The number of pastors, Sunday School directors, teachers, and members who have told me they have no prospects is very high. They tend to tell me that everyone they know goes to church. When I start to question that statement, they quickly realize that there are many in their circles of influence whose church and Sunday School status they don't know. A person is a prospect who is unenrolled in any Sunday School for whom we have contact information.

This post is the second in a series expanding on twenty methods in response to How Can I Grow My Sunday School Class Numerically?. The second method listed there was this one: Challenge attenders to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people. Classes cannot grow numerically when the back door is open (people are leaving) and no one new is being added.

There are so many ways to discover whether a person is enrolled in Sunday School. But they all hinge around spending time with people. Care about them. Listen to them. Ask them questions out of interest. Share about yourself, but major on listening. Be available when they are dealing with stress and crisis. Invest in the relationship long term. Invite them to class, but don't rush or push it. Lead attenders to seek out intentional opportunities to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people.

Let me share a few of those ways to get to know prospects and discover whether he/she is enrolled:

PARTIES. Invite guests to your class fellowship activities. Pick them up, and take them home. Spend time getting to know and have fun with guests. Introduce them to other attenders. Make sure someone invites the group to class before people leave.

PROJECTS. Invite guests to join you for class ministry and service projects. Many today want to make a difference--even if they are not Christians or connected to a church. It can be a great opportunity to work together, get to know one another, and provide a natural opportunity to connect relationally.

MEALS. Challenge class members to invite unenrolled people for meals, at home or restaurants. They are going to eat anyway. It costs very little time. The money spent on the meal can be a Kingdom investment. Get acquainted. Listen. Care.

PRAYER. Pray daily for opportunities to care for people and pray with them. In conversation with people, listen for stresses and crises. Ask for permission to pray with them. Then commit to pray for them. And check on them.

INVITATIONS. Invite prospects to parties, projects, meals, and class. Don't forget to invite them to study the Bible with your friends (Sunday School). Some are interested in spiritual things. Share the upcoming unit of study.

TESTIMONIES. Lead attenders to write and practice their brief Sunday School testimonies. Sunday School testimonies are reasons why Sunday School is meaningful to me, how Sunday School has helped me. Then challenge them to pray for opportunities to share their testimonies. These are shared most naturally in casual conversation.

QUESTIONS. Sometimes the only way you will discover whether a person is enrolled in Sunday School or a Bible study group is to ask him/her. Don't be afraid to do so. Don't do it in a nosey way. Do so as an opening to share your testimony or to invite them to your upcoming study or even to your party or project.

Challenge attenders to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people. What methods would you add to the above methods? Which one(s) would work best in your class and Sunday School? Where do you need to start? If we are going to "make disciples of all nations," this is an important step. Pray. Follow God's lead. Invest. Care. Invite. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about developing relationships with unenrolled people, check out these blog posts:

• Expect Depth and Lasting Relationships
• Learning from a LEGO: Connect with Others
• Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships
• Planning Sunday School Fellowship Activities
• Reach and Assimilate People into the Kingdom Through Sunday School Fellowships
• Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool
• Sunday School Preparing Disciples’ Testimonies
• The Bible Study Session Invitation
• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 2
• Invitation to Sunday School
• Sunday School Invitations (Postcards), Updated
• Sunday School Praying for New People

When was the last time your Sunday School classes and leaders spent time praying for new people? Jesus said he came to seek and to save the lost. We are the bride of Christ. We are the body of Christ. Those on Jesus' heart will naturally be on our hearts. When we pray for something, we are will be "for" it. We will be open to the Lord's leadership in our lives about the subject of our prayers.

Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) commanded us has His disciples as we are going to "make disciples of all nations." There is still much work to do. Jesus said in John 10:16 (NIV): "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." He will draw them to Himself. We are to pursue lost sheep for Him. We are the hands and feet who protect them from wolves. We are to lead them to Him.

