The Sunday School Revolutionary!

A Dozen Sunday School Growth Barriers, Part 3

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:52:00 -0400

In thinking about barriers, obstacles, and challenges to Sunday School growth, consider issues that your class or Sunday School may be encountering. In my experience, growing churches facing barriers but are usually able to find a way around or over the hurdle. So what are your hurdles? Name them and plan to deal with them!

In Part 1, I listed a dozen barriers. In Part 2, I looked at the first three barriers: (1) apathy/spiritual immaturity/laziness, (2) busyness, and (3) lack of leadership, vision, and planning. In Part 3, I want to examine the next three barriers. Consider the following:

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE/TRAINING. Resistance to growth ideas and plans sometimes can be traced to lack of understanding of Sunday School. How can you raise the level of understanding and expectation? Focus. Balance. Encourage. Challenge. Be persistent. Dole out training in small installments. Consider these ideas:
- give teachers/workers a survey asking for success stories and needs related to teaching, reaching out, and caring/ministering to members (as examples)
- send emails to teachers with links and blog posts
- copy web articles and blog posts and place them in record books on Sunday
- give them Sunday School books and ask them to read a chapter and then gather to discuss that chapter
- plan 15 minutes of training into your hour-long monthly teacher/worker meeting (turn it into a "growth" planning meeting)
- plan a semi-annual or quarterly training event focused on a couple of different major areas each time (check out Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers for ideas)
- enlist a speaker for your teacher/worker appreciation luncheon or banquet to emphasize an important area of focus for the year ahead
- consider individual conversation/coaching; ask, "What is going well? and "What would you like for your class to do differently?" Those questions can provide many opportunities for verbal training, support, and assistance.
INWARD FOCUS. We all get busy and focus on what is right in front of us. For the teacher and class, that means the focus is frequently only on each other and on the Sunday meeting. Growth takes place more between Sundays and focuses on those who are not already in the class. Changing to an outward focus takes prayer, leadership, planning, and action. Begin by praying for people and their needs who are not already in class (prayer changes us!). Enlist a class outreach leader--not to do all the work but to get the class involved. Gather a planning team to lead the class to take increasingly bold steps outward. Plan simple projects and work to involve everyone in the class in some way. Share pictures and testimonies.
CONFLICTS. Conflict does not necessarily divide. It can lead to deepening relationships as you work through the issues. But ignoring conflict will create division and make growth difficult or impossible. Follow the Matthew 18:15-17 principles of conflict resolution. Teachers and class leaders should not allow conflict to fester. Approach the individuals and facilitate resolution. Pray FOR the other person. The issue is restoration of a brother or sister in Christ. At risk is our work for the Lord that we can accomplish better together. When agreement on direction is an issue, spend time praying TOGETHER before moving forward.

What would you add to the discussion about these three barriers? Press Comments below to share your list of barriers, obstacles, and challenges. In Part 4, I will expand on the first three in the list: (1) lack of ownership, (2) turfism, and (3) settling for the good rather than the best. I hope to offer some simple strategies for moving beyond these barriers. Plan. Grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about barriers and obstacles, check out the blog posts:

A Dozen Sunday School Growth Barriers, Part 2

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:06:00 -0400

In thinking about barriers, obstacles, and challenges to Sunday School growth, I invite you to pause to consider issues that your class or Sunday School may be encountering. In my experience, growing churches facing barriers are frequently able to find a way around or over the hurdle. So what are your hurdles? Name them and plan to deal with them!

In Part 1, I listed a dozen barriers. In Part 2, I want to examine the first three barriers. Consider the following:

APATHY/SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY/LAZINESS. Growth and following the Lord's leadership is not simply haphazard and reactionary. We are to be intentional. Consider these words of Jesus: "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23, ESV). These are intentional choices with consequences. In turn, Sunday School is an intentional strategy to help the church to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Examine with me these three barriers and how to respond to them:
- Apathy. An apathetic person does not care. Though he/she will often deny this fact, the source of apathy is often not caring for Jesus. That apathy can frequently be traced to little or no investment in a relationship with the Lord. No relationship stays stable without intentional investment. Navigating the hurdle of apathy may require investment in personal Bible study and prayer, mentoring, sharing vision, and encouragement/challenge. Partner with an apathetic individual in these actions.
- Spiritual Immaturity. A baby acts like a baby. Young believers need intentional encouragement and discipling to move them from milk to meat. Doing life together with them helps. It also helps to show (not just tell) them why Sunday School actions and strategy are essential).
- Laziness. There are so many roots here. A focus on priorities helps. Motivation and understanding purpose helps. Goals, deadlines, and personal accountability can be fruitful. Laziness is often evidence of selfishness. Lead the person to spend time with the Lord in Bible study and prayer. Walk with him or her.
BUSYNESS. Many have discovered that busy people get things done. They know how to organize, prioritize, delegate, and accomplish goals and tasks. The root of a busy person who does not get Sunday School work done likely comes from (1) lack of vision for the task/goal or (1) lack of understanding the importance of the task/goal. Take time to explain the vision, why their assignment is important, and how their work makes a difference. Sometimes, however, we should recognize that everyone needs to be involved in Sunday School work, not just a select few. Spread the work around. Make sure there is not another less-busy individual available who needs the assignment.
LACK OF LEADERSHIP, VISION, AND PLANNING FOR GROWTH. I recommend an annual Sunday School growth planning retreat which includes spiritual preparation, evaluation, needs and dreams identification, prioritization, goal setting, and plan making. Flowing from the retreat will be goals, plans, calendaring, assignments, deadlines, etc. And monthly planning meetings will be regular times for reports of progress (accountability), review of goals (ownership), and adjustment of plans. Monthly meetings will follow meetings by the pastor and Sunday School director to prepare for the meetings. Sharing the vision, goals, and progress with the church helps to maintain attention and momentum.

What would you add to the discussion about these three barriers? Press Comments below to share your list of barriers, obstacles, and challenges. In Part 3, I will expand on the first three in the list: (1) lack of knowledge/training, (2) inward focus, and (3) conflicts. I hope to offer some simple strategies for moving beyond these barriers. Plan. Grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about barriers and obstacles, check out the blog posts:

A Dozen Sunday School Growth Barriers, Part 1

Darryl Wilson — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:03:00 -0400

I have been thinking about barriers, obstacles, and challenges to Sunday School growth. Before reading further, I invite you to pause to consider issues your class or Sunday School may be encountering. In my experience, even growing churches face barriers. They frequently are able to find a way around or over the hurdle. So what are your hurdles? Make a list now.

I have begun my list. In no way do I consider it to be complete. Consider the following:

Apathy/spiritual immaturity/laziness
Busyness
Lack of leadership, vision, and planning for growth
Lack of knowledge/training
Inward focus
Conflicts
Lack of ownership
Turfism
Settling for the good rather than the best
Implosion of growth structure and span of care
False growth assumption due to aisle traffic
Lack of space

What would you add to the list? Press Comments below to share your list of barriers, obstacles, and challenges. In Part 2, I will expand on the first three in the list: (1) apathy/spiritual immaturity/laziness, (2) busyness, and (3) lack of leadership, vision, and planning. I hope to offer some simple strategies for moving beyond these barriers. Plan. Grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about barriers and obstacles, check out the blog posts:

Join Me for Prayer for New Groups Movement

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:05:00 -0400

Several of my friends across the country and I have begun praying that a new groups movement would sweep our nation. One of my friends, Bob Mayfield who serves the Lord through the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma reminded me today:

The First and Second Great Awakenings were large assembly awakenings where powerful expositors such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards preached the Gospel. The 1858 Prayer Revival was a lay-led awakening initiated by – prayer. Could it be that the next great awakening to sweep over our nation is a lay-led movement involving a million or more new groups and new group leaders?

What if a million new Bible study groups were started at church, in homes, or in businesses? What if each group reached ten people? That would be an addition of ten million people involved in these new groups. Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Christian Resources has shared that an average of three lost people will be reached in each new group. That would mean three million lost people would encounter God's story through Bible study and in the lives of Christians in a small group setting. According to most pastors with whom I have talked, at least half of those lost people would accept Jesus as Savior and Lord within a year. That could mean 1.5 million people baptized, discipled, and sent into the harvest.

There is no question our Lord expects us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). And there are many ways to do so, but my friends and I are convinced that a new groups movement is key. But it all begins with PRAYER!

I want to invite you to join me in prayer for this new groups movement every Thursday, at 7:30 AM Eastern time. As we all gather in our own unique places to pray before God, let’s pray:

for the Gospel to be shared with every person in America;
for the Lord of the harvest to raise up leaders for new groups;
for our leaders; pastors, Sunday School directors, education ministers, and denominational servants to be humble and sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and open to the possibilities that new groups offer to engage people with the Gospel and the Christian community;
that we will see spiritual transformation among ourselves and across our nation;
for partnership and cooperation; and
for spiritual wisdom and insight.

Will you join me? Let me know by leaving me a message by pressing Comment below. Let the movement start now. Let the movement begin in me!

For other ideas about new groups, check out these blog posts:

Sunday School: The Flipped Classroom

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 09:20:00 -0400

One of my sisters and her husband are flipping a house. In layman's terms, they bought and are working on the house with the intent to sell it for a profit.

The term "flipped" in the classroom, on the other hand, means something else entirely. A flipped classroom is "the moment when you allow your students to struggle, ask questions, solve problems, and do the "heavy lifting" required to learn the material." In other words, it is when we stop talking and "flip" the work to them instead (Faculty Focus newsletter, 3/25/13 edition).

There are several key opportunities when flipping the classroom in Sunday School can be greatly beneficial:

when you see boredom slipping in,
when you see lack of understanding,
when you want learners to grasp something that is more difficult,
when you want involvement and learning energy to increase,
when you want them to focus on the most critical part of the lesson,
when sharing together will create greater evaluation and further thinking.

What are some ways to flip the classroom? I will share several ideas, but I think it is important to lead gently in this direction if there is little prior history of attender involvement and participation. If lecture has been your main approach, begin by flipping for no more than five minutes. Choose a simple flipping option rather than a more complicated one at first. Consider which of these options might be useful with your group. Take a risk, stretch your learners, and try the following:

in pairs have them respond to a critical question;
divide into groups of 3-5 to work through a case study (a story with problems related to the truth of the lesson):
divide into debate teams to consider various sides of an issue:
in groups of 2-3, have them share where they struggle related to the truth of the lesson and how they could respond:
pair off and have learners practice an application activity or response related to the lesson:
read a life or news story and ask subgroups to prepare a Christian response;
give individuals an index card on which to write open-ended questions related to the lesson, collect anonymous cards, shuffle, and distribute to groups;
and so many more possibilities.

Take advantage of flipping your Sunday School classroom. Capture attention. Focus attention on key learning and issues. Help them struggle to learn and apply. Increase involvement, attention, and retention, and application. Generate deeper thinking. Lead them to obey. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

Moving from Two Sunday School Hours to One

Darryl Wilson — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 10:57:00 -0400

I recently had a friend in another state ask several of friends (including myself) if they had any experience in moving from two hours of Sunday School to one. He was seeking advantages to the change as well as pitfalls that might be experienced. There are several reasons why this issue may need to be considered:

recent construction/completion of educational space,
significant decline in attendance,
need to change the Sunday morning schedule (especially lengthening worship or time between Sunday School and worship),
a move toward more off campus groups,
and more.

