Without a doubt, one of the best promotional tools for Sunday School is a "satisfied customer." What I mean is that when Sunday School attenders are involved, growing, and impacting the lives of others through their classes, they are going to tell the story. They are going to invite others. They are going to promote their classes.

I have written about that side of promotion in previous blog posts about the Sunday School testimony. Check out the following posts: Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool, Explosive Sunday School Growth, Invitation to Sunday School, Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 3, Ideal Behaviors of an Adult Sunday School Member, Part 1, Sunday School at Work During the Other 167 Hours, Part 1, and Top Ten Actions to Increase Sunday School Attendance. And check out the following posts about invitations to Sunday School: Personal Invitations Are Needed and Still Work!, When Pastors Attend Sunday School/Small Groups, It Is Contagious!, Christmas Invitation to Sunday School, and Invitation to Sunday School.

But there are many ways to promote Sunday School beyond a testimony and personal invitation. One of them is pulpit promotion. For more information, check out this post: Pulpit Sunday School Promotion. There are many things that pastors, staff, and Sunday School directors/leaders can do before, during, and following worship that can make increase the value and visibility of Sunday School classes to those who are not currently attending. Along with pulpit promotion, consider the possibility of putting together a promotional brochure about Sunday School. Here are some suggestions: Company’s Coming: Writing a Promotional Piece to Attract Sunday School Guests for a Second Visit.

For a few more ideas about promoting Sunday School check out the following blog entries:

• Making the Greatness of Sunday School Known
• Reasons to Invest in Sunday School Today
• Launch New Sunday School Classes on Special Occasions Like Father’s Day
• Nine Actions for Starting New Sunday School Classes, Part 1
• Five Actions to Make Sunday School More Valuable, Part 2
• Grow by Increasing Your Sunday School Enrollment
• Benefits of High Attendance Sunday
• Plan an Exciting Launch to the New Sunday School Year

One of the most comprehensive lists I have ever seen for Sunday School promotional ideas can be found on the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod website in an article entitled Ideas for Promoting Sunday School. I would challenge you to gather your Sunday School leadership team to brainstorm ideas for promoting Sunday School and then share the article. Narrow your list and their list to a dozen great ideas. Then, get out a calendar and consider ways to implement a few of those ideas in the course of the next twelve months. Don't keep knowledge about the greatness of Sunday School and of our Lord to yourself. Share it. Be revolutionary!

In Part 1, I asked where your Sunday School attendance is right now compared to worship attendance? Are you happy with your percentage (divide Sunday School by worship and multiply times 100)? Would you like to increase that percentage? Then, I want to challenge you to start praying, dreaming, brainstorming, planning, and taking steps to move from 50% to 60% or from 75% to 85%.

Last time I mentioned an article by Steve Gladen entitled How to Connect to Every Person in Your Church. In the article, Gladen said, "Eventually you want a goal of connecting 110 percent of your congregation in life-changing small group communities." That really got me thinking. Do we really want to connect all our members and all our worship attenders in a Sunday School class? If we really did, what would we do differently?

In Part 1, I shared the first four of nine steps toward increasing the number of persons you are connecting: pray about connecting more people, write down the values and benefits of connecting people, dream/brainstorm about connecting more people, and remove the barriers and focus on the benefits. The final step in Part 1 came from Gladen's article (but is my commentary). In Part 2, I will share five more steps from Gladen's article in all capitals each followed by my commentary. How could the following steps help you move toward connecting even more people in Sunday School? Gather your Sunday School leadership team get them involved in these steps:

• UTILIZE ALL COMMUNICATION AVENUES. Do you really want to connect more people? How can they connect with a Sunday School class if they don't know about it? What are classes for? Where do they meet? What kind of people attend? How will it help me? And say it over and over again. Communicate them in your church newsletter, worship bulletin, and posters/banners. Announce them from the pulpit in a variety of ways--in the sermon, announcements, illustrations, testimonies, drama, and more. Send out written invitations in the form of letters, cards, and e-mail. Don't forget about your website and blogs. Mobilize your people to extend personal invitations to their friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors. Share about groups every time you gather people for any activity. Seek to connect everyone in the church and community!
• VIEW TRANSITION TIMES AS STRATEGIC TIMES TO CONNECT PEOPLE. People going through stressful times of life on average are more open to your care and concern. They are more open to connecting with a group. Walk through difficult and challenging times with them: divorce, death of a loved one, loss of a job, moving, and even births and weddings. Care about and for people during these times. I like Gladen's suggestion here: "You need to have a strategy for connecting people going through similar spiritual steps and seasonal changes in life." Extend the love of your classes during these times.
• UNLEASH THE POWER OF A CAMPAIGN STRATEGY. Lots of groups were started in lots of churches when they used 40 Days of Purpose. There are lots of campaigns out there by numerous publishers. Find one that fits. Launch new Sunday School classes at the church and away. Combine emphases in worship and in your classes. Eight to twelve people can frequently fit comfortably in a home. Ask for group hosts. Provide training and materials. Offer childcare. Invite people who are strateg ically located close to the group. Invite people to try it for a few weeks.
• HOST SMALL GROUP CONNECTION EVENTS. Set up your fellowship hall with tables, discussion questions, and potential class teachers (group leaders). You can mark the tables for age groups, gender groups, life stations, neighborhoods, or other affinities. At the end of the connection event, the group can decide if they want to continue together and when and where they want to meet--at or away from the church. After about four weeks together, they can decide if they want to stay together and what they will study next. And they can enlist a leadership team within the group.
• PROVIDE A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. Help your Sunday School classes/small groups to be caring. Encourage them to organize to meet needs. Help them to be transparent, open, and honest. Make them as comfortable as possible for new people. When groups are attractive, they will do all the work at promoting. In some ways, you won't be able to keep new people away.

