%. And when more people are involved in the lesson, they are more likely to invite someone to class.
  • TEACH MEMBERS TO SHARE A SUNDAY SCHOOL TESTIMONY. Help members assess the benefits they have received from being in Sunday School and practice sharing those benefits with each other in two minutes or less. Then challenge them to share their Sunday School testimony this week. Call for reports next Sunday. We must mobilize the laborers in our classes to be in the harvest.
  • START BIBLE STUDY GROUPS AWAY FROM THE CHURCH. Some will never come to the church building. Surveys have shown that many who live in apartments are unchurched. Why not take Bible study to them? Research has shown that as many as 40% cannot attend on Sunday. Why not offer Bible study on weekdays at times and places when people can attend. Bible study groups can be an effective part of your Sunday School ministry.
Pray. Start new classes. Contact. Invite. Enlist a team. Set goals. Organize. Get participation. Share testimonies. Start off-site groups. Make disciples. Be revolutionary! For more information about growing your Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

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Posted in:  Outreach  Starting New Classes  at 10:56:00 AM
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