Lead your class to develop an intentional prayer strategy for lost and unenrolled people. Customize the strategy to fit your group. Regularly check on the plan and adjust it as necessary. Since many grow tired and lazy about anything done for a period of time, be sensitive to the need to vary your reinforcement and emphasis. Keep it fresh.

What are some ways Sunday School classes can pray for new people? I would challenge you to get out a sheet of paper and jot down some thoughts before reading further. Think about the people in your class. After writing down some thoughts, check out this beginning list of ideas:

• give the class a blank business-size card on which you ask them to write down the name of three lost or unenrolled people to pray for,
• spend time every Sunday praying for new people by name,
• place a poster on the classroom wall with first names and last name initial of new people for whom your class will pray (mark them off when they accept Jesus or join the class),
• focus prayers on new people in your assigned age group or the age group that is the focus of the church at that time,
• share demographics about people in your area so the group can know more specifically how to pray for new people from your community,
• have cottage prayer meetings (in a home) and include praying for new people on the agenda,
• pass out small dots to stick on watches or cell phones to remind people to pray for lost and unenrolled people when they see the dot,
• set a specific time each day (like Noon) to pray for new people,
• make appointments to call prayer partners each week and include praying for new people by name as part of the agenda,
• make sure to share testimonies of opportunities to share a witness or invitation with a new person,
• during conversations with potential new people (prospects), ask if they have prayer requests and write down the request and pray with them and thereafter, and
• send out weekly email (or text) reminders of new people to pray for and/or their needs.

For more ideas about prayer, check out these posts:

• Pray for God to Use Sunday School
• Is Your Class a Praying Class?
• Sunday School’s Biggest Impact on Disciplemaking
• First Step Toward Sunday School Class Change: Prayer
• Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 1 and Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 2
• Helping Sunday School to Focus on Prayer for Outreach
• Contract Prayer as a Sunday School Class
• Groups Creating Community, Part 1
• Sunday School and the Law of Large Numbers
• A Key Question to Deeper Sunday School Relationships
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 2, Steps for Inviting New People

Over the last month, I have focused on how Sunday School can help the church pursue Jesus' command in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." In other words, my posts have been about reaching, teaching, and caring for people in order to make disciples. But for several upcoming posts, I want to shift the focus to numerical increase of the class.

If Sunday School never reaches out to new people, it cannot make disciples of "all nations." Sunday School focused only on those already there cannot carry out Jesus' command. It is natural that Sunday School should mobilize attenders to interact with their circles of influence to share Jesus. And at the same time, Sunday School should also invite people to be a part of the class ministry and class sessions because of the impact of Sunday School.

Andy Anderson (of the Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources) discovered through research that one out of three lost people who attended Sunday School for twelve months accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord. In fact, toward the end of his life, he was seeing that number get closer to one out of two lost people. (To see some of his research, check out his book, The Growth Spiral.) With that knowledge, why don't we do a better job of encouraging lost people to attend Sunday School with us?