How are you doing with the first four steps? What do you need to do in prayer, values/benefits, dreaming/brainstorming, and removing barriers? Where do you need to start? When will you start? We cannot afford to lose them to growing as disciples and serving in Kingdom work. Begin now to take some prayerful steps toward connecting more people in Sunday School. Be revolutionary!

Where is your Sunday School attendance right now compared to worship attendance? Are you happy with your percentage (divide Sunday School by worship and multiply times 100)? Would you like to increase that percentage? Then, I want to challenge you to start praying, dreaming, brainstorming, planning, and taking steps to move in that direction! If you are at 50%, pray and dream of the day that you will be at 60%. If you are at 75%, pray and dream about being at 85%.

I like what Steve Gladen wrote in an article entitled How to Connect to Every Person in Your Church. He said, "Eventually you want a goal of connecting 110 percent of your congregation in life-changing small group communities." That really got me thinking. Do we really want to connect all our members and all our worship attenders in a Sunday School class? If we really did, what would we do differently?

In Part 1, I want to share the first four of nine steps you can take toward increasing the number of persons you are connecting. I have added the first three steps to the six steps of Gladen's article referenced above. How could the following steps help you move toward connecting even more people in Sunday School? Gather your Sunday School leadership team get them involved in these steps:

• PRAY ABOUT CONNECTING MORE PEOPLE. Pray for your Sunday School. Bring all your Sunday School teachers and workers together to pray about connecting more people. Pray about people who are currently unconnected. Pray for your teachers and leaders. Pray for God's leadership, compassion, and insight. Ask Him to give you compassion, passion, and direction. Pour out your concern to Him, but don't forget to listen. When you ask, seek, and knock, He will give you the desire of your heart.
• WRITE DOWN THE VALUES AND BENEFITS OF CONNECTING PEOPLE. Gather your group of Sunday School teachers and workers and write down all of the ways that connecting people in Sunday School is helpful. How does a group benefit participants? What are the values they receive by being connected to a group? Have leaders work individually. Then get them into small groups (2-4 people) sharing what they wrote down. Ask the small group to write a consolidated list. Then have the small groups share their lists which will be joined together into one list. Allow time for additions and clarifications. This activity will increase the value among your leaders and help them in the days ahead as they improve and mobilize their classes.
• DREAM/BRAINSTORM ABOUT CONNECTING MORE PEOPLE. This section is focused on HOW to move more people into Sunday School. Dream about it. Brainstorm about it. What can you do to invite? What can you do to make it possible for people to try a group? What can you do to communicate those values and benefits? What can you do to make it personal? What groups need to be started? How can you make people aware of those new opportunities? Again, working in small groups may produce even more ideas that can then later be shared with the whole group. This process creates energy, enthusiasm, and ownership of the pursuit of more people. What steps need to be taken to bring about these connection possibilities? Who needs to be involved? What goals and deadlines need to be set?
• REMOVE THE BARRIERS AND FOCUS ON THE BENEFITS. This is the first of the six steps from Gladen's article. When you are dreaming/brainstorming, you will likely identify some of the potential barriers. Now is the time to address each barrier. What can be done to remove or help people to move around the barriers so they can recognize and realize&n bsp;the values and benefits of connecting in a group? Gladen points out that childcare can be a concern. Help adults to realize the availability of quality childcare, well-trained caring teachers, and great facilities. If there is a weakness here, address that barrier. Communication may be a key. Potential participants may not know the values and benefits of connecting with a group. How can you remove that barrier of "not knowing?" Sunday School testimonies from the pulpit and in publications can help. Allowing new classes (and existing ones) to share at the end of worship about their age group, studies, and activities can help people become interested and take steps to be a part. What other barriers need to be addressed? Identify them and consider ways to help people work through or around them.