Having worked with some churches who have taken this course of action, here is what I shared with him:

Advantages of moving from two Sunday School hours to one:

Setting up rooms is easier (only have to set once for Sunday)--don't have to clean up after first in order to be ready for second
No communication needed between those who share space on Sunday morning
Easier to distribute records to classrooms once without fear of the second set getting misplaced
Communication about when Sunday School takes place is simpler
Planning a teacher/worker meeting on Sunday before Sunday School is simpler (only have to meet one set of teachers)
Teacher enlistment is slightly less confusing
Only need one Sunday School secretary (and/or Sunday School director or assistant)
Classroom signage is simpler
Can examine the Sunday morning schedule and start worship earlier (lengthen worship time)
Only need preschooler care for two hours rather than three

Disadvantages of moving from two Sunday School hours to one:

People today prefer choices
Some people prefer to come early and leave early (often senior adults) and others prefer sleeping in a bit and coming later (often young adults)
Offering Sunday School after worship makes it easy to invite guests to go with me now to Sunday School rather than inviting them to come next week
One Sunday School usually means fewer classes when combined and will almost certainly result in lower attendance
One Sunday School usually needs fewer workers meaning former workers will be slightly less regular in attendance and less care will be provided (fewer shepherds cannot care for the same number of sheep as more shepherds did)
There will be fewer available classrooms for growth in one hour
Have to decide what to do with workers from Sunday School hour that is being dropped
Have to communicate with workers and members from Sunday School hour that is being dropped
For some churches, this change with be difficult to reverse (move back to two hours) even if needed

What would you add to my response from your experience? A move from two Sunday School hours to one hour does not have to be a step backwards. But think thoroughly about the decision before you make it. Don't allow this decision to slow or stop growth. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about Sunday School space and facilities, check out these blog posts:

Job Description: Sunday School Secretary

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:22:00 -0400

In my previous blog post, Job Description: Sunday School Class Secretary, I wrote about the responsibilities of the class secretary. Today's post, on the other hand, describes the role of the general (total Sunday School) secretary. The Sunday School Secretary supports the Sunday School Director and the Sunday School Growth Team (see Job Description: Basic Sunday School Growth Team for a list and duties) through keeping good records, making reports, and securing needed resources, supplies, and curriculum.

Here are some of the areas in which a Sunday School functions and focuses:

processes weekly attendance records from all classes--seek to include every latecomer;
works with classes to maintain accurate and up to date master file member and prospect contact information (Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 3);
transfers, adds, and removes persons from class enrollment according to church policy (see Use Your Sunday School Records to Reach and Care for More People, Part 1 and Use Your Sunday School Records to Reach and Care for More People, Part 2);
works with classes to order, secure, and distribute needed/requested curriculum, resources, and supplies;
meets monthly with the Sunday School Growth Team;
prepares monthly (and annual) reports about attendance, enrollment, prospect, change, and others as requested prior to the monthly Sunday School Growth Team meeting.

MASTER FILES:

In most cases, there are three levels of member and prospect contact information to be kept updated. There is a master file maintained by the Sunday School and/or church office. Then there is a class file that is maintained by the class; changes are reported to the Sunday School Secretary. Then there is an assignment/report copy for members to make contacts with absentees and prospects and to report results of contacts. The class file helps in case the assignment/report copy is lost, and the master file helps for when a class file is misplaced.

MONTHLY, QUARTERLY, AND ANNUAL REPORTS:

The planning team will benefit from regular reports which include (but are not limited to) the following:

total enrollment and enrollment by age group (preschool, children, youth, and adult) and how much each changed from last month;
total attendance and attendance by age group and how much each changed from last month;
number of different people who attended at least once during the month and how it compares to previous month;
how enrollment and attendance compares to goals set at the annual Sunday School growth retreat;
number of total prospects and by age group;
number newly enrolled this month and number dropped this month;
literature cost per quarter and how it compares to what was budgeted;
annual summary of the above shared with the Director, Pastor, and church.

This valuable team member can help the Sunday School maintain recognize practices and patterns from member and prospect records leading to more effective ministry. Keep good records. Care for members and prospects. Make disciples. Be revolutionary! For more ideas about the work of the Sunday School Secretary, check out the following blog posts:

Job Description: Sunday School Class Secretary

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 13:49:00 -0400

When Sunday School leaders have job descriptions, they will tend to understand their job, expectations, and how to complete assignments successfully. Without a job description, a class secretary will tend to do what he/she has seen done previously or what was explained when enlisted. The task is important so enlist with a job description.

He or she is more than simply a counter of people present. Consider the following responsibilities for the class secretary:

maintain class records and prepare reports including enrollment, contact information, attendance, prospect contact information, and prospect contact results (detailed below);
track progress toward class goals;
request and disburse curriculum, resources, and supplies;
serve as a part of the class leadership team (detailed below); and
train an apprentice class secretary to cover for absences and prepare for another class start.

What can a class secretary contribute through maintaining class records and preparing reports?

track member attendance and any change;
receive weekly written reports of care group leaders about status of group members and prospects;
assign prospects and new class members to care group leaders/maintain updated care group assignment lists;
update individual member and prospect contact information (phone, address, e-mail) regularly; and
share reports of class progress on goals with class and/or Sunday School director as requested by teacher or other class leaders.

How can a class secretary contribute to monthly class leadership team meetings?

report on changing attendance patterns of individual class members;
list of members/absentees needing additional contact and/or ministry gathered from care group leader and member reports;
progress toward class attendance, enrollment, and contact goals;
report on status of individuals on the class prospect list;
attendance pattern versus space/chairs available;
projected need for additional curriculum, chairs, or space; and
need for additional care group leaders due to class growth.

This valuable team member can help the class maintain care for members at a high level while assisting the class to reach out to prospects. Keep good records. Care for members and prospects. Make disciples. Be revolutionary! For more ideas about the work of the class secretary, check out the following blog posts:

Spiritual Renewal Begins with Me: Investing Through Sunday School

Darryl Wilson — Wed, 6 Mar 2013 14:53:00 -0400

Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research recently responded to research data by stating that spiritual maturity comes through “intentionality…in a disciple's life.”

Investing regularly in Sunday School or a small group is an important piece of an intentional spiritual renewal plan for a disciple. Just as an ember pulled out of the fire goes out, so also is spiritual progress extinguished when a disciple separates from other believers.

But spiritual renewal and progress demands more from the Sunday School or small group experience than regular attendance. Consider the following ten actions you can take to raise the level of your investment through your group in your spiritual renewal and progress.

Support your spiritual growth and group by . . .

seeking God in Bible study in class and during your daily quiet time.
praying for and inviting guests to class/group sessions.
communicating regularly with group members.
fellowshipping with group members and guests.
helping group members in need.
reading and preparing for class/group sessions.
participating honestly and openly in class/group sessions.
living out the truth learned in class/group sessions.
serving in some way to strengthen the group and church.
supporting efforts to launch new leaders and start new groups.

Rate yourself from 1 to 10 (1 is weak and 10 is strong) in each of these areas. On which of these could you be more intentional to support your spiritual growth and your group? Ask God to help you and ask a group member to encourage you to take steps in the month ahead. If you are not currently in a group, take an intentional step of spiritual renewal and growth by joining a group this week.

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

Encouraging Spiritual Progress Through Sunday School and Small Groups

Darryl Wilson — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 15:42:00 -0400

Want to make spiritual progress? Invest regularly in Sunday School or small groups. Consider these reasons:

STUDY. One of the best predictors of spiritual progress is daily intake of God’s Word. “God's Word is truth, so it should come as no surprise that reading and studying the Bible are still the activities that have the most impact on growth in this attribute of spiritual maturity,” Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research said. Classes and groups regularly support and practice reading, examination, and reflection.
PRAYER. Christians on the path to spiritual maturity have a habit of seeking God through prayer and worship – not just in church but also as a part of their daily life as a way to please and honor God, according to a survey released by LifeWay Research. Classes and groups regularly learn and practice prayer.
OBEDIENCE. When Christians have cheerleaders, they are more likely to live out the truth of God’s Word. “Many people think of obeying God as something they must do on their own,” Scott McConnell of LifeWay Research noted. “However, it's clear through the research findings that the teaching, encouragement and accountability … have a direct impact on obedience.” Classes and groups apply God’s Word through encouraging obedience and accountability.
SALVATION. Andy Anderson’s research showed that one out of three lost people in Sunday School for a year came to know Jesus. Pastors recently shared that the number for their church is one out of one or two. The first step of spiritual progress is salvation. But another step is extending His love through personal witness and involvement in Sunday School or small group.
CONNECTION. An ember pulled out of the fire goes out. Christians likewise experience difficulty in keeping the flame of personal spiritual growth hot on their own. Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, discovered that only 16% of new church members not involved in Sunday School were still involved in the church five years later. On the other hand, 83% of new members involved in Sunday School were still involved in church five years later. Spiritual progress is encouraged through relational connections provided in Sunday School and small groups.

All five are strengthened and practiced in Sunday School and small groups. Invest in spiritual growth by joining a group this week. If you are already in a group, invite someone to join you this week. The more you invest, the more you will grow. Become more like Jesus!

For more ideas about discipleship through Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

Job Description: Sunday School Teacher

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:13:00 -0400

I have written many times over the last seven years about the job of the Sunday School teacher. Here are a few of those blog posts:

Characteristics: Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 1, Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 2, and Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 3
Qualifications: Qualifications of a Sunday School Teacher, Part 1 and Qualifications of a Sunday School Teacher, Part 2
Qualities: Sunday School Teacher Qualities
Reasons: Reasons to Teach Sunday School
Preparation: Five Questions for Sunday School Teachers
Growing: Overcoming Hesitancy to Seek Evaluation as a Sunday School Leader, Sunday School Teacher Self-Evaluation, Sunday School Teacher, Is Your Relationship with Christ Stale?, and Improve Yourself, Improve Your Teaching
Methods: The Best Adult Sunday School Teachers Are Facilitators and The Best Adult Sunday School Teachers Are Guides
Listening: The Best Sunday School Teachers and Leaders Are Great Listeners! and Revolutionary Sunday School Teachers Listen to God, Members, and Prospects
New: Advice for the New Sunday School Teacher
and lots more.

A revolutionary Sunday School teacher does more than prepare and teach a lesson. A revolutionary teacher seeks God's leadership in shepherding a group of men, women, boys, or girls for Him. Teachers are stewards of His sheep. What are the major areas of responsibility for the Sunday School teacher? Consider the following:
1. GROW. Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). Spend time with God in His Word and prayer seeking to know God, His will, His ways, His truth, and His Word. Carefully apply God's Word to daily living.
2. TEACH. Spend time with God in His Word and prayer seeking first God's message for the teacher and then His message for the class. Prepare lessons that capture interest, examine the truth of the passage, and apply the truth to attenders' lives.
3. CARE. Get to know attenders as individuals, discover affinities and needs, and lead the class to organize to deepen relationships, meet needs, and fellowship together. Lead the class to contact members, absentees, and prospects every week.
4. REACH. Lead in extending the love of the class to those not enrolled by caring for, inviting, and enrolling lost, unchurched, and unenrolled people. Include prospects in class fellowships, projects, and plans.
5. ORGANIZE. In adult and youth classes, enlist a team to lead in carrying out the work of the class. This might include teacher apprentices, care leaders, reach leaders, fellowship leaders, prayer leaders, greeters, secretary, and more. In smaller classes, these responsibilities will be combined and shared.
6. DISCIPLE. Focus on helping each attender make spiritual progress. This requires time beyond Sunday morning. Lead individuals to spend time in God's Word and prayer daily, be faithful in attending the group and worship, find places of service, give regularly, and apply God's Word in daily living. Prepare each lesson and class activity to lead attenders to take a step closer to being like Jesus.
7. MOBILIZE. Lead every attender to find one or more place of service within the church, community, and beyond. Expect every attender to invite people to class, church, and Jesus and to develop and share their Sunday School and salvation testimonies.
8. APPRENTICE. Prayerfully enlist, train, and release an apprentice teacher to prepare the group to start another group in order to reach, teach, and care for even more people. A multiplication key is in leading the apprentice to begin enlisting and training another apprentice.

What would you add or change about this job description? How is it different from your practice? How would this job description stretch you? Where will you need to adjust or change what you are currently doing? Press Comments below to share your thoughts and experiences.

For more ideas, check out these blog posts:

Job Description: Sunday School Director

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 08:59:00 -0400

In Sunday School Director Job Description, Part 1, I wrote about the various people with whom a Sunday School director works: pastor, teachers, general leaders, class leaders, planning team, finance team, facilities team, discipleship director, nominating team, and greeter team. In Sunday School Director Job Description, Part 2, I shared about major areas of responsibility for the director: mission, definition, retreat, pastor, accountability, enlist, budget, training, prayer, enroll, organize, contact, impressions, promote, fellowship, apprentice, and start. These two posts are fairly comprehensive.