Anyway, there are lots and lots of ways to lead your class to increase numerically. I want to share twenty and then follow up by spending time writing posts about each of them. Consider this list:
1.        Pray for new people. (Check out Expect Evangelistic Prayer Every Week.)
2.        Challenge attenders to invest in relationships/friendships with unenrolled people. (Check out Expect Depth and Lasting Relationships and Learning from a LEGO: Connect with Others.)
3.        Build a list of prospects from which to pray and care for prospects. (Check out Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 1 and Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 2.)
4.        Care for and invite church members not enrolled in Sunday School.
5.        Collect information from and pursue worship guests.
6.        Care for and invite unenrolled family members of Sunday School members.
7.        Prayerwalk and target reaching out to a neighborhood.
8.        Meet discovered needs of prospects.
9.        Caringly follow up every Sunday School guest. (Check out Expect Personal Follow-Up Of Every Guest.)
10.        Enlist and train class greeters to help guests have a great first impression (and to follow up on their time in class).
11.        Feature a different class in the worship service. (Check out Pulpit Sunday School Promotion.)
12.        Invite prospects to regular class fellowships. (Check out Expect Fellowship Opportunities.)
13.        Invite prospects to connect over a meal or dessert. (Check out Grow Your Sunday School Class/Small Group by Eating a Meal with Guests.)
14.        Invite prospects to participate in a class project.
15.        Ask every class guest for permission to add their names to your class care (prayer-ministry-fellowship) list. (Check out Expect People to Say “Yes” to Enrollment.)
16.        Invite guests to special class studies (during Sunday School or at other times).
17.        Start a new class and invite people! (Check out Biblical Images for Starting New Classes/Groups and Your Sunday School Class Can Reach Hundreds in Ten Years.)
18.        Prepare and lead attenders to share their Sunday School and faith testimony. (Check out Expect Every Member to Share Their Story of Faith, Expect the Class to Lead People to Christ, and Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool.)
19.        Ask prospects how you can pray for them, and then (when possible) pray with them.
20.        Don't forget to maintain good connections with people already on the class enrollment (care) list. (Check out Connecting with Others in Sunday School Ministry and Expect Every Member to Receive a Contact Every Week.)

I realize this list only scratches the surface. What would you add to the list? What have you seen work for reaching/enrolling new people? Which are you unsure would work in your setting? (I hope you will reserve some judgment until you have read my follow up post.) We cannot disciple people with whom we have not connected, invited, or gotten to attend. Pray. Build relationships. Invite. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

• Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 1 and Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Maximizing Sunday School Class Health, Part 1
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 1, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 2, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 4, Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 5, and Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 6
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 1, Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 2, Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 3, and Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 4
• Building Blocks for a Strong Sunday School Class, Part 2

On SundaySchoolLeader.com, Belinda Jolley, my peer in South Carolina, wrote a blog post entitled Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders? It is a great post which helps to compare the differences between leaders. I want to give you a taste of that post to encourage you to check it out. Here is some of what Belinda wrote:

You can likely identify whether you or those around you are a reproducing or a hoarding leader.  Think about the following comparisons and add your own to the list.

Hoarding leaders might think about or say some of the following:

• How can we keep them from splitting our class?
• I wish we could go back to the time when we knew everybody in our church.
• How can we get the church to meet our needs?
• I’m not sure why John Doe is teaching a class here.  He’s only been a member here for five years.
• (Check out Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders? for more!)

Reproducing leaders might think about or say some of the following:

• When do we get to start a new class?
• Help me pray about who God wants to help teach the three year olds.
• Isn’t it great to get to know Fred and Barbara?  We would not have met them if we had not helped start the new class six months ago.
• Your class is like a rocket ship—constantly sending out great leaders. Help me think of some ways to celebrate those members your class has sent out to serve in the other age groups.
• (Check out Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders? for more!)

Jesus is the best model of a reproducing leader. He taught multitudes, discipled twelve, but he mentored three men. He spent time growing and sending out leaders. Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, reminded Moses of the need to grow and send out other leaders. (Ex. 18) What about you? Are you reproducing or hoarding leaders?

Make sure you read the rest of Belinda's post: Are You Reproducing or Hoarding Leaders?. I want to challenge you to be revolutionary teachers and leaders who reproduce leaders. Think about the Kingdom. More leaders and more classes can reach, teach, and care for more people. Make disciples of all nations. Expect leader reproduction. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about apprenticing, check out these blog posts:

• Secret of Sunday School Growth: Multiply Units
• A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 2 and A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 4
• Coaching a Successful Sunday School Teac her Apprentice
• Approaching Sunday School/Small Group Births with Humor Can Help
• Simple Steps to Launch a New Sunday School Group
• Simple Plan for Sunday School Discipleship, Leadership, and Numerical Growth
• It’s Time to Launch One: An Apprentice, an On-Campus Group, and an Off-Campus Group
• Advice for the New Sunday School Teacher
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 5
• How You Can Train (Apprentice) Potential Sunday School Leaders
• Your Sunday School Class Can Reach Hundreds in Ten Years
• Revolutionary Sunday School Multiplies Leaders
• Extreme Makeover: Sunday School Edition

My conviction is that revolutionary Sunday School can help a church carry out the command of Jesus in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Over the last nineteen posts, I have answered questions from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School about how Sunday School can do so. Question twenty was this one: What one thing could Sunday School do which would make the most difference in making and growing disciples?