In Part 2, we will address five more steps which can be taken to help you connect more people in Sunday School: utilize all communication avenues, extend personal invitations, view transitions as strategic times to connect people, unleash the power of a campaign strategy, host small group connection events, and provide a safe environment for building relationships. Until then, how are you doing with the first four steps? What do you need to do in prayer, values/benefits, dreaming/brainstorming, and removing barriers? Where do you need to start? When will you start? We cannot afford to lose them to growing as disciples and serving in Kingdom work. Begin now to take some prayerful steps toward connecting more people in Sunday School. Be revolutionary!

Many Sunday School classes give good attention to what happens on Sunday morning. The teacher prepares well. The announcement and prayer time is well done. The lesson is presented with passion and thoroughness. Some classes even greet members and guests well. Moments of fellowship are enjoyed before, during, and after class. And yet there is so much more.

My conference in Ohio over the weekend reminded me that revolutionary Sunday School cannot ignore the two doors of the Sunday School: the front door and the back door. No, I am not talking about the physical room having two doors. But I am talking about people entering and leaving the class.

You see, much potential work for revolutionary Sunday School should take place between Sundays. Let's focus for a few minutes on the work that needs to take place between Sundays on the front door and the back door:

• FRONT DOOR. Many classes enjoy being together. They have good fellowship with each other. But there is no plan or focus on bringing more people into the class. They are content the way things are. No goals have been set. No plan have been made for inviting friends, relatives, associates, or neighbors. Fellowship activities are planned, but no prospects are invited. Contact information is not collected when guests attend because there will be no attempt to follow up. Prayer for lost and unchurched people is general, and no one is prayed for by name. The class might give money to minister in time of need to a person who is not a member of the class, but it would not be an attempt to begin a relationship that was expected to continue. Ouch! That is not what revolutionary Sunday School is about! Revolutionary classes care. They know that care is spelled W-O-R-K. And they consider the time and energy required to care to be invested well.
• BACK DOOR. As I said above, many classes enjoy beging together. But everyone in these classes is on his/her own. What I mean is that they fellowship with the group that shows up on Sunday. If someone misses, the group may wonder out loud about where the absentee is, but no one checks on him or her. If someone is sick, they may pray for him or her (during class), but don't expect them to visit the hospital or bring food to the home. And don't expect prayer between Sundays. If a person misses enough Sundays, don't be surprised if the absentee/dropout is removed from the roll. Fellowships are announced in class and no attempts are made to share that information with any who are not in class that day.

With but a little prayer and effort at care, most of our Sunday School classes could move from plateaued or declining. We could move from giving God and the sheep in our care a mediocre effort to giving Him and them our best. Which is your weakness: front or back door? Focus on one until you get it going well (even if both need work). Then when your class has that door working, focus on the other one. Reach out. Follow up. Minister. Contact. Care! Be revolutionary!

How many of you can name all the systems of the human body? We can all easily guess three or four: digestive, cardiovascular (circulatory and pulmonary), muscular, and skeletal. But would you have named these: lymphatic, endocrine, nervous, urinary, and reproductive (male and female)? Which of these systems is not needed? Which three can the body survive without? Two?

To double check your answer, check out Human Anatomy Online. The answer is that a healthy human body needs all the systems. Occasionally when a system malfunctions, medication or medical procedures are able to help the body limp along without that system--but it does so with a "limp."

The same is true of the church body. All the systems are needed and need to be functioning at full capacity. What are those systems for the church? I tend to go back to the five purposes of the church (which can be found in Acts 2:42-47 and other passages): evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and worship. What is left out of the church systems that is not included in these five? Some argue prayer, but I tend to include it in worship. Others would argue stewardship, but I tend to include it either in worship or in discipleship. So whether you stick with the five purposes or add two more, which one or two can the church do without? None!

And yet churches regularly TRY to do so. I emphasize TRY because they too are "limping" along unable to function as our Lord intends. Many churches assign each purpose to a different program in the church. This approach results in silos, and when any one silo fails, it hurts the entire body--the whole system (just like the human body). Jesus is the Head of the body/the Church just like the nervous system (including the brain) is the system that connects the whole body. He never intended silos.

In many ways, Sunday School is the answer to silos. Sunday School is able to carry out all five purposes. It is a reaching-teaching effort that also ministers and fellowships. And Sunday School intends to lead attenders into a Bible study experience in class an in private devotions in such a way that they encounter the God of the Bible--so it is also worship! Additional efforts in discipleship, evangelism, ministry, fellowship, and worship are needed to supplement and strengthen the work that Sunday School does, but it is like the shell of the human body that holds all of the systems together.

