Larry Osborne, pastor of North Coast Church in California has written a book, Sticky Church. The premise of the book is to point out the importance of sermon-based small groups. As I have read this book I felt that Sunday School could be put in place of sermon-based small groups through out most places in the book. Osborne has discovered the importance of getting people involved in a small group. This is a fact that Christian Educators have known for years. If a church is going to hold on to people and keep them from going out the backdoor then it is vital to get them involved in a small group. Statistics so that if a person is involved in a small group (Sunday School) that usually 8 out of 10 are actively involved in the church five years later as compared to only 2 out 10 who are not involved in a small group. Osborne’s church strives to have 80% of those in worship involved in a small group during the week. This is a higher percentage than most churches that are doing small groups instead of Sunday School. The numbers that are usually reported are around 40% of worship attendance involved in small groups during the week.

There is an ongoing debate over which model is better – Sunday School or small groups? Don’t abandon Sunday School for small groups. Sunday School at First Baptist Church, Clarksville, Tennessee has run approximately 80%-82% over the last few years. Small groups are another way of getting people plugged into a group where they can build relationships and study God’s Word. Churches should embrace and support those who desire to be in a small group but should not give up on a model that has proven to be very successful over the years. Use small groups and Sunday School to make your church sticky and hold on to people! Keep the front door of worship wide open but close the back door with small groups and Sunday School. Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Arthur Flake was born in Texas in 1862 and became a successful clothing merchant in Mississippi. He came to the Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1909 and became the head of the Sunday School Department in 1920. He developed a strategy to grow the Sunday School that was based on a successful plan to grow a business. It was a simple plan that still works today:
1. Know Your Possibilities (number of people enrolled and prospects)
2. Enlarge the Organization (number of classes and leaders needed)
3. Enlist and Train the Workers
4. Provide the Space (classrooms needed)
5. Go After the People (regular contacts)

As a Sunday School leader I encourage you to follow these same principles to grow your Sunday School class:
1. Know those who are on your class roll and your prospects.
2. If you class roll has too many enrolled then consider starting another class out of your current class with a few key leaders. (suggested maximum enrollment is 40-50 for most adult classes because statistics prove that a smaller class is more effective in reaching and ministering to people)
3. Enlist associates to help you as the teacher. (consider enlisting an Associate Teacher, a Reaching Leader, a Ministry and Mission Leader, and a Fellowship Leader)
4. Be willing to move your class to another area if your space is needed for another class.
5. Enlist Care Group Leaders that will contact members and prospects every week. (you will need one Care Group Leader for each 5-6 people on your class roll)

The last ingredient for growing your Sunday School class is prayer. I encourage you to pray, pray, pray asking God to direct you and bless your class with great teaching, ministering, and reaching.

David Francis, Sunday School Director, at LifeWay Christian Resources has written a small book titled, Transformational Class: Transformational Church Goes to Sunday School. This little book is based on LifeWay’s Transformational Church research project. They researched churches large and small and different denominations to discover the key elements that help a church produce transformed people or disciples of Jesus Christ. Too often we place a greater emphasis on the number of people attending over the greater need to transform the lives of those who are attending. The number attending is important but it is equally important to make sure we are making disciples. If people attend week after week and they are not transformed by the Gospel message then we need to evaluate what we are doing and how we are doing it. David says, “Transformational churches do exist and they are characterized by members who are becoming more like Jesus, congregations that are acting more like the body of Christ, and communities that are being transformed to reflect the kingdom of God.”

What do these churches have in common? These churches have missionary mentality. They have vibrant leaders. They intentionally build relationships. They depend on prayer. Their worship services actively embrace Jesus and they connect with people in their respective communities. These same principles can be applied to a Sunday School class. David’s book will help any Sunday School class become a Transformational Sunday School class that is helping people become more like Jesus.

Are the people in your Sunday School class being transformed and becoming more like Jesus? Does your Sunday School class act like the body of Christ and reflect the kingdom of God? What do you need to do differently? Share a comment on how your Sunday School class is helping transform people’s lives.