How would you answer that question? Before you answer, let me challenge you to think of one qualification. Think of Sunday School as it could be, as it should be. Think of revolutionary Sunday School. In disciplemaking Sunday School, what one action could make the most difference in making and growing disciples? In Sunday School which has moved from teaching lessons to making disciples, what one thing could Sunday School do to make the most difference, to have the most impact?

As a starting list for your consideration, review the ways Sunday School can impact disciplemaking from the previous nineteen posts:

• inviting, sharing Jesus, sharing testimonies, fellowships, increasing daily intake of God's Word, learning retention, teaching methods, class size, class arrangement, learner preparation, learner application, increasing session length, expectations, time beyond the session, application reporting, spiritual disciplines, desperateness for God, and showing Jesus to others.

All of the topics from the previous posts are important actions of Sunday School that desires to take disciplemaking seriously. In fact, a regular rotation of emphasis among the list would likely lead to reinvigoration of that action. It is easy to get bored with a method, even if it is the best one. And it is easy to get busy and lazy, leading to spending less and less time and energy productively.

Still, the one action not specifically focused upon in any of the posts is likely the most important: prayer. Yes, prayer was mentioned as necessary in several posts, but no post was fully dedicated to prayer. And following our Lord's leadership in determining the right path toward discipleship can be greatly aided by spending time personally and corporately in prayer.

Sunday School should teach preschoolers, children, youth, and adults how to pray. I mean more than group prayer. I mean personal, honest, passionate prayer. I mean prayer for God to change me. I mean prayer for God to speak and help me to respond obediently. The teacher can lead this. A pastor can emphasize this. Prayer partners can practice this. A need or crisis may crystalize the need for prayer. A spiritual renewal may spark it.

The time invested is in disciplemaking. Some will object because the effort takes time away from "the lesson." Does it really. And remember, we have been focused upon making disciples. How can we make disciples who do not know how to pray? If Sunday School does not teach prayer, who will?

Want to strengthen your class or Sunday School? Teach teachers to pray and ask them to teach attenders. (Such action is disciplemaking at its foundation!) Don't just tell them how. Instruct them. Lead them to apply it. Check on progress. (Check out these posts about following Jesus' example: Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 1, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 2, Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 3, and Discipling Through Sunday School Jesus’ Way, Part 4.) Pray for His leadership. Ask others to join you. Teach them to pray. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about prayer, check out these posts:

• Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 1 and Don’t Just ASK Your Sunday School Class to Pray, TEACH Them to DO It, Part 2
• Pray for God to Use Sunday School
• Should We Take Time for Prayer Requests and Prayer in Sunday School?
• Is Your Class a Praying Class?
• First Step Toward Sunday School Class Change: Prayer
• Could Too Much Prayer Time Be an Obstacle for Revolutionary Adult Classes?
• Helping Sunday School to Focus on Prayer for Outreach
• Contract Prayer as a Sunday School Class
• Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 3
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 2, Steps for Inviting New People
• Sunday School Effectiveness Begins with Prayer and Evaluation
• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation

This is post nineteen response to twenty questions asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. The questions are about how Sunday School can help the church carry out the command of Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Question nineteen is this one: What if every attender was expected to serve, to minister, to go, to share with others what they know of Jesus?

Becoming a disciple of Jesus is not having more information; it's about transformation. It's not about learning; it's about living like Jesus. In many ways, this question gets to the root of the issue for attenders. Last post, Sunday School Teacher: Desperate for God, may have gotten to the root for the teacher. In some ways, a teacher who is desperate for God as described in that post is doing what this post is about: sharing Jesus to others. The truth is, all of these posts are related. You cannot separate slices of disciplemaking.