Keep Sunday School healthy. Keep it balanced. Keep all of the purposes functioning well within Sunday School. Look at the purposes and discern what efforts are needed to supplement and strengthen the purposes through the Sunday School. For more information about Sunday School and the five purposes, check out the following blog posts: Sunday School Carrying out the Purposes of the Church, Five Purposes of a Revolutionary Sunday School, Repurposing Your Sunday School Class, and The 5 W’s of Balanced Sunday School.

If evangelism is weak, provide some training and some intentional efforts and events. If discipleship is weak, train teachers and challenge members to invest in a daily quiet time. Evaluate, address, and adjust. Give your best effort in carrying out our Lord's Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Be revolutionary!

Around the country, Sunday School classes range from small group (under 15 attenders) to midsize group (15-60 attenders) with a few rare groups being ABFs (60+ attenders). Since so many churches are small, averaging under 100, most classes are small groups. This weekend, I had the privilege to be a part of the faculty for the 2008 ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) Conference in Mason, Ohio. This year's theme was "Think Midsize." The focus was on midsize groups averaging between 15 and 60 attenders each week.

There were three general sessions and 37 different conferences offered during four breakout time slots. I was asked to lead three conferences: Top Ten Actions to Grow Your ABF Ministry, Moving Sunday School Classes Toward Being Communities, and Outreach and Other Ideas to Build Your ABF. My target was midsize groups as well as ABFs. People from twenty-two states and many different denominations were present. I had a great time sharing my passion and experience about Sunday School and learning from those who attended as well.

As I have reflected on my conferences, I have realized anew how very important it is for Sunday School leaders to do two things: (1) personally care (feeling and action) about members, absentees, and guests/prospects and (2) to lead the class to do the same. I know it is a tired cliché, but it is true: "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." You have to show it for them to know it. Allow me quickly to paint three pictures that show how important it is:

Teachers and leaders, whether it happens in your group is up to you. If you don't model care, it is less likely to happen. If you don't lead the class to pursue care, they won't. Care can make an eternal difference in the lives of people without Jesus. Put flesh on the love of Christ with members, absentees, and guests. Have care. Do care. Lead your class to care. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about doing care, check out these blog posts and more:

• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation
• Does Your Sunday School Class Really Care?
• Grow Your Sunday School Class by Organizing to Respond in Times of Need
• Reconnecting with Sunday School Absentees
• Pursuing Sunday School Dropouts
• Revolutionary Sunday School Does Care
• Use Your Sunday School Records to Reach and Care for More People, Part 1
• High Expectations Are Necessary for Sunday School’s Mutiny Against Mediocrity
• Be Proactive, Not Reactive, in Your Sunday School Assimilation Efforts!
• Sunday School Class Guest Follow Up, Part 2
• Helping to Keep Up with the Joneses: The Job of the Class Secretary
• Sunday School Ministry in Times of Grief

The "open chair" is symbolic of two realities (1) the presence of Jesus and (2) not all of the sheep are already in the sheep pen. I have talked about the open chair in previous blog entries:

• Push and Pull People to Sunday School/Small Groups
• Give Sunday School to Jesus
• Revolutionary Classes Mobilize Attenders
• Creating Sunday School Class Outreach Momentum
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 1 and Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3
• Five Purposes of a Revolutionary Sunday School
• Has Your Sunday School Enrollment Increased Lately?
• The 5 W’s of Balanced Sunday School
• How Can We Get New Members in Sunday School/Small Groups?
• Avoiding Small Group Leadership Mistakes, Part 1
• Practical Tips for Leading Revolutionary Small Groups, Part 2
• Adult Sunday School Teacher Evaluation, Part 2
• Sunday School Supporting Spiritual Disciplines, Part 4.

I want to challenge you to practice the open chair. Allow me briefly to examine each of the two realities:

• THE PRESENCE OF JESUS. The open chair is symbolic of the presence of Jesus. At the beginning of class, point to an open chair and remind attenders of His promise: "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:19-20, NIV). When you gather together in His name, Jesus is there. When you agree together ("come together") on what you want to seek from the Father, you will receive it. When you gather, seek Him together. Seek His presence. Set aside sin. Recognize His Lordship. Recognize that the Bible is His love letter to you--together. He desires good for us. He has sent the Holy Spirit. We need his help in clearly discerning the truth of His Word and applying it to our lives. We need His help in mobilizing to carry out His Great Com mission (Matthew 28:19-20). Use the open chair to remind attenders of His presence.
• NOT ALL OF THE SHEEP ARE ALREADY IN THE SHEEP PEN. The open chair is also symbolic of emptiness. It points to the need to fill it with someone. There are still people who are unconnected to Jesus that we need to invite to our homes, to our fellowships, to our classes, to worship, and to Jesus. We were commanded to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). Jesus claims other sheep that are not yet in the sheep pen (John 10:16). We are His hands and feet. We are to go to them, love them, and invite them for Him and to Him. Since Sunday School on average is more than 100 times more likely to lead a person to faith in the Lord Jesus than worship alone, we need to bring them to the sheep pen. And we need to start more sheep pens (classes) and release more shepherds (teachers/workers). Surveys have shown that more than 80% of unchurched people are at least somewhat likely to come to church if we invite them. What are we waiting for? Use the open chair to remind them that our work of invitation is not finished.