Allow me to summarize the duties listed in Part 2:
1. Lead teachers and workers to understand and pursue the biblical purpose, mission, and vision of Sunday School.
2. Together with teachers and workers, develop a comprehensive Sunday School strategy statement.
3. Plan and conduct an annual Sunday School growth retreat.
4. Develop a strong relationship with the pastor and regularly meet to evaluate and plan Sunday School work.
5. Gather the planning team monthly to evaluate progress on annual retreat goals, to make adjustments, and for training and communication.
6. Invest in prayerful and personal Sunday School teacher and worker enlistment and care. Seek God-called leaders.
7. Following your retreat, determine how much money is needed to carry out Sunday School growth plans. Present your requests to your budget/finance team.
8. Plan and conduct Sunday School teacher and worker growth training at least twice annually. Make it creative.
9. Set aside time (at least quarterly) for the church to pray for Sunday School.
10. Lead classes to pray for, pursue, care for, and enroll new, lost, and unchurched people. Establish and practice good enrollment policies.
11. Lead classes to enlist workers to carry out growth actions. This includes a secretary, outreach leader, care group leaders, greeters, and others.
12. Challenge classes to make weekly contacts (visits, phone, letters/cards, and electronic) with every member and prospect. Lead members to report to ensure accountability and in order to measure progress.
13. Enlist and train Sunday School and class greeters to greet and care for guests and members. Register guests. Encourage name tags.
14. Lift up Sunday School by talking about it during worship, establishing special days, and communicating about it with members and the community on a regular basis. Share testimonies.
15. Be a champion for monthly class fellowships and projects. Strengthen connections between members through regular times of fun, fellowships, and ministry/mission projects. Invite prospects and guests to begin connections with them.
16. Expect every Sunday School teacher and worker to apprentice another one every year. This is an important step in discipleship for the leader and the apprentice. It also makes growth more natural. Prepare the apprentice to be launched on their own.
17. Add more Sunday School classes at church and away. Send out the teacher or an apprentice and a seed group of one to five persons to help launch the new class. Identify space. Select and order curriculum. Pray for, care for, invite, and enroll new people. Coach leaders of the new class.

These four posts are helpful for new and experienced directors:

For more ideas for the Sunday School director, check out these blog posts:

Job Description: Basic Sunday School Growth Team

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 4 Feb 2013 14:15:00 -0400

This evaluation, planning, and leadership team includes the following leaders:

pastor,
other church staff with Sunday School responsibilities,
Sunday School director,
Sunday School secretary,
Sunday School outreach leader, and
representatives of age groups: preschool, children, youth, and adult.

An expanded team may include other leaders: all teachers, greeters, teaching improvement, care, and more. In small churches, the age group representatives may be teachers. In larger churches, they may be department or age division leaders.

In most cases it will be helpful to keep the growth team under ten people. This will make planning faster, but provision will need to be made for seeking input on, ownership of, and help with plans.

What would be the major duties of this growth team? Consider the following (feel free to customize the list):

meet together annually to evaluate progress, make adjustments, set goals, and make plans for Sunday School growth (discipleship, numerical, and missional);
calendar dates for emphases and events which support the goals and plans for growth;
meet together monthly to evaluate progress and make adjustments to plans for Sunday School growth;
communicate goals, plans, vision, and message of Sunday School to other leaders and the church;
provide encouragement, support, and direction for Sunday School leaders, including enlistment and training; and
carry out effective growth plans, working with other church teams as needed (such as nominating, finance, facilities, and more).

What would you add to this list? Press Comments below and share (1) who your team includes, (2) how often you meet, and (3) what the team's responsibilities include. In the next post, I will share a job description for the Sunday School director.

For more ideas about your growth team, check out these posts:

How Can We Write Sunday School Job Descriptions?

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 09:34:00 -0400

A revolutionary Sunday School will provide job descriptions for all workers during enlistment. These job descriptions will be reviewed and updated annually.

If you do not currently have job descriptions, where can you start? Don't do it alone! Here is a process I have used that works well to get them written and to create ownership for them. Consider the following steps:

Announce a Meeting. Set up a meeting 2 to 4 weeks in advance. Place it on the calendar on a date with no conflicts and enough time to accomplish your agenda.
Pray and Prepare. Ask your Sunday School leaders to help you develop job descriptions. Tell them the first place to start is to ask for God's leadership in the process. Ask them after they have prayed to write down 3 or 4 main responsibilities for their position. Allow at least a week prior to the meeting.
List. In preparation for the meeting, the pastor and/or Sunday School director write out all the positions for which you need to develop a job description. Do nothing more than list the position. In a larger church, you might divide this responsibility among your age group leaders (division directors).
Research. The pastor and/or Sunday School director look at a variety of print and online sources for job descriptions which match your position list. Try to find more than one for each position. Write out bullet points of major tasks for each position.
Meet. Ask all leaders to gather for a time of job description writing. If the group is large, you may want to provide more than one meeting so you can invest in each subgroup. Provide light refreshments and materials, including sample job descriptions.

Begin in prayer
Ask leaders to gather by position (teachers separately from care group leaders, etc.)
Ask each group to begin by listing the top 5 or 6 main tasks that their position carries out
Ask each group to review the research and your bullets of major tasks
Ask each group to write out a job description in some consistent way (for instance, with each duty starting with a verb)
Review each group's work so you can ask them questions and vice versa
Ask the group for permission for you to wordsmith their job descriptions for consistency
When each group has finished, ask them to close in prayer before they leave
Within a week after the meeting, provide each leader with a job description. Ask them to review, write down any questions, sign it, and return it.

Avoid the danger of doing all this work alone. While it might save time, you will cut out an important process for input and ownership. Remember that they will be more likely supportive of carrying out tasks in a job description they have helped to write. This can work with the Sunday School as a whole, an age group (like youth), or an individual class.

The pastor and/or Sunday School director will want to set an annual time to review job descriptions. For minor changes, get feedback from one or two leaders in that position. For more major changes, gather the group together (perhaps at a monthly meeting) to have discussion of the additions or changes.

Look for me to share Sunday School leader job descriptions over the next few weeks. Again, please revise and make them fit your church and context!

For more ideas about job descriptions, check out these blog posts:

Imagine Better Sunday School for Preschool and Children

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:31:00 -0400

This blog is about laying aside past mediocre efforts to give God our best. It is about pursuing life-change and making revolutionary adjustments to our Sunday School and small group practices. Our work with preschoolers and children deserve no less. Essential foundations for faith and ministry are laid in these important years from birth through elementary years.

In order to challenge you to give your best, I want to invite you to Imagine. First I want to invite you to imagine preschool and children's groups and leaders where children and their parents come with excitement and expectancy. What would that look like? What would happen on Sunday? What would happen through the week? What would the facilities look like? How would parents be connected and included? How would workers be trained?

The second way I want to invite you to Imagine is to attend a great conference and training event (Imagine) at Parkway Baptist Church in Bardstown, Kentucky. The Imagine Preschool & Children’s Ministry Conference begins on Friday, February 8, 5:30 PM, and it ends on Saturday, February 9, at 1:30 PM. Check out the details:

IMAGINE

Imagine is about even more than Sunday School. Whether your congregation already has a thriving children’s ministry or is just starting out, you will find inspiration and education at the Kentucky Baptist Convention Imagine Preschool & Children’s Ministry Conference. Join leaders from every walk of children’s ministry … from pastors to parents … for a fresh, visionary look at how to minister to children. In addition to hearing great guest speakers, participants can select from a variety of breakout sessions, browse the expo, and make new vital ministry connections.

Registration

Registration is just $35 per person, $25 if you register before Feb. 6, 2013. Click here to register now!

Questions?

Call 502-489-3390 or 866-489-3575 (toll free in KY only)

Schedule

FRIDAY
5:30-6:30 p.m.	Registration
6:30-8:00 p.m.	Main Session
8:15-9:15 p.m.	Breakout Sessions
9:15-10 p.m.	Come to the Expo! Vendors will have resources on display in the fellowship hall. You will have access to the products, curricula and services from conferences!
SATURDAY 8:30-10:00 a.m.	Main Session
10:15 – 11:15 a.m.	Breakout Sessions
11:30 – 12:30 p.m.	Breakout Sessions
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.	Come to the Expo!

Special Guest Presenters

Dr. Timothy Paul Jones, professor and author of Family Ministry Field Guide
Patty Smith, author, national speaker/trainer, and former senior product developer for Group Publishing
Jason Byerly, Children's Ministry leader at Southland Christian Church and author of Kairos Quest for 3DM Ministries

Breakout Sessions

Each session is offered once on Friday and twice on Saturday. Just a few of the breakout sessions that will be offered:

Using Amazing Science Experiments to Teach God’s Word
Blending Church and Unchurched Kids
25 Simple Ideas for Empowering Parents
Interactive Learning with Children
Revolutionary Story-telling
Hosting a Father/Daughter Ball
Story-ing the Bible for Preteens
Family Ministry? Where do I Begin?
Wednesday Night “Paloza”
A Preview of LifeWay’s VBS 2013 “Colossal Coaster World”
Managing Behavior in the Classroom
Mission to Ministry for Children
Recruiting. Investing, Training and Unleashing Volunteers
10 Curriculum Ideas for Wednesday and Sunday nights
In Credible Preschool Ministry
The Amazing Bus Ride Experience
Protectmyministry.com
Drop Missions in Anywhere
Story-telling with Preschoolers
Shepherding Children
Parents Night Out for the Down and Out
Small Church Children’s Ministry
Project 58:10
Communication with Parents
Games that Teach

Accommodations

Check the Imagine website for a list of Bardstown and Elizabethtown area options. Click here to register now!

For more ideas about preschool and children's Sunday School check out these blog posts:

Sunday School Growth Barriers

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:47:00 -0400

My friend, Wayne Poling of LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, has invited me to teach a conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center during Extreme Sunday School Week, July 19-22. The conference is entitled Identifying and Moving Through Sunday School Growth Barriers. It will be offered on Saturday, 2:30 PM.

It is a great title and one that is worthy of an hour of time for every pastor, minister of education, and Sunday School director. This is true not because I am teaching but because every Sunday School will face growth barriers. You will experience moments where growth will slow or stop. If you can see them before they happen, you can prevent many. If you can respond as they approach, you can divert disaster or prevent the loss of all momentum.

I am writing to ask you to help me put together this conference. Here are the big questions:
1. What potential barriers can occur causing Sunday School growth to slow or stall? (Have you had any experiences you'd be willing to share?)
2. What can be done to see growth barriers coming and prevent growth slowing or stalling? (What system or process helped you?)
3. Faced with each barrier, what can be done to minimize its impact? (How did you do so?)

I have a few ideas out of my personal experience as a minister of education and as a consultant. But many "counselors" can add much wisdom and experience to the discussion and preparation. Please press Comments below and share your thoughts and experiences. Help me plan a better conference. Help me help Sunday School leaders anticipate, prepare for, and move better through coming growth barriers.

Grow your Sunday School deeper, closer, and wider as Ed Goodman of White Stone Quarry Baptist Church in Bowling Green has challenged his teachers and Sunday School workers in 2013. Make disciples. Be revolutionary! For additional thoughts about barriers, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 15

Darryl Wilson — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 11:28:00 -0400

Jesus sent us into our world to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20). In Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 1, I listed fourteen discipling outcomes which have potential to result from Sunday School. In this series thus far, these are the posts with the Sunday School discipling issues addressed in each post:

Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Part 3 (Christian worldview); Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Part 5 (obedience); Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self); Part 9 (connection, community, fellowship); Part 10 (leadership training); Part 11 (service); Part 12 (mission and ministry); Part 13 (inviting and sharing Jesus); and Part 14 (tithing, stewardship, and money practices).

In this final part of the series, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through leadership and group multiplication. In life, when an organism stops growing, it begins to die. That is true of a plant, animal, or the human body. This is true for Christians, teachers, leaders, classes, and churches.