The end result desired is an individual who encounters God in His Word who is changed inside and out. That change is expressed in how he/she lives. That change is unmistakably seen by those in his/her daily walk and circle of influence. I was reading Ephesians and a verse is appropriate here. Paul says, "As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received" (Ephesians 4:1, NIV). The calling is to an abundant life made only possible through Jesus. For more information about life change, check out What Can Sunday School Do to Impact Life Change?.

But how can a teacher and class help an individual take steps in that direction? How can expectations be initiated and raised in such a way that they are accepted, owned, and pursued? Many of the discipleship actions shared in the previous eighteen posts lead in this direction: inviting, sharing Jesus, sharing testimonies, fellowships, increasing daily intake of God's Word, learning retention, teaching methods, class size, class arrangement, learner preparation, learner application, increasing session length, expectations, time beyond the session, application reporting, spiritual disciplines, and desperateness for God. For more information about raising expectations, check out Raising Sunday School Expectations without Losing Your Hair.

But ownership is essential. That is why the teacher must be a facilitator of an encounter with God rather than only testifying about his/her encounter or preparation. God in His Word has the power to change lives. The teacher must get out of the way and let God speak. The teacher must lead attenders to open and listen to God's Word. That is the source of power and motivation. For more information about facilitating an encounter with God, check out Sunday School’s Neglect of the Second Encounter, Part 10A and Sunday School’s Neglect of the Second Encounter, Part 10B.

In addition to this, planning and involvement in reaching, teaching-learning, and caring should seek to build ownership. For more information about leading a class toward ownership, check out Sixth Step Toward Sunday School Class Change: Ownership. The teacher should not do all the work for the class or individuals. Nor should any individual be allowed to rest upon the work of others. Even expectations should be mutual. Attenders should have high expectations of each other as well. This may mean working together upon a class covenant. For more information, check out Benefits of a Covenant for a Revolutionary Sunday School Class.

Want to measure your progress as a class? Want to check on spiritual development? Want to know if your discipleship efforts are having any impact? Measure what you can see. Are lives changed? What are they talking about? What stories are they telling? Are they serving more often and enjoying it more? Are they meeting needs in the class and beyond? Are they going to others rather than waiting for people to come to them? Are they sharing what they know of Jesus and God's Word with others? Yes, there is more than what can be seen and measured, but if all measurement evidence is missing then discipleship progress probably is as well. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more posts about how Sunday School can help the church make disciples, check out these posts:

• Accountability Partners in Sunday School
• Sunday School, Disciplemaking, and Spiritual Disciplines
• Sunday School Attenders Reporting Application of Last Week’s Lesson
• When Sunday School Spills Beyond the Hour
• Expectation after the Sunday School Session
• Would a Longer Sunday School Session Better Make Disciples?
• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 1 and Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 2
• Can Sunday School Classroom Arrangement Impact Disciplemaking?
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1 and Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 2
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention

Want your class to grow? Want them to make spiritual progress? Are you focused on helping them grow as His disciples? Then, your example matters! Your words count, but your life is powerful.

Over the previous seventeen posts, I have been answering the twenty questions from Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. The questions address how Sunday School can help the church carry out Jesus' command to His disciples in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20): "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." The question for today is this one: What if it all was influenced by teachers who were desperate for God in their daily quiet times and life interactions?

There are many ways the life and example of the teacher speak loudly. Attenders dismiss the words of teachers who are not authentic or are living in sin. Like sheep, attenders tend to follow those they trust. When trust has not been built through time spent together, there is more doubt and hesitation. When something has broken the trust, it is difficult to rebuild. Frequently, trust is spelled T-I-M-E and C-A-R-E. Time in class counts, but time spent with sheep during the rest of life counts even more.

The life of the teacher can be positive motivation for disciples. It can encourage them to study more, to be more caring, to apply the truth, to try new things. How the teacher interacts with the class is noticed. What the teacher says about the church, pastor, and his/her family communicates volumes.

But one area which is powerful and vital in the effort to grow disciples is the teacher's walk with God. Does the teacher spend time with God in prayer and Bible study regularly? It is important for some of that time to be invested in nothing else except a desire for God. Is his/her relationship with God alive and growing? If so, it will spill over in the teaching. It will spill over in casual conversation. It will influence example and life. It will even influence the way sin and mistakes are handled.

The teacher who is desperate for God loves God so much that he/she desires to spend time with Him in prayer and Bible study. And that desire is shared. The desperate teacher draws attenders toward a daily quiet time. He/she talks about it, encourages it, and teaches about it. The teacher raises the expectation and affirms even halting progress. His or her words influence, but the most powerful advertisement for a daily quiet time and growth of disciples is the example of the teacher.

How does a teacher become desperate for God? How does he/she fall more in love with Him? Time spent daily together. Commitment. Making appointments to meet God in Bible study. Reading the Word. Meditating on it. Memorizing it. Applying it. Living it. Journaling it. Trying spiritual disciplines. Finding the best fit of time and method. Keeping it fresh.

From my own experience, I can share that it has much to do with listening to His still small voice. God desires to speak a life-changing Word to us every time we open the Bible. Are you listening? What is He saying?

When I listen and understand that He is speaking to me, it changes the tenor of the experience. I recognize the awesome presence of a BIG God. I recognize the importance and value of His Words to me. I recognize He is speaking to me for a purpose--and that purpose is change. I understand He wants good for me even if the change will bring pain. I know He loves me. And that love is attractive. I want to be with Him. And one of the best ways for me to be with Him is in Bible study and prayer.

Are you desperate for God? Do you want to be? Commit to daily Bible study and prayer. Ask a friend to hold you accountable. Talk about methods. Keep it fresh. Listen to His Word for you. Allow the experience to overflow into your teaching, conversation, and life. Be the change He desires in you. Be bold in pursuit of Him. Be open with your class. Influence attenders to spend time with Him. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more quiet time ideas, check out these posts:

• Sunday School Supporting Spiritual Disciplines, Part 1
• Challenge Your Adult Sunday School Members to Make New Year’s Resolutions
• What a Sunday School Teacher Can Do to Deepen Relationships
• Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 1 and Attender Preparation for Sunday School, Part 2
• Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 1 and Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 2
• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker
• Accountability Partners in Sunday School
• Raise Expectations for Sunday School Leaders
• A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 2
• Teaching Sunday School Members to Pray Through Scripture
• Advice for the New Sunday School Teacher
• Sunday School’s Contributions to Disciple Making
• Marriage of Application and Story in Sunday School

Sunday School can impact disciplemaking through its reaching, teaching, and caring. The focus, however, must change from teaching a lesson to making a disciple. Jesus commanded His disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." This post answers question seventeen of a post entitled Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School: What might happen if Sunday School classes encouraged accountability partners?

Over the previous sixteen posts, I have dealt with many important disciplemaking issues related to Sunday School. These have included inviting, sharing Jesus, sharing testimonies, fellowships, increasing daily intake of God's Word, learning retention, teaching methods, class size, class arrangement, learner preparation, learner application, increasing session length, expectations, time beyond the session, application reporting, and spiritual disciplines. Wow! That is already some list.

But if we are serious about moving from teaching a lesson to making disciples, these areas all need attention. Another piece of this puzzle is accountability. This was discussed some in Sunday School Attenders Reporting Application of Last Week’s Lesson. But Sunday School class accountability partners takes that post in another direction and can reinforce those efforts. In this context, partners would be two or three class attenders (usually of the same gender) who are committed to pray, care, share, and encourage each other. An absentee, prospect, and/or a lost person might be included--though some contact might be away from class.