We live in a visual society. Images have impact. Jesus understood that truth two millenia ago. Let the symbol of the open chair speak. Pray for the presence of Jesus. Pray for the lost. Become burdened with Jesus's burdens. He came to seek that which was lost. Do the same. Be revolutionary!

According to dictionary.com, an oxymoron is "a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in 'cruel kindness' or 'to make haste slowly.'" I am reminded of the medicated salve, Icy Hot. The world is full of oxymorons and so is ministry.

For instance, Jesus is the God-man. God hates sin but loves the sinner. Love is a noun and a verb; it is something you have and something you do. We are saved by God's grace through faith, not works. But as a result of salvation, we realize that faith without works is dead. This is a list that can go on and on.

Sunday School, too, is full of oxymorons. For instance, we are to build trusting relationships with members, but we are also to be open to new people. How can you be open, transparent, honest, confessional, and trusting when people are present you do not yet know? In order for Sunday School to be the evangelistic tool it has the potential to be, this line must be walked. The class must open its relational velcro rather than expose its teflon. Individuals in the class must choose to invest in new relationships in class, at fellowships and projects, and in homes.

Revolutionary Sunday School also seeks to connect and grow while at the same time serving and going. It is about living out what is learned. It is about taking the strengthen of that relationship with God and each other and reaching out to love others to Jesus. It is encouraging each other to flesh out the Gospel.

Sunday School is also about getting larger and getting smaller. It is about loving more people into relationships and to the class, the church, and most importantly to Jesus. It is about adding more people to the ministry list. It is about having more people in attendance. But it is also about multiplying the number of sheep pens and shepherds in order to care for more people. It is about sending out a teacher or an apprentice with a seed group to start another class. It is about growing and praying enough to prepare for the start a new class out of our class.

It is about desiring that every learner be involved in the Bible study session. The larger the class gets, the more the teacher has to rely upon a variety of teaching methods in order to engage every learner. The larger the class gets, the more he/she has to break the group into smaller groups because everyone talks in a small group.

Yes, Sunday School is full of oxymorons. But it is fun to walk the line between the "seemingly self-contradictory" sides. What oxymorons do you see? Press the Comment button below and leave your thoughts. Continue to stretch yourself and others to give your best effort in Sunday School to God, His people, and the lost sheep. Be revolutionary!

Why not? Some might argue as a result of high expectations that teachers and workers would be hard to find. Others may fear classes who would just give up. But what if instead of having negative impact, high expectations produced surprisingly positive results? What if teachers were challenged by the expectations, realized they had to trust God, and were willing to give their best? What if classes knew what they were supposed to do and did so with reckless abandon?

Isn't that what Jesus' disciples did? And isn't that what He expects of His disciples today? Let's release the power of His disciples mobilized as a Sunday School class. As churches, let's expect them to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Let's expect them to produce surprising results. This means the church needs to understand the potential for Sunday School classes and communicate high expectations for them to pursue that potential.

What expectations do you have for your classes? What expectations would be appropriate? How much is possible? What expectations are God-sized? How small should the steps be toward high expectations? How quickly can you move from low (or no) expectations toward high expecations? Each church will have to answer those questions individually.

As an example, allow me to share some simple expectations from Roswell United Methodist Church for an adult class. They are from a web page entitled Sunday School Class Recommendations and Guidelines for Class Leaders. What could happen as a result of the following expectations?

• INVITATION - Classes should intentionally reach out to other adults - both within and outside our congregation - to include them in the Sunday school program. Here are some suggested ways and places to do that:
• Always contact any prospects forwarded to the attention of your class
• Plan to send a representative to new member gatherings as needed
• Ask for permission to share about your class at the parent’s confirmation class
• Always greet people when they join the church – and perhaps have class business cards to give them so they will have your vital information in written form
• Share your excitement about your class with those you meet – in Bible study classes, in your neighborhood, with those you sit next to in worship
  
• STUDY - Classes should plan regular opportunities to help class members to hear and interact with the Word of God.
• FELLOWSHIP - Classes should intentionally schedule events and functions outside regular class time and allow sharing times within the class period in order to strengthen the fellowship and personal relationships of class members.
• SERVICE - Classes should offer opportunities for outreach to encourage all members to take on the servant lifestyle of Jesus and to give regularly to the Lord’s work.
• INVOLVEMENT - Class leaders should participate fully in Adult Council meetings and teacher training sessions, and encourage members to join them in congregation-wide activities.