Life grows naturally through multiplication. Dogs have puppies, cats have kittens, and people have babies. But the same is true on a much smaller scale as well. Cells multiply. For a church or group to grow, there must be leader, member, and group multiplication. In fact, if growth does not happen on the smaller level, there can be no puppies, cats, babies, new groups, or church growth.

Not only is multiplication natural of living things, it is also a natural and intentional way for a Sunday School class or small group to impact discipling. Think about what happens when a group leader prays for, relates and observes, enlists, trains, and releases another group leader. Discipleship happens. Think about the conversations about our Lord, His church, people for whom Jesus died, ways to carry out care, and much more. Many of those conversations will be discipling/mentoring conversations. And many conversations will produce change and action in order to follow Jesus or serve Him and those He loves.

As far as a group as a whole, multiplication is too often neglected moving the group toward decline and death. Instead, the teacher or group leader must challenge all those serving to multiply. An outreach leader should multiply himself. A care group leader should multiply herself. A prayer leader should multiply himself. A secretary should multiply herself.

As far as group members, they should be led (by the group leader) to take actions in small increments to do the same (multiply themselves) with children, friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors. A natural outgrowth of personal discipleship and growth with our Lord is sharing (teaching them to obey) with others what Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:20). A Sunday School class or small group Bible study is a great environment for encouraging one another and holding one another accountable to pray for and invest in others while multiplying ourselves.

Also, a group of nearly any size can raise up an apprentice and send out a seed group to launch a new group. When the group leader is multiplying himself/herself, the group begins to see the new group embodied in the apprentice. This visual reminder prepares the group to launch a new group while at the same time reminding them of their personal goal to do the same.

What would you add to this discussion about discipling and multiplying through the Sunday School class or small group? For more ideas about apprenticing, check out these blog posts:

Unlocking Sources of Sunday School Prospects

Darryl Wilson — Wed, 7 Nov 2012 09:50:00 -0400

There are several reasons that Sunday School may not be growing. Here are just a few:

lack of focus on new people (those not already enrolled in Sunday School)
conflict
lack of prayer for friends, relatives, associates, neighbors
no new classes
insufficient span of care
no new leaders being enlisted, developed, and mobilized
lack of space
poor relationships/no fellowship
poor ministry organization, plan, and execution
poor first impressions
and more.

I have previously shared the fact that a Sunday School may be adding new people but still not growing due to losing people faster than adding new ones. That is a key reason that every adult and youth class needs to enlist, train, and mobilize additional leaders to assist the teacher with regular (weekly) class ministry, fellowship, and mission efforts. Check out Actions to Plug the Leaks in Your Sunday School, Part 1, Actions to Plug the Leaks in Your Sunday School, Part 2, Actions to Plug the Leaks in Your Sunday School, Part 3, and Actions to Plug the Leaks in Your Sunday School, Part 4.

But there is one guarantee that I can make about Sunday School growth. If you fail reach out, invite, and enroll new people, you will not grow. With that in mind, where can a Sunday School class discover prospects? What are some untapped sources? Begin by praying that God will open your eyes to people He wants you to reach. Then consider the following sources:

Sunday School and worship guests
church members not enrolled in Sunday School
worship attenders not enrolled in Sunday School
people attending church special events (VBS, Easter and Christmas programs, etc.)
people involved in other church ministries (RAs, GAs, Awana, etc.) not enrolled in Sunday School
family members of Sunday School and church members
friends of Sunday School and church members
neighbors of Sunday School and church members
neighbors in the immediate church community
workmates, schoolmates, and teammates
club and group members
restaurant and store servers, cashiers, and workers
doctors, nurses, and medical workers
people moving into the community
people going through change, grief, and stress
widows and orphans
and more.

What if you focused on a group? What if you adopted a group? What if you focused on an age group, life stage, or affinity? What might happen in the hearts and actions of your Sunday School if each class adopted a "people group?" Begin in prayer. Realize the compassion of our Lord and the need of that "people group." Then organize out of your care and concern. Touch lives. Make a difference. Invite. Disciple. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about reaching prospects, check out these blog posts:

Statistics about the Sunday School and Worship Attendance Gap

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:09:00 -0400

In my last blog post, When Sunday School and Worship Are Nearly Equal in Attendance, I shared my response to a friend who had questions about Sunday School and worship attendance being close. In this post I will focus on the gap between Sunday School and worship attendance. Just to get my bearings, I looked back at Kentucky Baptist church statistics from 2009 (which were readily at hand). Here are some highlights of what I discovered from the 2,114 reporting churches:

	# of Churches	% of Churches
More In Sunday School	73	3.45%
Sunday School=Worship	58	2.74%
More in Worship	1,983	93.80%

The great majority of these churches have more in worship than in Sunday School. Then I took a glance at what the average worship and average Sunday School attendance and enrollment were for these 2,114 churches. Here are the numbers:

	Average
Worship	119.04
Sunday School Enrollment	142.23
Sunday School Attendance	78.42

I also looked at statewide ratios (comparisons) for (1) Sunday School attendance compared to worship, (2) worship compared to Sunday School attendance, and (3) Sunday School attendance compared to Sunday School enrollment. Here are the numbers:

	Ratio
Sunday School/Worship	65.88%
Worship/Sunday School	151.80%
Sunday School Attendance/Enrollment	55.14%

Then I looked at the large group of churches (1,983) whose Sunday School attendance was less than their worship attendance to get an idea of the ranges. Here are the numbers and percentages:

Sunday School Attendance/Worship	% of Churches	# of Churches
80.01-99.30%	14.73%	292
60.07-80.00%	43.92%	871
60.00% and under	42.35%	820

In summarizing this data, there is a fairly large gap in most Kentucky Baptist churches between Sunday School attendance and worship. Sunday School attendance is about 2/3 of worship. Or to look at it the other way, Worship has 1.5 times as many as are in Sunday School each week.

Then I looked at a recent report of 1,566 churches who reported Sunday School enrollment and attendance for all five years 2007-2011. In the report, 586 churches (37.42%) had an increase in Sunday School attendance during the report years; 67 churches (4.28%) remained the same in attendance; and 913 churches (58.30%) had a dec rease in attendance. Unfortunately, I did not have worship numbers in that final report to compare to see if the churches with growing Sunday School attendance had large or small differences between Sunday School attendance and worship.

Allow me to ask two questions for your serious consideration and response:

Could it be that one reason some churches are NOT growing is that Sunday School has not worked harder to reach more of larger numbers in worship?
or

Could it be that one reason some churches ARE growing is that they have a larger pool of worship attenders from which to invite to Sunday School?

What are your experiences, observations, thoughts, and questions? What can we do to be proactive in Sunday School to make the most of whatever reality in which we find ourselves? Share your thoughts below by pressing Comments. I believe God can use Sunday School to change lives. Let's work together to give our best effort for Him. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

When Sunday School and Worship Are Nearly Equal in Attendance

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 09:50:00 -0400

I received an email from a friend asking what I thought about Sunday School that ran more than 90% of worship attendance. His email made it obvious he recognized some negatives. And he expressed support of worship attendance closer to 30% higher. On the other hand, I know a pastor and minister of education who regularly teased each other when worship and Sunday School attendance were close. It was like a friendly competition.

Partly due to not knowing all of my friend's situation, it took me a while to consider the issue honestly and to craft a response. Below is only a slight variation of what my reply included:

When Sunday School is 90% or more of worship, it can mean several things:

POSITIVE: you are doing an excellent job of inviting (and enrolling) worship attenders (members and guests) to existing classes
POSITIVE: you have regularly started classes and connected unenrolled worship attenders
POSITIVE: the pastor regularly affirms the value of Sunday School from the pulpit and encourages involvement in them for discipleship growth
NEUTRAL: off-site classes (such as nursing homes) are counted in Sunday School numbers making the percentage higher
NEGATIVE: you are in an interim (without a pastor) and unconnected worship attenders are straying (Sunday School numbers remained steady while worship attendance declined)
NEGATIVE: your church as a whole is not doing a good job of inviting people to church (since most people today tend to attend worship first)
NEGATIVE: Sunday School attenders are skipping worship
NEGATIVE: family are coming for one hour, with parents dropping off children for Sunday School while they attend worship

Obviously, any combination of the above can be in play as well. As far as a recommended attendance gap, my preference is none. I want everyone in a group. My fear with numbers as high as 30% is that they will exceed the ability of the Sunday School organization to invite, enroll, and launch classes in a timely fashion. That often results in worship attenders developing the habit of not getting in a class.

Let me say that some small group churches (like Saddleback) have been successful in achieving 110-130% of worship attendance in small groups. They have done so by constantly starting new groups and inviting people from their community to the home groups. This is possible for Sunday School as well, but it will take a mindset change on our part.

What would you add to these thoughts? What other issues should be considered? What experiences have you had? Press Comments below and share with others. Ask great questions. Make great decisions. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about increasing Sunday School attendance, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 14

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 9 Oct 2012 12:43:00 -0400

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 9 (connection, community, fellowship); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 10 (leadership training); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 11 (service); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 12 (mission and ministry); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 13 (inviting and sharing Jesus).

In Part 14, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through tithing, stewardship, and money practices. Jesus spoke about these issues often during His ministry. He encouraged using possessions to help the needy: "Sell your possessions and give to the poor" (Luke 12:33, NIV). He pointed out the importance of right attitudes related to our possessions: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34, NIV). And Paul warns, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Tim 6:10, NIV). According to Jesus' parable of the talents, we will be rewarded or punished according to our stewardship of what has been entrusted to us in meeting needs of others (Matthew 25).

Thus, tithing, stewardship, and money practices are important discipleship issues. How can a class or small group impact discipleship in these areas? Consider these ideas:

privately ask for testimonies from class members privately and ask some to share timely ones with the class,
bring in guests to share testimonies in these areas at appropriate times,
teach lessons and/or series that deal with these discipleship issues,
offer additional special studies at another time than the regular meeting time about properly handling of money, budgeting, and other personal matters,
text, email, or tweet to group members verses and questions for consideration as disciples,
make assignments periodically as side discussions about these issues,
challenge the group to invest in others,
give each member $5-10 of your personal money to make a difference in someone's life, asking for testimonies the following week,
plan a group project for investing time, talents, and money in the needy,
lead the group to (1) pray, assess the area they individually struggle in the most (tithing, stewardship, or money practices), (3) develop a plan of action. and (4) report to a prayer and accountability partner every month for six months,
ask the pastor to make a brief video (8-10 minutes) biblical explanation for the group about tithing,
and many more.

What would you add to this beginning list? What have you done to challenge your group members to become better disciples in the areas of tithing, stewardship, and money practices? Where could you start this quarter? this month? Where does the group need the most help? Don't ignore this crucial area of discipleship about which Sunday School or small groups can provide help, encouragement, and support. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about discipleship, check out these posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 13

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 08:00:00 -0400

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 9 (connection, community, fellowship); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 10 (leadership training); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 11 (service); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 12 (mission and ministry).

In Part 13, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through inviting and sharing Jesus. Consider this: what should disciples look like? What should they be doing? Who should they be like? The Great Commission makes it plain:

Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you....

What are these disciples to look like? They are to "observe everything" Jesus has "commanded you." They are to look like the Jesus in you. Thus, our goal in Sunday School is to make disciples of Jesus who are sent out into the world to make disciples of Jesus. Every person who has accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord has this responsibility. It is not limited to those with the gift or office of evangelism. We are to teach them to observe everything He commanded "us."

Sunday School can teach praying for lost, unreached friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors. Sunday School can then encourage (even challenge) attenders to invest some time each day or week in conversations with lost, unreached people along life's paths. The class can set up times of food and fellowship to build relationships with each other and to invite guests.

The class should be prepared to greet guests well. Most guests will have been invited. Thom Rainer in Surprising Insights from the Unchurched states that 82% of the unchurched are at least somewhat likely to attend if invited. More than 80% of those who come to church will have been invited. Members could focus on inviting someone to class, a meal, or a class fellowship each week. And when guests attend, special effort is needed to follow up on the time. Contact made within 72 hour after being in class provides great opportunity for answering questions, inviting to return, praying, meeting needs, and sharing Jesus. Contact should not end after the first week. It should continue based upon care.

Lessons should be simple to understand. This does not mean "shallow." Instead, the focus is making sure everyone present (including guests) understands our language and teaching. Extra effort should be made to explain terms or ideas which might not be clear. All lessons should point toward the Gospel. The teacher and members will want to be extend an invitation to respond to the truth of the lesson, including accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Lessons should naturally lead to obedience and living out the truth in daily life. Such radical obedience will open up conversation about our lives, language, and love. Members will want to be prepared to point not to good discipline but rather to Jesus.

The teacher can lead adult and youth classes through a time of sharing Sunday School and salvation testimonies in pairs in order to send attenders out prepared to do so (for ideas, check out 101 Ways for Sunday School to Be Evangelistic, Part 9 Testimonies). Short testimonies are great conversational bridges to sharing Jesus. A great way to encourage the class to utilize this training is to set a time and date for a ministry or outreach projects. Check out Sunday School: Take the Love Dare for one idea.

When a class practices these inviting and evangelistic actions, is the class stronger? Yes. When the class practices these actions, do attenders make spiritual progress as disciples? Yes. Does the church benefit? Yes. Are lives changed in the class, community, and world? Yes. Challenge your members to invite and share Jesus. Expect them to do so. Prepare them to do so. Watch them grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about inviting and sharing Jesus through Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 12

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:08:00 -0400

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 9 (connection, community, fellowship); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 10 (leadership training); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 11 (service).

In Part 12, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through mission and ministry. Paul is clear in Ephesians 4:11-13 that our Lord gave church leaders, including pastors and teachers, "for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ..." The purpose of teaching and training of the saints is "the work of ministry." Christians in our classes need outlets for practicing what they are learning.

In the same way in which unused fruit rots and muscles atrophy, so does unimplemented, unpracticed learning. Sunday School is a great opportunity to teach, practice what was learned, be sent out to do (obey) what was learned, and to return and debrief what happened. The learning experience on Sunday morning should train disciples to minister.

Now, the focus of Part 12 is how a class or small group can impact discipling through mission and ministry. So what are mission and ministry? And how are they connected to discipling our attenders? The root of the word, ministry means service. In the original language, the word is diakonias, which is the word for deacon meaning servant. Thus, ministry is about serving each other (members) as well as our community and world. Mission is simply a reminder that the opportunity for ministry is larger than members in the class or church. We are to serve and meet the needs of Christians as well as others to show and share the love of Christ. Jesus stated it this way (John 13:34-35, HCSB):

I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

Whatever the teaching from God's Word, there can be practical expression in daily living. Sunday School class can focus on helping members grow as disciples by identifying ways the lesson's truth intersects daily walk. As a result of lessons, attenders have opportunity to be more loving, more righteous (living rightly), and on mission. Each week, learners should be led to ask themselves, "What does God want me to do as a result of encountering Him in His Word today?" And then the next week, learners should be led to ask, "What did you do this week to obey and live out the truth of last week's lesson?"

Such teaching may naturally lead to mission and ministry projects as a whole class, as a subgroup within the class, or as individuals. Doing projects together is a great way of ensuring positive accountability for obedience. Mission and ministry efforts help disciples take steps of spiritual progress. It may also help to place someone in the class in charge of mission and ministry projects. How can you encourage mission and ministry expression as a result of what happens in your class or small group? Apply the truth. Challenge attenders to live it. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about mission and ministry projects, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 11

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:21:00 -0400

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 9 (connection, community, fellowship); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 10 (leadership training).

In Part 11, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through service. God gives leaders to the church, like pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for works of service (Ephesians 4:11-12). The body of Christ is built up as Christian Sunday School members serve the body, community, and world. In fact, serving is a natural discipling application or outcome of Bible learning in Sunday School.

Allow me to illustrate that last sentence by looking at five lessons from LifeWay's Bible Studies for Life series, Life Matters:

Kingdom Attitudes, Matthew 5:1-16: serve family, coworkers, or those in the marketplace by being merciful (v. 7) and peacemakers (v. 9)
Kingdom Expectations, Matthew 5:17-48: pray for and do an act of kindness for an enemy (v. 43)
Kingdom Motives, Matthew 6:1-13,16-18: save and give money anonymously to an organization to help the hungry or needy in your community (vv. 1-4)
Kingdom Relationships, Matthew 7:1-12: take a gift to your neighbors and ask how you can pray for them (vv. 7-12)
Kingdom Decisions, Matthew 7:13-29: set up a class project to pray for and contact state, national, and international missionaries for their work to be laid on solid foundations (vv. 24-29).

Examine every Bible study passage to see what God wants you and your class to do as a result. How could attenders better understand the truth of God's Word through an act of service? How could they look more like Jesus through living out the truth by serving others? I could personally illustrate this in many ways. Here is one: Grow Your Sunday School Class by Organizing to Respond in Times of Need.

I want to close with one final admonition. While the teacher will often have keen insight into lessons and lives and possible service possibilities, one of the best ways to ensure class service actions and projects is to enlist a class service leader. The teacher can share ideas related to lesson, and the service leader works with the class to carry out the details. Not only that, the class service leader works to ensure that every attender has a place of service in the church.

When everyone is serving, there will naturally be growth of the disciples. Pray. Lead them to serve. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 10

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:15:00 -0400

Jesus sent us into our community and world to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20). Sunday School can have even greater impact upon lives and this discipling effort. In Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 1, I listed fourteen discipling outcomes which have potential to result from Sunday School.

In this series thus far, these are the posts with the Sunday School discipling issues addressed in each post:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 9 (connection, community, fellowship).

In Part 10, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through leadership training. When we accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, we become shepherd-stewards responsible to connect with, care for, and lead sheep. We are to share everything Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:20) until they obey. Thus, we become trainers of trainers.

Apprenticing is a natural method for delivering that leadership training. As we go through life and the paces of ministry responsibility, we take apprentices (and potential apprentices) with us. We let them watch us (and pray for us) while we live out Christianity and while we perform leadership duties. Then we ask them to help us to do so. Then after they have watched and helped, we drop back to help them while they perform the leadership duties. Then after a time, we drop back to watch (and pray) while they carry out those responsibilities. Then we ask them to enlist someone to watch/help them.

Some leadership training may be delivered in a leadership training conference or event, especially when we are launching new areas of ministry or when we are emphasizing certain responsibilities for more than one group or set of workers. For instance, a training event to train new care group leaders or training for outreach leadership in helping groups to build a prospect list.

As group members are enlisted in a leadership capacity, they tend to pay more attention, become more faithful in attending, and focus a bit more on being a good example. At the same time, ideally they are being led to utilize the spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality, and experiences that God desires to use to build the body of Christ.

Affirmation is essential in encouraging these new leadership in taking these early steps. Debriefing following each leadership effort is helpful. Ask what went well and what they would do differently next time. Teach them how to be self feeders and evaluators.

Leadership expectations, job descriptions, accountability, and coaching all make the leader more effective and will tend to stretch the individual to grow as a disciple. This begins with prayer for a God-called individual rather than selecting a popular or charismatic leader. After seeking God's leadership in prayer, then beginning apprenticing efforts even prior to officially asking them to serve is helpful. He or she may not be confident until you have helped them to take a few steps with you. At the appropriate moment, do the ask. Then he or she will pay even more attention to the leadership lessons you offer from that point forward.

Disciple your people by providing leadership training. Expect them to take responsibility. Encourage them to success. Watch them grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about leadership training, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 9

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 08:00:00 -0400

In this series thus far, these are the posts with the Sunday School discipling issues addressed in each post:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8 (love of God, neighbor, and self).

In Part 9, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through connection, community, and fellowship. Relationships matter! Look around you. Who are the people in your circles of influence? Who are those friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors in your network of relationships and daily life walk? Our Lord has placed you uniquely in the center of those circles to have impact for Him.

Developing those relationships for Jesus is an act of discipleship! Praying for people is an act of discipleship! Sharing Jesus and helping those who accept Jesus take steps to share Jesus is an act of discipleship!

What are you doing as a class to challenge, prepare, encourage, and help our class members to invest in lost and unenrolled relationships for Jesus? In the blog post, 101 Ways for Sunday School to Be Evangelistic, Part 2 Relational, I offered ten suggestions:
1. FOCUS. Be evangelistic with everyone, but focus prayer, care, and attention toward 1-3 unsaved/unchurched/unenrolled individuals. Get to know them.
2. TIME. Care is best expressed through time. Schedule time with lost people. Attend events with them. Take them with you on errands and trips. Build trust.
3. COFFEE/DESSERT. This can be for getting acquainted as well as for ongoing relationship-building. Grab coffee. Get ice cream. Relax. Listen more than you talk. Listen for moments when you can respond in care.
4. EAT. Everyone eats. Invite lost people to a meal. Catch lunch during the busy day. Have a relaxing meal in the home or a restaurant. Plan a picnic. Food has a way of making the conversation more relaxed and casual.
5. COMMUNICATE. Keep in touch. Text. Email. Call. Send a card or letter. Express care. Ask questions. Share concerns. Recommend resources.
6. CELEBRATE. Discover special days like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. Take time to acknowledge those days. Send a note. Make a call. Show up in person. Send a gift. Show you care.
7. AFFINITY. Find out what both of you enjoy doing. It may be biking, bowling, model planes, cooking, or any other affinity. Make time to enjoy the common activity together. Look for the teachable moment when you can share what Jesus and Sunday School mean to you.
8. STUDY TOGETHER. Read books together and discuss them (like Purpose Driven Life). Take a course together at church, in the community, or a college. Study a Bible book or passage together. You will discover much about each other as you study together.
9. MINISTER. Listen for and be sensitive to stress-filled times in life. Reach out in care. Send a card during grief. Mow the grass. Listen to pain. Help find a new job. Pay a utility payment. When appropriate share the love of God. Talk about how you are surrounded by people who care in your Sunday School class.
10. INVITE. Find special reasons to invite to class fellowships, projects, and sessions. Share about upcoming topics and plans. Offer to pick him/her up. Don't pressure or try to guilt. Simply care.

Let me invite you to begin by asking the class to list the relationships in their circles followed by a season of prayer for those individuals. After prayer, help your class practice writing and sharing their salvation testimony (check out this post for more ideas: 101 Ways for Sunday School to Be Evangelistic, Part 9 Testimonies). Then help them learn a simple Gospel presentation. It also helps to learn a simple bridge statement for transitioning from their testimony to the Gospel presentation. Finally, every Christian should immediately begin to teach others what they have learned (teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, Jesus' words in Matthew 28:19-20).

You can influence discipleship by leading your class to invest in connections, community, and fellowship for the purpose of sharing Jesus. Not only will the lives of those touched be changed, but so will the lives of your class members as they pray, connect, and share. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about connection, community, and fellowship, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 8

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 11:19:00 -0400

In this series thus far, these are the posts with the Sunday School discipling issues addressed in each post:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6 (life and behavior practices); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7 (spiritual gifts and church body practices).

In Part 8, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through love of God, neighbor, and self. Serving others in Jesus' name is a natural expression of exposure to God's Word and growth as a disciple. In response to people in need (hunger, thirst, homeless, sickness, prison, without clothes), it is important to remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 25:40 (HCSB): "I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me."

How can a Sunday School class encourage the growth of disciples by addressing the needs of people? Consider the following individual and class ideas as idea starters:

regularly ask your neighbors for prayer requests (and make sure you are responsive)
become a regular at one or more restaurant, coffee shop, or store in order to develop a relationship with one or more employees (serve as the volunteer chaplain)
take cold bottled water to the children's soccer field (perhaps with label with prayer request number and invitation to join a group)
volunteer to serve in a soup kitchen, food and/or clothing pantry, homeless shelter, or other organization
consider doing the Love Dare as a class (for ideas, check out Sunday School: Take the Love Dare)
launch a Bible study or discipleship group in a jail or prison
develop a newcomers ministry to welcome new people in your community
work with ministries like Samaritans Purse's Operation Christmas Child, Salvation Army's Christmas Angel Tree, or others to minister to poor children, homeless, and children of prisoners
establish a ministry for widows and widowers
set up a single parent free oil change
consider a thanksgiving ministry project (for ideas, check out Thanksgiving Sunday School Class Ministry Projects)

When your class responds to the needs of people, it gives them a outlet for practicing God's love and possibly for practicing what they have been learning in Bible study lessons. One way to encourage this is to enlist a class service or ministry leader who will seek to get every person involved in serving in some way during the year. A class can also adopt one or more ministries to provide ongoing care and help. This can be attractive to those looking for a class, but more importantly can also touch lives in Jesus' name.

What would you add to this list? Lead your class to discover and mobilize in serving others. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about discipling and spiritual gifts, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 7

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 7 Aug 2012 09:56:00 -0400

Jesus has sent us into our community and world to "make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19-20). Sunday School can have even greater impact upon lives and this discipling effort. In Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 1, I listed fourteen discipling outcomes which have potential to result from Sunday School.

Thus far, these are the posts and the Sunday School discipling issues addressed in each post:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines); Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience); and Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6.

In Part 7, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class (or small group) can impact discipling through spiritual gifts and church body practices. In order to understand why I have connected the two phrases for today (spiritual gifts and church body practices), consider this word from scripture:

And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. (Ephesians 4: 11-13, HCSB)

There are several key words and phrases in this passage: training of the saints, work of ministry, build up the body of Christ, until we all, growing into a mature man, and more. The focus for this post will be on "build up the body of Christ" and "until we all." Discipling in the church is not about the individual as much as it is the body. That is why spiritual gifts and worship and other church body practices are so important.

Well, how can the class impact discipling through spiritual gifts and church body practices? Here are a few ideas:

teach about spiritual gifts
offer a series about spiritual gifts
have special studies about spiritual gifts
offer a spiritual gift inventory
take a class retreat to focus on spiritual gifts and
prayerfully enlist class leaders attempting to best utilize the gifts, abilities, personalities, experiences, and passions of individuals
gather those with the same gifts to talk about those gifts and possible avenues of expression in life and class and church ministry
enlist a class service leader who focuses on helping every class member find opportunity to serve in the class, church, community, and world
offer a variety of class ministry and mission projects in order to utilize the spiritual gift mix of the class
allow knowledge of members' gifts to flavor the application of lessons
as often as possible, adult classes should include preschool, children, and youth teachers who would be in the class if not currently serving, seeking to discover spiritual gifts and mobilize them into service
assign a spiritual gift each month to one or more members who have that gift, and ask them to share describing the gift and possible ways of mobilizing that gift
regularly schedule time (during class, fellowships, or special studies) for members to share testimonies about how they have used their spiritual gifts
ask the pastor to allow the best member's testimony to be shared from the pulpit
during lesson application/invitation, ask members to consider how they might live out the truth of the day's lesson in light of their spiritual gifts

There can be hundreds of expressions of class discipling through spiritual gifts and church body practices. What would you add to this list? Lead them to discover and mobilize their gifts. Help them understand application of their gifts to the body of Christ. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about discipling and spiritual gifts, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 6

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 2 Aug 2012 10:56:00 -0400

Thus far, these are the posts and the Sunday School discipling issues addressed in each post:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2 (biblical knowledge and understanding),
Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3 (Christian worldview),
Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4 (spiritual disciplines), and
Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5 (obedience).

In Part 6, I will focus on ways a class can impact discipling in the areas of life and behavior practices. While this discipling issue is related to the previous one (obedience), there are some unique nuances. Consider these additional ways of discipling in order to impact life and behavior practices:

Prayer. Ask for prayer requests. Pray for the each other and requests in class and between. Prayer is powerful. Even bad habits can be changed through prayer.
Special lessons. Periodically it may be helpful to respond to life and behavior issues with special lessons looking at how God's Word addresses these issues.
Studies. Periodically it may be helpful to respond to life and behavior issues with studies between Sundays which addresses these issues. For instance, these might include parenting, money, setting priorities, and more.
Projects. What is you planned a project to address multiple needs? What if you knew members needed to invest in relationships with unchurched people and needed to learn how to share their faith naturally? You could plan an outreach, ministry, or missions project which would meet needs and share Jesus. As part of the required training for the project, you could offer witness training and practice. Check out Grow Sunday School by Sharing Your Salvation Testimony for some ideas.
Accountability partners. See Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5. The emphasis here would not be following up lessons but living in the Spirit (implementing the fruit of the Spirit) and practicing good habits and disciplines daily.
Surveys. Pass out surveys asking members to identify life and behavior practices in which they need help or are struggling. Then plan a strategy based on survey results.
Inventories. Share a discipleship inventory like the Sunday School behaviors survey in Ministry Toolbox (contact me for more information) or the Transformational Discipleship Assessment from LifeWay. Inventories give you an opportunity to address discipleship behaviors through teaching or special studies, but you can also take the inventory again in a year to check on progress.
Listen. Do not underestimate the value of listening and taking note (literally) of what you are hearing. Talk about discipleship. Listen to their stories. Note areas which need to be undergirded. Do this casually and intentionally.
Questions. Ask strategic, discipling questions. Encourage, mentor, and coach members to identify needs and strategies for making progress. This can be done as a group and as individuals or small groups. You might consider using the questions from Coaching 101 to assist you in the process.
Assignments. Invite attenders to help with class activities, projects, and lessons. Ask them to help you with contacts, visits, and ministry. Give them life and behavior assignments to be completed before a report date. Check out Sunday School: Take the Love Dare for some ideas.
Covenant. Invite attenders to join you in creating a class covenant. Check out this covenant. Discussion brings ownership. Ownership gives permission for expectations, encouragement, and correction. This can create positive discipling movement in class and away.
Reports. Set aside time for reports following special lessons, projects, studies, surveys, inventories, assignments, and other events to debrief. What happened? How did they feel? What did they learn? What would they do differently next time? Debriefing can reinforce learning from discipling experiences.

Life and behavior practices may change quickly or take a long time. Work for some quick wins as well as stay persistent in addressing those which require more work and patience. Live in the Spirit. Expect life change. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about discipling through Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 5

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 11:16:00 -0400

In Part 4 of this series, I focused on ways a Sunday School class can impact discipling through spiritual disciplines. In Part 5, I will focus on ways a class can impact discipling through helping attenders obey God. I have written about the importance of and methods for obedience previously. Check out a few of the blog posts where I have done so:

Keep in mind that a discipling Sunday School teacher will not limit discipling to an hour on Sunday morning. Because obedience is living out what our Lord has commanded in His Word, it will naturally be practiced during the other 167 hours. Obedience assumes knowledge and understanding of God's Word (which was discussed in Part 2), but it is ultimately about obeying God.

How do we move individuals in a class toward an expectation for and pattern and practice of obedience? Consider the following:

EXAMPLE. The leader's example is powerful. In my class, our teacher modeled greeting each other and guests on a consistent basis before he began teaching about hospitality. The class got it because we had seen it demonstrated clearly.
PRACTICING. In a previous post (Could R.O.P.E.S. Improve Sunday School?), I talked about the importance of taking time to practice what was taught. This is the exercise part of the lesson. While not every lesson and truth can easily be practiced in the course of an hour on Sunday morning, we can often add opportunities to practice a related skill to help in practice through the week. If they cannot practice it in class, how can we expect them to do so during the week. We should give thought to that question as we pray and prepare our lessons.
APPLICATION TIME. Too many lessons are rushed to get finished with everything. When rushed, application time along with time to consider ways to practice the truth are cut short or cut out. We make attenders more guilty of knowing what they should do when we fail to help them plan out a strategy for obedience. This takes time for thinking and response.
INVITATION. A call for commitment often precedes obedience. This is given at the end of sermons. Why don't we offer invitations at the conclusion of Sunday School lessons. We should expect response. As a result, we should extend an invitation, calling for a commitment for obedience. And multiple responses may need to be considered.
QUESTIONS. Asking personal, open-ended questions can be key to leading attenders to consider a course of action, of obedience. It is important to help attenders consider their context, points of resistance, and how to respond as God expects. This may be discussion time, private consideration, or in written response.
ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNERS. We all need cheerleaders and encouragers to finish well what we commit and desire to do. Accountability partners who pray and ask questions about "how it went" can encourage us to do what we said we would do. These pairs can meet in class or through the week. It can be in person or by phone. Two-way communication is needed.
REPORTS. Consider the example of our Lord with His disciples in Mark 6:30. He sent them out to do what He had been doing: preaching, healing, and driving out demons. In Mark 6:30, the disciples report what happened when they practiced. Report times are essential to encouraging obedience. They are especially essential in the early stages of establishing new habits and practices.

Ultimately, discipling efforts will take a shift in our focus and intentionality, as teachers and as attenders. When teachers focus here, suddenly the class begins to give more attention. When class members begin to share testimonies of what is happening, others will be encouraged to take seriously what is taught and understand they are expected to practice it.

What would you add to these seven ideas for encouraging the development of an expectation for and pattern and practice of obedience? Press Comments below and share your ideas with others. Lead them to obey. Teach to change lives. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about moving attenders toward obedience, consider these blog posts:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 4

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 09:27:00 -0400

In Part 4 of this series, I will focus ways a Sunday School class can impact discipling through spiritual disciplines. I have written about spiritual disciplines previously. Check out the following blog posts:

How can a Sunday School class use spiritual disciplines to impact discipling? Consider the following (many of which received further explanation and treatment in the first series listed above):

Quiet times. Undergird attenders' efforts by teaching about the importance of and techniques for a daily quiet time of prayer and Bible study. Give them resources and suggestions. Offer plans. Make challenges. Set goals. Practice it in class. Have a class retreat focused on quiet time practices.
Prayer. Set aside class time for prayer. Gather together at other times than Sunday to pray. Establish a prayer chain or method for delivering prayer requests to attenders quickly. Teach on different kinds and focuses fo r prayer. Teach them to pray through scripture.
Bible reading. Encourage attenders to r ead the lesson Bible passage prior to Sunday. Assign background passages. Encourage regular intake of God's Word. Annually share a variety of Bible reading plans to encourage daily, balance Bible reading. Teach them a variety of Bible study methods and encourage them to practice them for a period of time.
Meditation. Teach them to listen to God through meditation on His Word. Share passages which reinforce this discipline and techniques for making the most of the time. Practice and debrief.
Silence and solitude. Set aside time in class and longer periods between classes for silence. Meet in a park and encourage attenders to separate for 30-60 minutes with a written devotional guide. Ask them to meet at a set time and place to debrief what they heard.
Service. This can be a class project or individual acts of service. Read passages, like Matthew 25, and focus on serving the hungry, thirsty, poor, prisoners, orphans, widows, or others. This can be especially powerful if connected to a lesson and followed by time for debriefing.
Fasting. Again, this can be especially powerful if connected to a lesson and followed by time for debriefing. Teach about reasons people fasted in the Bible. Establish a purpose, method, and suggested date/time period. Focus on God during the time of fasting. Let hunger focus thoughts toward God as well as any time that would have been spent eating.

Consider these quick ideas for focusing on spiritual disciplines in and through the Sunday School class:

Invite the class to arrive early on Sunday for a time of prayer.
Set aside a special time in place of a class fellowship for service and remember to debrief the experience.
Teach on fasting and then set aside a time and remember to debrief what they experienced and learned.
Pair off to have daily devotions together (five days each week) for three weeks.
Set aside four hours on a Saturday for a mini silent retreat with some simple instructions in advance and no music or talking during and debrief afterwards.
Assign scripture passages along with some simple reflection/meditation questions.
Debriefing each experience helps to reinforce what was learned and capitalize upon these discipleship efforts.

What additional spiritual disciplines has your class practiced? What ideas would you to these for practicing spiritual disciplines through your class? Press Comments below to add your experiences and thoughts. Make disciples. Be revolutionary.