It is natural for people to take vacations and be gone during the summer months. People (including Sunday School teachers) need this time away to refresh and renew themselves. I encourage Sunday School teachers to take some time away from the class. Enlist your Apprentice Teacher to fill in for you while you are gone. Make a big deal about the Apprentice Teacher leading the class. Announce it in advance and encourage class members to be present and to bring a friend to support and encourage the Apprentice Teacher.

When people are absent, do not just assume they are on vacation. Let those people know they were missed and you are looking forward to seeing them next Sunday. Inquire where they went to on vacation. Encourage people to bring in a family vacation picture to post on a class bulletin board. You might consider asking people to bring bulletins from the churches they visited and then posting them on a bulletin board.

Ask your Care Group Leaders to contact every member (present and absent) on his or her assigned list each week to see how the person is doing and how they can pray for him or her. Contacting members and prospects is a proven method for increasing attendance at any event and especially Sunday School.

Have a contest to see who can bring the most guests during the summer months, and then have a special fellowship at the end of summer to celebrate the number of guests who came during the summer and to recognize the person who brought the most guests.

People like to fellowship. Plan a special summer fellowship such as a backyard cook-out, a swimming party, or go to the lake and spend some time boating, skiing, etc. Invite some prospects and absentees. Many times people will come for a special fellowship when they will not come to Sunday School.

Leave a comment and share some ideas you have used to beat the Summer Slump in Sunday School.

Some teachers set a goal to have 100% in attendance. This is a worthy goal but God has not called us to and have 100% in Sunday School. Rather, He calls us to “Go and make disciples.” Dropping someone off of the Sunday School roll so you can have a better percentage in attendance is wrong. The question any teacher should ask before dropping someone is “Will dropping this person from my Sunday School roll help me reach him and teach him about the Good News of Jesus Christ?” Of course not! When a person is dropped from the roll the teacher is basically saying “I don’t care about you and I don’t want to be bothered with trying to contact and reach you for the Lord.”

There are only four reasons a person should be dropped from the Sunday School roll. 1. The person has died. 2. The person has joined another church and is actively involved at the new church. 3. The person has moved out of town. 4. The person has requested that his name be removed from the Sunday School roll.

Don’t be discouraged in continuing to contact a person. You never know when you will have an opportunity to minister to someone and get them involved in Bible study. It may take years of telephone calls, visits, and cards written to eventually reach someone. If the person is dropped from the roll and no contacts are made, it is almost certain he will not be reached. So, don’t drop them! Keep praying for them and contacting them!

We have recently heard about the expertise and capabilities of the Navy SEALS. Everyday they train and prepare. They are ready to go on a moments notice. They are the elite of the fighting forces and have trained to perform certain actions that most people will never be able to do. We marvel at these men and their abilities. The key to staying top notch is to constantly be training and improving.

As Sunday School teachers we should be constantly training and improving. There are always ways we can be a better teacher. When was the last time you attended a Sunday School leadership training event? When was the last time you read a book about how to improve as a Sunday School leader? Are you committed to preparing to do your best for the Lord? God deserves your best. Would He consider you as one of His elite Sunday School leaders? Take advantage of training opportunities offered by your church, association, state convention or other organizations that provide Sunday School leadership training. Leave a comment and share what you do to improve as a Sunday School leader?

Recently, our country has experienced an unusual amount of severe storms. I just heard on the news that over 200 people lost their lives when over 100 tornados tore through the south leaving a path of destruction. Life is filled with storms. Some storms are not as devastating as a tornado but can create just as much stress in a person’s life. People are facing the storms of sickness, divorce, wayward children, difficult work situations, and much more. They all need the loving touch of someone who cares.

Sunday School classes are designed to be the hands and feet of Jesus, providing that loving touch to the members of the class when a storm comes. Every Sunday School class should have a Ministry/Missions Leader. This person will help the teacher coordinate the ministry and mission projects for the class. When there is a death or sickness the Ministry/Missions Leader will organize the class to bring food for the family. When there is a need as a result of a tornado, flood, or some type of accident, the Ministry/Mission Leader will organize people to help clean up, paint, fix, and provide transportation as needed. Sometimes all a person needs is someone to be there and pray for him. The list is endless of the ways a Sunday School class can minister to each other.

If you don’t already have a Ministry/Missions Leader for your Sunday School class, enlist someone today and begin planning the next ministry or mission project for your class. God will use your class to touch the lives of many people if everyone will just make themselves available to be used by God.

Research indicates that the use of visuals greatly improves the effectiveness of a teacher. When the only teaching method used is lecture, learners only remember about 10% of what is said verbally. When visuals are added to the lecture or verbal presentation the percentage remembered by learners increases to 60%.

Many companies that sell teaching materials also sell resource kits that have visuals that support the lesson being taught. These resource kits usually have posters, maps, and handouts. The cost of the resource kit is a great investment but the cost should not prevent a teacher from using visuals. Visuals can be made. Make handouts such as pre-test, fill in the blank, and post-test. Use poster paper for groups to record responses to questions. The whiteboard can be used to share an outline for the lesson or to give emphasis to certain points of the lesson. Create a PowerPoint presentation to support a verbal presentation and show it on a television or use a video projector.

We live in a very visual society. We watch television. Commercials are often 10-30 seconds. Videos can be rented or downloaded with ease. Imagine if a person could watch an instructional video on how to make or repair something in comparison to only hearing the instructions verbally and not being able to visually see it. Obviously the video would be preferred. Visuals reinforce what is said verbally.

When a person visually observes something there is a greater chance he will remember the visual than what was verbally said. Every teacher should use visuals so as to be a better teacher and help learners learn more.

I just returned from attending the Baptist Association of Christian Educators conference in Nashville, Tennessee. The focus and theme of the conference was “Living the Truth”. We explored how well we, as Christian educators, are doing in helping people know and apply the Bible to their lives. The main speaker was Dr. George Guthrie, professor at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He just completed a new book, Bible for Life. Dr. Guthrie has developed a very basic 18 question test to determine how biblically literate someone may be. He has given this test to incoming freshmen at Union University. Union University is a conservative Southern Baptist university that attracts a lot of students who come from a conservative Christian background and who have been in church much of their lives. I was surprised when he announced that the average score of the incoming freshmen was 57%. I have seen the test and it is not very difficult. It has questions like, “Which of these books is from the New Testament?” This is a question that anyone who has been in Sunday School for years should be able to answer. Every Sunday we are teaching the Bible in our churches but are the people getting it? Do people actually see the benefits of knowing God’s Word and hiding it in their hearts? Are people living by the principles found in the Bible? What are we doing wrong? What can we do to change this trend of biblically illiteracy? Give me your thoughts.

I just finished writing a daily devotion about half-hearted obedience to God based on the story from 2 Kings about Jehu who destroyed the house of Ahab and all of the prophets and priests of Baal but he failed to oppose the idol worship of Jeroboam. God desires our whole-hearted obedience.

God has called you to teach a Sunday School class. Evaluate your reaching, teaching, ministering, and fellowship of your class. Would God say your class members are whole-heartedly doing the best they can to reach people, to teach God’s Word, to minister to one another, and to spend time fellowshipping and building relationships? That is what God expects of your class and of you as the leader. God despises half-hearted leadership.

Hopefully; each week you are sending cards, making phone calls, and visiting your class members. Hopefully, you spend a good amount of time in preparation and prayer each week so you can adequately teach God’s Word. Hopefully, you are leading the way to help your class members pray for one another and to minister to one another in times of crisis. Hopefully, you are planning fellowship times for your class so everyone can have the opportunity to build relationships and discover the needs of the others in the class. What are you doing to make sure you aren’t slacking off and giving God only half-hearted leadership? Share your ideas in the comment section.