Your list may look different from this list, but this one is a good start. What would you add? What would you leave out? What would you change? How could you begin to raise expectations? What is the potential? Give God your best. Be revolutionary!

In Part 1, I mentioned that there are a number of issues that can be stumbling blocks which contribute toward plateaued or declining Sunday School attendance. In my work with three churches in three states, I discovered four stumbling blocks in common. It is possible that it is coincidental that they shared them, but I don't think that is the case. In Part 1, I shared the first two stumbling blocks: poor records and no prospect files. In Part 2, I will share the final two stumbling blocks:

How are you doing in these two areas? Does one need some attention in order to remove it as a stumbling block? What can you do this month to address this issue? What is the first step? Who needs to be involved? Go back to the two issues in Part 1 (poor records and no propsect files). Which of these four stumbling blocks should be your priority for action? Evaluate your Sunday School growth. What are the challenges and barriers you face? Pray. Work to remove them. Grow. Be revolutionary!

In the past two months, I have worked with three churches in three states, two were in suburban locations and one in an urban location. Our purpose together was to examine and evaluate the Sunday School to determine actions that could be taken toward growth. All three had been plateaued or declining in Sunday School attendance for some time.

There are a number of issues that can be stumbling blocks for contributing to plateaued or declining attendance. Surprisingly, none of the three churches currently had a space problem. Each had options for starting several more classes. Worship was not filled. There was plenty of parking still available. Space can be a significant issue. This can occur when any of these spaces are full: Sunday School (any age group), worship, parking, bathrooms, or hallway. Without giving attention to the filling of any one of these in advance, frequently growth will slow and stop.

Even though space was available, growth was plateaued or declining. What then were the stumbling blocks which if addressed could enable the church turn this around? Four issues appeared to be common. As I share each one, examine your Sunday School. How are you doing in each area? Is one or more of them a stumbling block for growth in your Sunday School? In Part 1, we will look at the first two stumbling blocks:

How are you doing in these two areas? Does one need some attention in order to remove it as a stumbling block? What can you do this month to address this issue? What is the first step? Who needs to be involved? In Part 2, we will look at two more stumbling blocks: no goals and no new classes. Evaluate your Sunday School growth. What are the challenges and barriers you face? Pray. Work to remove them. Grow. Be revolutionary.

I met with a pastor and Sunday School director yesterday. The pastor was called to serve this church nine years ago. The director joined the church two years ago, is just beginning his service, and has never served as Sunday School director before. On top of that, the church is in the middle of a three-phase construction/renovation project which is largely focusing on Sunday School space. More than once the director quoting one of my blog posts, Help for the New Sunday School Director, said that he felt like he was "drinking from a fire hydrant."

It did not, however, take me long to understand why the director, an architect, had been enlisted. He obviously was an eager learner. He had found my blog and had read numerous posts and had printed several that he wanted to reference again. To go along with that information, I shared three books with him. On top of that, the director had made out a list of sixteen items in his "Plan for Bible Studies." Items on his list ranged from deciding on frequency and the best time for teacher meetings and training sessions, communicating with teachers, making new classroom assignments, acclimating new members, setting up teacher appreciation, and more. What a list!

At one point, I emphasized the importance of prioritizing his list. He will need to choose the top 1-3 items on his list and focus his time and energy on those items until they are well underway or complete. These would be prioritized by importance and by sequence. In other words, some items are necessarily addressed first because others which follow depend on it. After he has accomplished the first 1-3, he can move on to other items. Granted, some of the items are simply making wise and informed decisions, but communication of even those items can be overwhelming for him and his teachers and workers.

Several times in the course of our time together, the director stopped to talk with the pastor about plans or steps in the process. I could tell that the director is a thinker and one who will communicate frequently with his pastor--both are great signs for his effectiveness. They seemed to have a great relationship and already appear to be a good team.

Sunday School leader, are you off to a good start in your Sunday School work this year? What can you learn from this experience I have shared? Are you a learner? Have you identified what you need to know in order to be more effective? Have you prayerfully made out a list of items that need to be addresses/improved. I recommend doing so on paper. Then prioritize your list. Then begin working on them in order. Are you working together as a team with other class or Sunday School leaders and pastor/staff? Much more can be accomplished as a team. This will move you from drinking from a fire hydrant to a less-overwhelming water fountain.