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

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 3

Darryl Wilson — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 09:35:00 -0400

In Part 2, I will focus on ways a Sunday School class can impact Christian worldview. Consider the following:

CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW. In order to impact individuals' Christian worldview, learning has to go deeper than biblical knowledge and understanding. To impact worldview requires addressing further stages in Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning: application, analysis, and synthesis. Application is understanding how truth and issues impact people, life, and self. Analysis, on the other hand, is examining all the parts of issues and ramifications of application. Then synthesis is creating that new pattern of thinking and acting that becomes the worldview.

There are some key phrases for each of these steps or stages of working toward a Christian worldview:

	Key Word	Question
Application	Applying	Can I use the information in a new way?
Analysis	Analyzing	Can I distinguish between a Christian worldview and a nonChristian worldview related to this issue?
Synthesis	Creating	How has my point of view changed as a result?

ILLUSTRATION. Let's put this into a Sunday School class context. You are studying 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. You examine the passage and context to gain knowledge and understanding. Then you move toward application, analysis, and synthesis. (1) APPLICATION: You lead the class to consider the impact of loving actions in their setting at home, work, and the marketplace. You ask how they would have handled a situation differently? You share case studies for applying the learning. You keep pointing back to Jesus and the Word. (2) ANALYSIS: Focus on the differences between eros, phileo, and agape love. Focus on the differences between the practices of love today versus a Christian expression of them. Discuss differences between love of self and love of others. (3) SYNTHESIS: What will be hard for you about shifting to this point of view? What will require more effort, thinking, and new behavior in order to move toward agape love? What adjustments do you need to make? Where do you need to start? What will you do? What did you do? (accountability question for implementation)

The bottom line is that Sunday School has to go beyond entry stages of biblical knowledge and understanding if we want to see discipling progress. We may need to slow down our teaching-learning process. We may need to ask more questions. We will definitely need to allow more time for the application part of the lesson.

One other issue must be stated. Not all learning has to take place in the walls of the class on Sunday morning. Make assignments. Follow up. Send emails, texts, cards, or letters. Make phone calls. Call for reports at the beginning of the next lesson. Review is great for reinforcing knowledge and understanding, but it can also reinforce action, application, and change.

How could you adjust your lessons to impact your discipling results? What do you need to change or add in order to make your Sunday morning encounters laboratories in Christian living, application, and change? Slow down. Adjust your plan. Focus. Apply. Analyze. Create. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 2

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 9 Jul 2012 15:20:00 -0400

In Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 1, I listed fourteen discipling outcomes which should result from Sunday School: biblical knowledge and understanding; Christian worldview; spiritual disciplines; obedience; life and behavior practices; spiritual gifts and church body practices; love of God, neighbor, and self; connection, community, and fellowship; leadership training; service; mission/ministry; inviting and sharing Jesus; tithing, stewardship, and money practices; and leadership and organizational multiplication. For additional information, check out a previous post: Questions about Making Disciples Through Sunday School.

While a book could be written around these topics, I want to introduce the areas and begin the thinking. In Part 2, I will look at the first Sunday School discipling outcome: biblical knowledge and understanding. My intent is to focus on practical ways Sunday School should impact this discipling outcome area. Consider the following:

BIBLICAL KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING. In order to impact discipling, more than teaching will occur. Learning will take place. Participants will be led to understand relevance to life today and to them as individuals.

This will most assuredly involve the use of multiple teaching methods to address the varied learning styles in every group. This absolutely requires prayerful preparation. Check out Crafting a Sunday School Lesson to Lead to Learning AND Action. Attenders will be led to meet God in Bible study during the session and to apply the truth beyond Sunday morning. Class members and guests will be led to consider four questions: what did God say, what is my response, am I willing to do it, and did I do it? For more explanation, check out Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , and Part 5 and Make Them Think in Sunday School!.

Androgogy means that adults will build biblical learning upon previous knowledge and experiences. And they will value and benefit more from Sunday School which involves them in the learning. Good questions are natural aids to retaining knowledge and to deeper understanding. These will be offered both by the teacher as well as by learners. Discussion can also be a useful tool, but it must be planned and executed with intention. Check out Effective Discussion in Your Sunday School Class, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

While retention is essential, understanding and application leading to relationship (with God and man) and obedience are the goal. Check out Sunday School Teaching Methods for Impacting Discipleship, Part 1 and Part 2 and Sunday School: Telling the Bible Story, Part 3 Retention.

Much more could be said here. Check out the following blog posts for more information about how Sunday School impacts biblical knowledge and understanding:

Discipling Outcomes from Sunday School, Part 1

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 5 Jul 2012 14:07:00 -0400

In Question about Discipleship Outcomes from Sunday School, I asked these questions:

What are the discipling results we should expect from attenders (particularly adults) in our Sunday School classes? What should happen in their lives? How should they be different as the result? How should they be becoming more like Jesus? What should they be doing in the church, community, and world? What will others experience and see in their lives as a result of the discipling efforts that take place in and through Sunday School?

These are some heavy duty questions about Sunday School mindset and practice. I believe Sunday School has so much more potential impact than is currently being experienced in most lives, classes, churches, and communities. I want to share a few of the areas I have identified as expected discipling outcomes as a result of Sunday School. Consider the following:

biblical knowledge and understanding
Christian worldview
spiritual disciplines
obedience
life and behavior practices
spiritual gifts and church body practices
love of God, neighbor, and self
connection, community, and fellowship
leadership training
service
mission/ministry
inviting and sharing Jesus
tithing, stewardship, and money practices
leadership and organizational multiplication

I am unsure at the moment how long this series will be in order to address this list. And I remain open to additional thoughts and conversation about discipling outcomes from Sunday School. Press Comments below to add your thoughts. Let's give our Lord and His bride, the Church, our best efforts through Sunday School. Make disciples. Be revolutionary.

For more ideas about discipling through Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

Question about Discipleship Outcomes from Sunday School

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 08:00:00 -0400

Since my role with the Kentucky Baptist Convention will shift in a few days to include Discipleship, my mind is naturally already thinking about the new responsibility. There are many natural connections between Sunday School, small groups, and discipleship.

But for the last several days, my mind has especially focused on the discipleship outcomes from Sunday School. What are the discipling results we should expect from attenders (particularly adults) in our Sunday School classes? What should happen in their lives? How should they be different as the result? How should they be becoming more like Jesus? What should they be doing in the church, community, and world? What will others experience and see in their lives as a result of the discipling efforts that take place in and through Sunday School?

I have already begun a list including scriptural support, but I am convinced that I have only scratched the surface. Help me think through this issue and these questions. Press Comments below and leave me your thoughts. My plan is to write a series of blog posts (might be a long series) focusing on discipleship outcomes from Sunday School.

I look forward to hearing from you.

For more ideas about discipleship and Sunday School, check out these blog posts:

Sunday School Director Job Description, Part 2

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:41:00 -0400

This spring, I led a conference for planning teams focused on growing the Sunday School. During the training time, one of the Sunday School directors told me she had been enlisted to deliver curriculum and pick up attendance records. She thanked me for helping her to understand the full scope of her work. (I was afraid I was overwhelming her!)

In this two-part series, I began in Part 1 by looking at the relationships and broad scope of the work of the Sunday School director. In Part 2, I will focus on major duties or areas of responsibility. I will not be covering the many Sunday morning duties. For a look at those, check out What Does a Revolutionary Sunday School Director Do on Sunday Morning?.

Part 2 will be more focused upon the director's leadership toward Sunday School growth and effectiveness. Consider these areas of responsibility:

MISSION. Lead teachers and workers to understand and pursue the biblical purpose, mission, and vision of Sunday School. This is part of the spiritual preparation for the annual growth retreat and of teacher/worker training.
DEFINITION. Together with teachers and workers, develop a comprehensive Sunday School strategy statement.
RETREAT. Plan and conduct an annual Sunday School growth retreat. The planning team in attendance should include the director, pastor, teachers, workers, and general leaders. Steps include spiritual preparation, evaluation, need identification, prioritization, goal-setting, and action planning. Check out Giving Sunday School Direction Through a Planning Retreat. This is essential for consistent impact and growth.
PASTOR. Develop a strong relationship with the pastor and regularly meet to evaluate and plan Sunday School work. Check out The Pastor Coaching a Winning Sunday School Team.
ACCOUNTABILITY. Gather the planning team monthly to evaluate progress on annual retreat goals, to make adjustments, and for training and communication. Check out Calendaring Sunday School Growth and Improving Attendance at Monthly Sunday School Workers Meetings.
ENLIST. Invest in prayerful and personal Sunday School teacher and worker enlistment and care. Seek God-called leaders. Check out Enlist and Train God-Called Sunday School Leaders. Encourage leaders. Keep promises.
BUDGET. Following your retreat, determine how much money is needed to carry out Sunday School growth plans. Present your requests to your budget/finance team.
TRAINING. Plan and conduct Sunday School teacher and worker growth training at least twice annually. Make it creative. Check out Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers.
PRAYER. Set aside time (at least quarterly) to pray for Sunday School.
ENROLL. Lead classes to pray for, pursue, care for, and enroll new, lost, and unchurched people. Establish and practice good enrollment policies. Check out Using Sunday School Enrollment to Grow, Part 1 and Using Sunday School Enrollment to Grow, Part 2.
ORGANIZE. Lead classes to enlist workers to carry out growth actions. This includes a secretary, outreach leader, care group leaders, greeters, and others. Check out A Simple Two-Part System for Getting Sunday School Class Ministry Done, Part 2.
CONTACT. Challenge classes to make weekly contacts (visits, phone, letters/cards, and electronic) with every member and prospect. Lead members to report to ensure accountability and in order to measure progress. Check out Sunday School Contacts Make a Difference!.
IMPRESSIONS. Enlist and train Sunday School and class greeters to greet and care for guests and members. Register guests. Encourage name tags. Check out Great First Impressions for Sunday School Guests, Part 1 and Great First Impressions for Sunday School Guests, Part 2.
PROMOTE. Lift up Sunday School by talking about it during worship, establishing special days, and communicating about it with members and the community on a regular basis. Share testimonies. Check out Marketing Your Sunday School Class.
FELLOWSHIP. Be a champion for monthly class fellowships and projects. Strengthen connections between members through regular times of fun, fellowships, and ministry/mission projects. Invite prospects and guests to begin connections with them. Check out 101 Ways for Sunday School to Be Evangelistic, Part 3 Fellowship.
APPRENTICE. Expect every Sunday School teacher and worker to apprentice another one every year. This is an important step in discipleship for the leader and the apprentice. It also makes growth more natural. Prepare the apprentice to be launched on their own. Check out Coaching a Successful Sunday School Teacher Apprentice.
START. Add more Sunday School classes at church and away. Send out the teacher or an apprentice and a seed group of one to five persons to help launch the new class. Identify space. Select and order curriculum. Pray for, care for, invite, and enroll new people. Coach leaders of the new class. Check out Grow Your Sunday School Class by Starting a New Class.

This list is not intended to be comprehensive, but it has many essential leadership actions for the Sunday School director. What would you add to the list? Where do you personally find the greatest challenge of those items on the list? Where do you need to invest more time and energy in the coming months? On which of the items will you commit to improve this year? Give our Lord and His body your best efforts! Make disciples. Lead in Sunday School growth. Be revolutionary!

Sunday School Director Job Description, Part 1

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 09:08:00 -0400

I have written around this topic many times over the years. Here are some of the many posts which are related:

In this two-part series, I will begin by looking at the relationships and broad scope of the work of the Sunday School director.

RELATIONSHIPS. The Sunday School director works with nearly everyone in the church directly or indirectly. Here are a few of the main ones on the list.