What are some possible actions for making disciples from establishing accountability partners? Consider some of these:

• care for each other and notice when one is missing;
• pray for each other during class and during the week;
• contact each other through the week to follow up on the lesson, needs, or prayer concerns;
• get to know each other and know how best to encourage and pray for each other;
• can be honest and transparent with each other (even more than in the large group);
• can challenge each other to keep commitments;
• practice spiritual disciplines together;
• challenge each other to keep a daily quiet time;
• share daily journaling reports;
• encourage each other to read the Bible through;
• can help each other apply truth to life settings due to greater knowledge of each other;
• can ask accountability partners to do group work or prepare specific assignments;
• can divide the class into accountability groups for discussion and increase involvement of the class (everyone can share in the smaller groups);
• seek opportunities to apply the truth of the lesson together;
• can assign partners specific class roles, absentees or prospects to follow up, or tasks;
• can ask partners to plan learning activities during or between classes to strengthen retention and/or learning application;
• and many, many more.

How have you used accountability partners in Sunday School? What actions would you suggest be added to the list? Which of these would work best with your class? How could establishing accountability partners help your class take steps toward making disciples? How would you determine who to connect as partners? Would it be random? Would you rotate them after a few months? Pray. Get a leadership group together. Discuss options and pray together. Make some decisions about first steps and a start date. Then do it. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about accountability, check out these blog posts:

• When Sunday School Is Done Right, Part 2
• Making Disciples Through Accountability in the Adult Sunday School Class
• Sunday School: Growing One Disciple, Part 5
• Growth Support: Sunday School Providing Encouragement
• Accountability Partners in the Adult Sunday School Class
• Adult Sunday School Class Attenders Can Benefit from an Encourager
• Accountability to Read the Bible Through in Sunday School Classes/Small Groups
• Helping to Keep Up with the Joneses: The Job of the Class Secretary
• Avoiding Sunday School Class Dysfunctions
• Sunday School: Make a Resolution to Read the Bible
• An Ownership Problem in Our Sunday School Work
• Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 5

Can Sunday School help the church make disciples? That is the question I asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School along with twenty other questions about the topic. Jesus commanded His disciples to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them ...and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded." Sunday School can help the church carry out this work by reaching, teaching, and caring.

This is the sixteenth post I have written in response to the questions I asked in Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School. The question for this post was this one: How could Sunday School challenge attenders to grow in their relationship with God through trying various spiritual disciplines? Can Sunday School reinforce and utilize spiritual disciplines and in the process help attenders make spiritual progress? My short answer is "yes," but let's look at some of the ways to do so.

When Sunday School teachers and classes change mindset from teaching a lesson to making disciples, many things become possible. Time for Sunday School does not have to be limited to Sunday morning. Activities do not all have to be completed in class. Preparation and application become an expectation. Involvement is the norm rather than the exception. Instruction is personalized and used as preparation for impacting the world around me.

In the effort to become His disciples, some tools are more helpful than others. Some more naturally fit the context of Sunday School than others. And others fit some disciples better than others. Many spiritual disciplines can fit into a Sunday School context where making disciples is the desired outcome. Richard Foster in The Celebration of Discipline divides spiritual disciplines into three categories:

These spiritual disciplines are designed to direct our attention to God, to raise our focus on Him. Two of the first four inner disciplines fit well in the common practices of Sunday School: prayer and Bible study. Even these two disciplines need more reinforcement--or discipline. It would take little adjustment to encourage meditation in class and between classes. Fasting is a needed, biblically-based discipline that can benefit attenders. More explanation may be needed in some classes and churches.

All of the outer disciplines are needed, and Sunday School could easily challenge attenders to test them out to see how they fit. For many classes and individuals, solitude and service will be the two outer disciplines most easily adapted. I am not, however, saying that these two disciplines (done right) will be easy! But a teacher could challenge attenders to spend an hour alone with God. A random act of kindness or serving someone without them knowing it was us are two service acts that a teacher could lead the class to attempt and report.

As the term connotes, corporate disciplines are more for the group as a whole. While being careful not to embarrass, there are opportunities for a class to confess, worship, celebrate, and seek His guidance. With the right coaching, even these can be adapted to a group at church or on a class retreat.

Here is the issue: sometimes we need to shake up our routine in order to keep it fresh, in order to gain new insight. Sometimes attenders have not tried many of the spiritual disciplines and are relying on the same methods and grow quickly tired of them. I recently read a newsletter sent out by Josh Hunt in which he said he had discovered that he needed to reinvent his devotional plan about every nine months. Makes sense to me.

Help attenders in your class grow as His disciples. Help them try new spiritual disciplines. Lead them to get to know God and seek Him in fresh ways. Lead them to discipline themselves to be His disciples. As attenders grow, your class will grow in so many ways. Practice spiritual disciplines. Model them. Call for reports. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about making disciples, check out these blog posts:

• Sunday School Attenders Reporting Application of Last Week’s Lesson
• Life Impact after the Sunday School Session
• Sunday School Strengthening Learning Retention
• Sunday School Making Disciples Through Fellowships
• Would a Longer Sunday School Session Better Make Disciples?
• Sunday School Becoming More Intentional about Inviting
• Sunday School/Small Groups Making Disciples the Way Jesus Did
• Transitioning from Sunday School Teacher to Disciple Maker
• When Sunday School Spills Beyond the Hour
• Making Disciples Through the Sunday School
• How Can Sunday School Encourage Greater Daily Intake of God’s Word?
• Can Sunday School Classroom Arrangement Impact Disciplemaking?
• Ideal Sunday School Class Size Issues for Spiritual Progress
• Evidences of Learning in Sunday School
• Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1
• Sunday School Sharing Jesus

Sunday, September 12, 2010, has been designated as National Back to Church Sunday. It is sponsored by LifeWay Research and Outreach. There are materials available on the website to take advantage of this initiative. These materials include a kit, videos, and even an email generator to send invitations to your friends. I want to encourage you to check it out and consider participating.

What might happen if even half of our Sunday School attenders invited a friend (or several) back to Sunday School? What if we invited all our absentees, dropouts, friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors? What if some of them said yes? Be prepared because some of them will! Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources stated in Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them that 82% of the unchurched were at least somewhat likely to attend if invited.

Don't say no for them! Invite them. Invite them to your homes to get to know them. Show them you care for them as people. Share Christ's love with them in deed and word. Invite them to your class parties and projects. And don't forget to invite them to class. This initiative just might be the excuse they've been looking for to come back to Sunday School (or to try it for the first time).

The Holy Spirit is at work in the world. Some are waiting for your invitation. Some want to know Jesus but never have had anyone tell them how. Invite them back to church. Invite them back to Sunday School. Make a great first impression with your care. Start a class. Enlist greeters. Use name tags. Have a great lesson. Listen well. Don't embarrass them.

Follow up. Take them a gift. Answer their questions. Ask how you can pray for them, and do it. If they offer any criticism, learn what you can from it. Adjust what needs to be adjusted. And keep caring and inviting.

Jesus said He came to seek and to save the lost. We are His body in the world, so He has given us that task. Sunday School is a great medium for sharing Christ through the study of God's Word in a caring fellowship. On average we will see more than one out three lost people accept Jesus when they attend Sunday School with us over a year's time. So impact eternity. Impact your community. Impact a friend. Invite him. Invite her. Invite several. Allow God to work through your class. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about inviting people to Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 1, Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 2, Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 3, and Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 4
• Focusing on Prospects for Sunday School
• Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 1 and Do You Need Sunday School Prospects, Part 2
• Christmas Invitation to Sunday School
• Prospecting for Sunday School Prospect Gold
• Enroll + Care + Invite = Attendance in Sunday School
• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation
• 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year
• 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year, Part 2