For additional help for the Sunday School director, type "director" into the search box on the upper right hand side of this blog. Of more than two hundred helpful posts for the director, here are four to get you started:

• Top Priorities of a New Sunday School Director
• What Does It Take for a Revolutionary Director to Lead the Sunday School?
• What Does a Revolutionary Sunday School Director Do on Sunday Morning?
• Fr ee Training Materials for Sunday School Teachers.

In addition to the free training materials just mentioned, I want to recommend two other resources for the Sunday School Director:  Ten Best Practices to Make Your Sunday School Work and Six Core Values of Sunday School. Don't just maintain the status quo. Lead. Be revolutionary!

Revolutionary Sunday School teachers desire more than to do a good job. Like Olympic athletes, they want to give their best! They know that God deserves no less. And the people for whom God sent His Son to die with whom He has made us shepherd-stewards deserve no less. Even with that realization, revolutionary teachers are not equally as stong in every aspect of teaching, but they continually strive to address the weaker areas.

What are your weaker areas? Where could you be more effective? The first step is to identify the areas that should be compared or measured. What are the benchmarks or standards for excellence for your teaching? I like a list developed by Matt Capps in blog post entitled Ten Principles for Effective Teaching in the Church. Since there are ten of them and I want to comment on each of them, they will be shared in a three-part series. In Part 1, I will share the first three in all capitals followed by my commentary:

• THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL WORK THROUGH YOUR TEACHING (1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10). You are never teaching alone. This is so reassuring! The Spirit is intimately involved in the lives of believers and thus in the teaching-learning process. Capps lists many great biblical passages: The Holy Spirit (1) "works through the teacher (1 Cor. 12:4-11; 1 Pet. 4:10);" (2) illuminates the learner (1 Cor. 2:1-16; Eph. 1:17-19);" (3) indwells the learner (John 14:17; Rom. 5:5, 8:9; Eph. 1:13-14);" (4) instructs the learner (John 14:26-27, 16:7-15);" and (5) "draws [learners] to Himself through teaching (2 Cor. 4:1-6)." The Holy Spirit guides in the preparation process, in relationships, in teaching, in learning, and in applying the Word. It is vital that the teacher be sensitive to the work of the Spirit in his/her personal encounter with God in His Word and in serving as guide for learners to do the same.
• THE GOAL OF TEACHING IS ALWAYS LIFE CHANGE (1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10). The goal is not merely the act of teaching/communicating. It is not content delivery. It is not learning knowledge. Instead, it is to lead learners to encounter God in His Word which leads them to realize their need to adjust their lives to Him. It is about transformation. It is about becoming more like Jesus. It is growing in the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20), Jesus commanded us to make disciples of all nations "baptizing" and "teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Obedience is our goal in teaching--not knowledge. That impacts our methods, our involvement of learners, and our expectations (and theirs). What does God expect as a result of meeting Him in Bible study? How does He expect you to respond? This requires the teacher to know learners' needs in order to best lead them to consider the truth of God's Word, apply it to their lives, and put it into practice. I found it interesting that Capps points out that "the teacher is not a lecturer but a tour guide." Check out one of my previous posts that also makes that point: Small Group Leader as Sightseeing Guide. The revolutionary teacher works with the Holy Spirit and learners to reach for life change.
• EFFECTIVE TEACHING IS TRANSFERABLE (1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10). Capps made me think here. There are so many ways to say what he said, and his was fresh. We want learners to be captivated by God, His Word, the truth, and the need to live it. We want learners to retain what they learned or else they will never follow through to life change. One way Capps restated this point was that the "teacher has not done [his/her] job un less the learners can walk away with the 'big idea' of the lesson." In other words, what is the point? What is the one point you, as teacher, trying to make? What do you believe is God's desire for learners as a result of encountering Him in this passage of scripture? I like a quote Capps shared about this concept from Andy Stanley, "Dig until you find it. Build everything around it. Make it stick." Capps said the concept is that teachers need "to reduce your 'big idea' down to a take home level." Great way of expressing it! If learners cannot remember the lesson in an hour, how can we expect them to live differently next week? If, at lesson's end, they cannot express the main truth and how they need to respond as a result, they did not get it. Focus your teaching to make your teaching transferable to learners.

Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 (from poor to excellent) for each of these three areas of teaching effectiveness. How did you score on each of these? Where do you need to invest more time and energy in order to give your best? What is your first step? In Part 2, we will examine three more areas of effective teaching which (4) involves the learners, (5) utilizes the learning environment, and (6) assesses the needs of learners. Be aware of the Spirit's work. Work toward life change. Lead them to get it! Be revolutionary!