The pastor. The pastor and director are a team. Working together, they are able to lead the Sunday School toward increasing effectiveness. They keep the vision for Sunday School before teachers and leaders. They lead in evaluating, goal-setting and pursuit, and in trouble-shooting. In a larger church, the director may also relate to the minister of education.
Teachers. Teachers are naturally a key part of the team the pastor and director lead. This includes teachers of all ages, from preschool through adults. The director prays for, encourages, plans with, challenges, trains, and leads teachers. The director listens and helps. Teachers would include apprentices as well.
General leaders. This includes the pastor and the Sunday School secretary, outreach leader, perhaps an associate director, and others. The director works to avoid duplicating efforts. The secretary may focus on records and curriculum ordering and distribution. The outreach leader may keep outreach records updated and lead classes to make weekly contact assignments and participate in outreach activities. An associate director is needed when there is more than one session of Sunday School and the number of classes have increased making weekly contact with teachers difficult. Age group directors (one each for preschool, children, youth, and adult) may also be included as general leaders and part of the planning team.
Class leaders. This will include class secretaries, substitute teachers, outreach leaders, care group leaders, prayer leaders, fellowship leaders, service leaders, and any other positions which enable the classes to carry out their work. The director works with teachers to ensure needed leaders are enlisted, trained, and mobilized into service.
Planning team. The size and make up of the Sunday School planning team depends on the size of the church. In a large church, the team may be made up of the pastor, director, minister of education, and age group division directors. In most churches, the team will include all teachers and perhaps all class leaders. The purpose of the planning team is annual goal-setting and strategy for growth which is checked on and adjusted as needed during monthly meetings.
Finance team. The director works with this group to develop and present and administer a Sunday School budget which may include Vacation Bible School and/or outreach.
Facilities team. The director works with this group to ensure that appropriate rooms and equipment are provided for current and new classes. The director helps the facilities team anticipate needs.
Discipleship director. The Sunday School director may also work with the Discipleship director to ensure that workers (and members) are trained. This may include offering teacher/worker job training. It may include biblical studies, outreach and evangelism training, and more.
Nominating team. The director works closely with the nominating team to ensure enlistment of God-called people in current and new places of service. Depending on church practice, teachers may enlist class leaders without the involvement of the nominating team.
Greeter team. The director works with this team to ensure a positive first impression for Sunday School members and guests. Guests are registered and led to appropriate classes.

What other relationships did I miss? I will focus more on duties in Part 2. Enlarge your relationships and lead your Sunday School to be effective. If you are busy and have no time to read additional posts, check out What Does a Revolutionary Sunday School Director Do on Sunday Morning? for specific duties for the director for Sunday. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

What Can I Do to Increase Sunday School Class Involvement?

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 16:07:00 -0400

I talk to Sunday School teachers often who complain they cannot get people to step up to a position of leadership. No one wants to serve. No one is willing to "do anything." We can do so much more together than alone.

Before responding to these teachers, I usually ask one or more of these questions: Have you asked for specific roles to be filled? How have you asked, publically or privately? Did you pray before enlisting? Did you ask the class to be in prayer for who will assume the responsibility? What have you done personally to prepare people to take on new roles?

Let me say that it helps for the class to be exposed to higher and higher expectations over a period of time. But high expectations must be preceded by prayer and an understanding of "ownership" of the work the class must accomplish. The class must understand that the teacher cannot do all the work. In fact, the class benefits by involvement and investment in the work. Consider the counsel of Jethro to his son-in-law, Moses.

In response to the above questions, there are often indicators of why there is a leadership vacuum in the class. Let's examine responses to each question:

Have you asked for specific roles to be filled? Sometimes there has been no attempt to enlist for a specific responsibility. If it is everyone's responsibility, no one will often do it. Enlist to a job. Make sure there is understanding of why the role is needed and how it will contribute to the work of the class.
How have you asked, publically or privately? Frequently, teachers respond that they asked the class on Sunday. They complain they are busy and say that is the fastest way. But no one responds. In reality, each person in the class expects someone else to do it. Enlisting privately makes it a personal issue and response.
Did you pray before enlisting? Enlisting the first person that comes to your mind is not the best approach. Your mind may have seen skills and personality that might lend themselves to doing the job well, but your mind may also have simply selected a "popular" person. Pray for God to lead you to the individual He desires to carry out the responsibility. Don't be surprised when it is someone unexpected.
Did you ask the class to be in prayer for who will assume the responsibility? It is helpful to sensitize the class to the need for the responsibility to be carried out. They can join you in prayer, and they will be more sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit in their own lives in response to the need.
What have you done personally to prepare people to take on new roles? Don't overlook this one. Take people with you to make visits. Give contact assignments. Ask for help in teaching part or all of the lesson. Ask for help with a fellowship. Take people with you as you carry out the work. Over time, involve as many class members as you can. Watch how they respond. This will sensitize your heart and mind to the person the Holy Spirit may be pointing out for a needed role. It may also give the individual confidence to step up, especially if you point out what you have observed as they have served.

Have you had success in getting people to step up to new roles? What have you done that has worked? What would you add to what has been said? Share your thoughts below by pressing Comments. In order to make disciples of all nations, everyone must go, everyone must carry out their responsibility. Pray. Ask the class to pray. Ask. Be specific. Take people with you. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

Enlist and Train God-Called Sunday School Leaders

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 5 Jun 2012 14:16:00 -0400

For the many Sunday Schools who begin their new year in September, June is the time to begin enlistment. To enlist needed leaders effectively, enlistment needs to begin at least three months prior to the new year's start. What are the steps needed in order to discover and enlist God-called leaders? Consider the following:
1. begin early enough to enlist personally and well
2. begin with a season of prayer (perhaps the entire first nominating team meeting)
3. consider the organizational needs (who will be returning, vacated positions, and new positions being created)
4. put together a list of all potential people who meet church qualifications for service
5. then prayerfully determine the individual who is needed in each position
6. avoid considering backups in case the first choice declines
7. make enlistment visits (not in church hallway)
8. explain the opportunity, expectations, and resources
9. allow time for discussion and answering questions
10. set a time (usually a week) to allow for prayer and check back on a decision
11. follow up, checking on questions and a decision
12. when individuals decline an opportunity for service, begin the process again

What is the key for enlisting "God-called" leaders? Without a doubt, the answer is prayer. Spend time prior to meeting together and during your process in prayer. Seek God and His leadership. Avoid pursuing people based on popularity. Seek more than one nominating team voice. Don't rush the process. Rushing tends to enlist "warm-bodies" to fill openings. Ask candidates to spend time praying over the opportunity. Investing well can result in big dividends for your Sunday School ministry.

After you have enlisted your leaders (including returning leaders), provide training related to the assigned task and overall Sunday School work. Again, that means you need to begin your enlistment process early enough to have leaders in place prior to your training event. There are many ways to provide training. Check out Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers for 33 ideas about how to train your leaders. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Get everyone involved. Make it fun and relevant. Provide food and childcare. Consider providing training more than once every year. This is because you want to train every leader every year, and some will naturally have conflicts.

Give God your best effort in enlisting and training leaders. Seek and train "God-called" leaders. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

For more ideas about enlistment and training of leaders, check out these blog posts:

Ready, Aim, Fire: Become a Sunday School Marksman

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:15:00 -0400

As a teen Scout, I earned the Rifle & Shotgun Shooting merit badge with a near perfect score. There is much to learn about "how" to shoot well. Knowledge and even practice alone, however, do not make perfect shooting. Right practice makes perfect.

According to Dictionary.com, a "marksman" is "a person who is skilled in shooting at a mark." The definition actually needs a little rewriting or clarification. In reality, a marksman is not a person who is skilled in "shooting at" a mark. Rather, a marksman is a person who is skilled in "hitting" a mark. My Scout experience makes me believe that nearly everyone attempts to be a marksman at some time. Almost every person aims to hit (or accomplish) something.

Combining these two thoughts (right practice and actually hitting the mark), I want to offer some Sunday School reflections:
1. READY. Become an expert on Sunday School by reading, conferencing, and observing Sunday School. Ask questions of Sunday School leaders from other churches. Know what you should be aiming for. Get familiar with the target(s). Prepare well. Scouts have a buddy system in play for swimming, shooting, and many activities. This is a helpful practice for Sunday School work. Seek a mentor. Apprentice others. Hold each other accountable to give your best effort. Think and prepare together.
2. AIM. You can be prepared and ready to fire, but without aiming you will likely not hit the mark. In fact, someone may get hurt. In rifle shooting, it is essential to get comfortable with your weapon. Appropriate grip, breathing, and sighting are necessary. In a similar way, it is essential to get familiar with Sunday School and to ensure that plans actually lead toward accomplishing your goals. What are you aiming your Sunday School to accomplish? Lessons or changed lives? Mediocrity or revolutionary excellence? Maintenance or leadership? Survival or growth? As needed, adjust your sights in order to ensure you hit the mark.
3. FIRE. When you have prepared and aimed your Sunday School work well, fire. Make sure you check your results frequently. Insanity is continuing to do the same things over and over while expecting different results. If efforts are not producing the desired results, make adjustments and go through the three steps again. Don't just talk about good Sunday School work. Do it. Good intentions need implementation to produce results.

Now, what do you need to read, attend, or learn in order to be a better leader this year? What do you need to need to accomplish this year? Break it into specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely goals and action plans. Make assignments. Set deadlines. Establish regular times to report on progress and to make adjustments as needed. Fire. Launch the work. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!

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

Attitudes That Cripple Sunday School Class Growth

Darryl Wilson — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:31:00 -0400

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:

Sixth Anniversary: Top Twenty Sunday School Revolutionary Posts

Darryl Wilson — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:12:00 -0400

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:

Unique Names for Sunday School and for Sunday School Classes (20,692)

MORE THAN 5,000 HITS:

MORE THAN 3.000 HITS:

Revolutionary Sunday School Invitations (Postcards) (4,169)
Plan Your Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day (3,762)
Improve Sunday School Through Evaluation (3,738)
Promotional Tools for Sunday School: Don’t Keep It to Yourself! (3,567)
Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers (3,103)

MORE THAN 2,000 HITS:

Nine Reasons to Use Icebreakers in Sunday School/Small Groups (2,349)
Sunday School Teacher Qualities (2,320)
Qualifications of a Sunday School Teacher, Part 2 (2,265)
Three Simple Strategies to Increase Sunday School Attendance, Part 3 (2,214)
Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 1 (2,159)
5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year (2,158)
Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 1 (2,148)
Invitation to Sunday School (2,105)
What to Name a New Adult Sunday School Class? (2,057)
Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Month: Is It May or October? (2,044)

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!

Plan Now to Avoid the Summer Sunday School Slump

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:39:00 -0400

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:

Expressing Appreciation for Sunday School Teachers/Workers

Darryl Wilson — Wed, 2 May 2012 14:26:00 -0400

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!

Suggested Sunday School Launch Week Activities

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 10:24:00 -0400

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:

Has Worker Attrition Caused Your Sunday School Decline?

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:24:00 -0400

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:

Updated: Free Training Materials for Sunday School Teachers

Darryl Wilson — Tue, 3 Apr 2012 13:10:00 -0400

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.

Free download of the book: Missionary Sunday School: One Mission. His Story. Every Person
Free teaching materials for all age groups for Missionary Sunday School: General leader resources
Free download of the book: Transformational Class: Transformational Church Goes to Sunday School
Free teaching materials for all age groups for Transformational Class: General leader resources
Free download of the book: Great Expectations: Planting Seeds for Sunday School Growth
Free teaching materials for all age groups for Great Expectations: General leader resources

Free download of the book:
The 3D Sunday School: A Three Dimensional Strategy
Free teaching materials for all age groups for The 3D Sunday School: General leader resources
Free download of the book: I-6 Invite: A Six-Lane Strategy Toward an Inviting Sunday School
Free teac hing materials for all age groups for I-6 Invite: General leader resources
Free download of the book: The Discover Triad: Three Facets of a Dynamic Sunday School Class
Free teaching materials for all age groups for The Discover Triad: General leader resources
Free download of the book: Connect3: The Power of One Sunday School Class
Free teaching materials for all age groups for Connect3: General leader resources
Free download of the book: The 5-Step Formula for Sunday School Growth
Free teaching materials for all age groups for The 5-Step Formula: General leader resources

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!

Highest Praise for a Sunday School Teacher

Darryl Wilson — Mon, 2 Apr 2012 12:46:00 -0400

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:

Sunday School Growth through Evangelism Training

Darryl Wilson — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 10:55:00 -0400

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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