There are many members of the target audience for The Sunday School Revolutionary. A few of these include pastors; staff members who relate to preschool, children, youth, and adult Sunday School; Sunday School directors; Sunday School secretaries; age group directors; Sunday School teachers; class officers, including care group leaders, outreach leaders, fellowship leaders, and others; class members; church leaders who support the Sunday School, such as finance/budget committees, building and grounds committees, and others; small group ministry directors; small group facilitators, leaders, and members. Wow, what an important list of church leaders!

One of the groups I just listed is Sunday School directors. There are over 2,100 men and women filling this position in Baptist churches in Kentucky alone. Some work with three or four teachers while others work with hundreds. Each director has an important job to do in the church which impacts the community and the Kingdom.

I have written about the important responsibility of the director before. Check out these blog entries:

• What Does a Revolutionary Sunday School Director Do on Sunday Morning?
• What Does It Take for a Revolutionary Director to Lead the Sunday School?
• Help for the New Sunday School Director
• The Many Hats of the Sunday School Director
• Top Priorities of a New Sunday School Director
• Pastors and Sunday School Directors as Coaches
• Essential Basics for Sunday School Leadership by Pastors and Directors
• Are They Following Your Leadership of the Sunday School?
• and many more.

Today I read an interesting article by my friend, Josh Hunt. The article is entitled What Is a Sunday School Director to Do? In the article he offers "concrete suggestions on what you can do if you have taken on the role of Sunday School director" whether you are a volunteer or Minister of Education. He begins by suggesting that it is important to decide on "where you want to go." And he has a suggested destination: "help Sunday School teachers grow their groups both spiritually and numerically." That is a great goal and great advice!

Then Josh shares four actions a director needs to take to accomplish the goal of spiritual and numerical growth. I encourage you to read his well-written article whose link is shared in the previous paragraph! In Part 1, allow me to share his the first two of his four actions in all capitals followed by my commentary:

• TAKE CARE OF THE DETAILS. Help your Sunday School to give God your best! Make a positive impression with every lesson taught and everything done. Strive for excellence. Pursue God-sized goals and tasks! Prioritize the responsibility. Give the role the most time and effort you can. Draw a team around you to make sure you cover all the bases. Lead by serving. Invest in relationships: with God, your pastor/staff, and teachers/workers. Keep your commitments to those you lead. When you make a promise, keep it (whether for a marker, pupil book, or chair)! Be early. Prayerwalk the facility. Budget well. Calendar Sunday School activities. Help your church to see the possibilities as a result of giving God their best!
• OFFER TRAINING AND SKILL BUILDING. Be an example here. Be a learner. Read. Attend conferences. Learn. Improve your understanding of your job and about Sunday School. When you stop learning, you stop leading. Next, Josh makes a great suggestion: "Get the pastor involved." Josh suggests offering a weekly time of accountability, planning, lesson preview, training, and skill building. But it could be monthly. The pastor invests a few minutes each week but does not have to lead all of the time. In fact, Josh suggests rotating "the teaching among your participating teachers." This will build ownership of the time and allow "everyone to learn more." For many great suggestions of resources to use, check out Josh's article. In general, he suggests focusing on teaching/learning; communicating; balanced Sunday School work (including fellowship, ministry, evangelism, etc.); as well as a foundation of theology "that will enable them to teach everything with greater skill." Josh is clear in emphasizing that "even though the pastor does not teach every week, it is imperative that he be present every week. His ministry of presence in participating will mean the difference between success or failure in this project." As director, it is your job to arrange all of this. Set up the meetings. Personally enlist the pastor and teachers. Call to remind the teacher who is to lead the training each time. Arrange the room.

In Part 2, I will share the final two actions a director needs to take  to help Sunday School teachers grow their groups spiritually and numerically. These two actions are (3) help groups reproduce and (4) encourage, encourage, encourage. What can you do to improve one of the two areas above? What details do you need to carry out better? What training do you need to seek? What training do your teachers and workers need? Where can you start? Pray and ask for God's leadership and help. And take bold steps to lead your Sunday School to grow spiritually and numerically! Be revolutionary!

When is the right time to start new classes? The answer is "when they are needed and leaders are ready." What can we do to prepare for starting new classes? What can we do to discern whether a new class is needed? How can we get a new leader ready?

In Part 1, I mentioned an article entitled How to Start New Adult Sunday School Classes which shares actions with the letter, "E," that are "foundational building blocks on which new adult classes can be started." The web article content came from a brochure by Ron Pratt of the Baptist Sunday School Board, now called LifeWay Christian Resources. In Part 1, I shared Pratt's first three actions. In Part 2, I shared the middle three actions. In Part 3, I will share his final three actions to build effective new classes in all capitals followed by my commentary: