• Leading Attenders to Meet God in Bible Study, Part 3
• Teach Your Sunday School Students to Read the Bible Daily
• Revolutionary Teachers Are FAT
• And They’ll Know Sunday School Members Are Christ Followers by Our Love
• What a Sunday School Teacher Can Do to Deepen Relationships
• Prayerful, Purposeful Preparation for Revolutionary Sunday School
• Transformational Sunday School Equation
• Are They Following Your Leadership of the Sunday School?
• Attitude Check: Do You Want Sunday School to Grow?
• How Can You Invigorate Your Sunday School Class?
• Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool
• Sunday School Teacher, Is Your Relationship with Christ Stale?
• Sunday School Teaching Believers to Listen to the Voice of God, Part 1 and Sunday School Teaching Believers to Listen to the Voice of God, Part 2
• Sunday School, One of the Ways to Get People Involved in Studying the Bible

BUILD UP TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.  What caused the war? It could simply be termed "salutary neglect." Once the American colonies were established, the British government largely left them alone. Though each had royal governors, the colonial-elected assemblies were frequently more active in governing. During this period, Britain was preoccupied with becoming THE world power through amassing as much territory as possible. The year 1763 saw the end of the French and Indian War. That same year the British reversed paths on salutary neglect with a shift toward "protecting" the colonists. Parliament determined that Americans should start paying some of the cost. The problem was that the period of neglect had allowed Americans to create their own identity. The colonists did not mind the relationship with Britain, but they considered it to be impractical, inefficient, illogical, and bordering on immoral that they should be governed from so far away by people who had no concept of what it meant to be American.

SUNDAY SCHOOL NEGLECT. Sunday School today is experiencing the same problem as those early American colonists: neglect. Sunday School has been neglected for so long that it can be painful when needed change is pursued. Bad practices have become bad habits. Comfort is more important than mission and purpose. And time and money are invested sparingly and primarily on self.

In addition to these, there are a number of significant areas where Sunday School has been neglected. First and foremost, leaders and members alike are in spiritual growth survival-mode having neglected their own personal relationship with God which gives purpose and direction to lives and Sunday School. In addition, pastors, Sunday School directors, and teachers have allowed busyness and distractions to cause a neglect in leading the Sunday School. As a result most Sunday Schools today are organized for survival rather than for care and growth.

Hundreds have neglected planning and are suffering the consequences. It has been years since they evaluated or pursued any goals. Few Sunday Schools are looking outward. They are blinded to needs all around them—most importantly the need for Jesus. On top of that, the back door is wide open; Sunday School members are dropping out without being noticed or cared for. Then when they drop out, they are no longer available to help with the harvest. Lessons are thrown together at the last minute out of necessity or responsibility rather than from a deep encounter with a living God. And lessons are taught in the same old way without passion, involvement, or life-change.

With Sunday School in such a neglected state, it is no wonder that growth and multiplication of the Sunday School has also been neglected. Why would anyone want to launch new leaders and groups when the ones they already have are so poor. Multiplication of leaders is impacted by yet another area of Sunday School neglect: training. Expectations are so low that no training is offered for fear of losing one more needed worker.

In this multi-part series, I will tackle these issues of neglect one at a time. In the meantime, evaluate your Sunday School. What signs of neglect do you see? What can you do to turn area those areas? Tackle one at a time until your Sunday School has moved from neglected to revolutionary. Be revolutionary!

Over the few days, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. Over the last month, I have shared favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). In counting down the top ten, here at last is the number one favorite! Enjoy!

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

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

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

For additional information, check out these three blog entries:

• Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 1
• Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 2
• Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 3

Over the next week, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). We are counting down the top ten. Here is the number three favorite! Enjoy!

When is the right time to express our appreciation to Sunday School teachers and workers? Last April I wrote a blog post entitled Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Month: Is It May or October?. Those two months are the most typical times to recognize and appreciate those who invest so much time and effort in teaching and leading our classes. But the answer to my question is not May or October. The answer to the question is every month! These men and women deserve our praise and thanks more than one day or month each year (check out Sunday School Leader Appreciation Is a Must!).

On the other hand, it is appropriate to plan a churchwide emphasis for a day, week, or month in order to lead class attenders (and parents) to express their appreciation. In my blog post, Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Month: Is It May or October?, I list a dozen ways to do so (one per month): from thank you card Sunday to a teacher commissioning service and from mug a teacher Sunday to pray for your teacher week and more.

I ran across a great article this week that I just had to share. It is on a website entitled Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day, and the article is entitled Ideas for Honoring Your Sunday School Teacher. The article mentions that Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day is the third Sunday in October. But many want to say thanks to teachers before the Sunday School year ends, and May is often a natural time to do so.

The article mentions five major ways to honor and appreciate Sunday School teachers and leaders: awards, publicize the day, give special gifts, have a special service, and thank-you cards. Make sure you read all of the article for some great suggestions. Allow me to share a shortened version of the ideas from the article:

• AWARDS. Nominate your favorite Sunday School teachers for a Teacher of the Year Award. Encourage the church family to submit their nominations. Put together a nomination form that asks for the name and reasons why the teacher should be considered. Make the forms readily available to your congregation. You might share about last year's winner from the pulpit in order to inspire them to complete and return the forms. Give all your teachers an appreciation certificate. (The article mentioned above contains a sample certificate.)
• PUBLICIZE THIS SPECIAL DAY. Announce the day from the pulpit, in your bulletin or church newsletter, by letters, and/or by announcement in every class. Remind everyone of the vital role Sunday School and teachers play in the life of the church. For some quotes, an article called Reproducible Bulletin Sunday Inserts has several from which you may choose. Put together a PowerPoint slide show of teacher pictures, quotes, and music as a reminder.
• HAVE A SPECIAL SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY SERVICE. Tailor the music, scripture, prayers, testimonies, and sermon around the topic of servanthood , teachers, and the importance of Sunday School. The article suggested passages like Deuteronomy 6:5-7, Proverbs 22:6, Matthew 19:14, and Luke 2:52. Also consider presenting appreciation certificates, doing live or video teacher interviews (sample questions in t he article), using special teacher name tags and bulletin covers, and listing the teacher/worker names in the bulletin. Offer a special time of food and fellowship at breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert with a short program, speaker, and music.
• GIVE SPECIAL GIFTS. Express your appreciation in a tangible way. As the article says, explain that the gift cannot adequately express appreciation but is "a symbol or token of gratitude for faithful, excellent service." Use your imagination to consider gifts. The article suggests items like flowers or plants, personalized mugs or other items, books, gift certificates, class pictures, and food items. Express your appreciation in a tangible way. As the article says, explain that the gift cannot adequately express appreciation but is "a symbol or token of gratitude for faithful, excellent service." Use your imagination to consider gifts. The article suggests items like flowers or plants, personalized mugs or other items, books, gift certificates, class pictures, and food items.
• THANK-YOU NOTES. Don't underestimate how much a handwritten note or card will be appreciated. Some will be read again and again! Pass out similar stationary and bind them into a book with a special cover. Allow children to write notes on a posterboard. Blow up a picture of the class and use a marker to write notes on the picture. Consider sending e-cards. The article offers many more suggestions.

For more ideas about expressing appreciation, check out these blog posts:

• Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Month: Is It May or October?
• Apply God’s Word Through a Sunday School Project This Thanksgiving
• Offer a Gift of Encouragement to Your Sunday School Teachers and Workers
• Plan Your Sunday School Teacher Appreciation Day
• 25 Ways to Recognize Sunday School Workers, Part 2 and 25 Ways to Recognize Sunday School Workers, Part 3
• Can Food Lead to Growth Through the Sunday School?
• Sunday School Leader Appreciation Is a Must!
• Five Actions to Make Sunday School More Valuable, Part 2
• Building Blocks for a Strong Sunday School Class, Part 1
• Sunday School Director: Moving from Fire Hydrant to Water Fountain

Over the next week, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). We are counting down the top ten. Here is the number four favorite! Enjoy!

Depending on who you ask, teacher appreciation month is either May or October. In some ways, October is too early for school teachers or for Sunday School and other church teachers. May sounds right in some other ways for school teachers except that May is such a busy month as school ends for the year. For Sunday School and other church teachers, only three months of most Sunday School years remain: June, July, and August.

So which is it: May or October? You won't like my answer, but it is both and the other ten months as well. Pastors, staff, and other church leaders should find regular ways to recognize and thank teachers throughout the year. Yes, I think it is especially appropriate to focus that appreciation in one or two months. But why not develop a monthly calendar of ways to express appreciation to those who shepherd God's flock in Sunday School?

Consider these twelve ways to express appreciation:
1.        Teacher Thank You Card Sunday
2.        Give an Apple to Your Teacher Sunday
3.        Teacher Commissioning Sunday
4.        Take a Teacher Out to Eat Week
5.        Mug a Teacher Sunday
6.        Take a class photo, enlarge it, and have class members sign and frame it
7.        Pray for Your Teacher Week
8.        Christmas Class Fellowship (with teacher appreciation)
9.        Teacher Appreciation Poetry Sunday
10.        Teacher Pounding (give pounds of various food, etc) Sunday
11.        Teacher Gift Certificate Sunday
12.        Teacher Appreciation Banquet.

Over the next week, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). We have reached the top ten. Here is the number five favorite! Enjoy!

How have you found Sunday School beneficial? Have you learned more about the Bible? Have you learned how to study your Bible and how to pray? Have you learned more about God, His will, His ways, and His purpose for your life? Have you learned how to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and under self-control?

Have you found Sunday School beneficial because of helpful relationships? Have friends come to your aid in time of need--a birth, a death, a job loss, or a crisis? Have you seen class prayers for you answered? Have you found friends in Sunday School with whom you socialize and just have fun? Has your class become family?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you have a Sunday School testimony. And that means you have a great tool to help you invite unchurched persons to Sunday School. Are you eating at a restaurant? When your waitress brings your appetizers or food, tell her you are going to pray for the food in just a minute and ask if there is any way you could pray for her. Listen well to her request, and then pray for her with your meal blessing. When she returns, you may be able to share how Sunday School helped you with a similar situation. Consider going door-to-door asking how you can pray for your neighbors. Some doors will close, but many relationships will begin because you cared enough to ask.

Personal, face-to-face invitations tend to have the most impact, but don't give up on handwritten cards and letters or phone calls. The formula for the number of times to invite someone is the number of times they say "no" plus one. Don't pester, but be lovingly persistent. Invite the individual to a class fellowship or ministry project. Invite the individual to come to a church activity. Invite the individual to have a meal in your home.

Your invitation to Sunday School will be even more meaningful to those with whom you have a longer, deeper relationship. When you share your Sunday School testimony and invite them to attend with you, they will be more likely to have confidence in you and your invitation. David Francis, Sunday School Director for LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, has several suggestions about your efforts to invite FRANs: friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors on pages 10-15 of his booklet (available for a free download), The 3D Sunday School: A Three Dimensional Strategy to Help Members and Leaders Fulfill the Great Commission (see the picture above).

Invite someone to Sunday School. Be revolutionary!

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

• Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 1
• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 2 and Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 4
• Favorite Post: Pulpit Sunday School Promotion
• Personal Invitation and Enrollment: Twin Key Metrics in Sunday School Progress, Part 1 and Personal Invitation and Enrollment: Twin Key Metrics in Sunday School Progress, Part 2
• Pulpit Sunday School Promotion
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 2, Steps for Inviting New People
• Promotional Tools for Sunday School: Don’t Keep It to Yourself!
• Christmas Invitation to Sunday School
• Revolutionary Sunday School Invitations (Postcards)
• Personal Invitations Are Needed and Still Work!
• Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool
• Connecting 110% of Your Congregation in Life-Changing Sunday School Classes, Part 2

Over the next week, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). We have reached the top ten. Here is the number six favorite! Enjoy!

What are the ways you have seen high attendance days help your Sunday School?  Share your thoughts with those who will read this entry by pressing the comments button below.

I have seen lots of benefits from the efforts leading up to high attendance days. I'll never forget my first one at Eastwood in Bowling Green, KY.  I had been at the church only a few months. Sunday School leaders and I decided to set high attendance day on Easter Sunday (that is not always a day you will have great attendance, especially when it falls during one of the spring break weekends). We set up a prayer plan, including home prayer meetings. We challenged them to have a fun fellowship time during the week before the day. We planned out a strategy for challenging people to make contacts. We mapped out our communication and publicity plan. We met with Sunday School leaders.

We asked each class to pray and set a God-sized goal for the day. Wow, the goal blew me away. It was about 60% more than we had attending in Sunday School on an average Sunday. The classes did everything we asked them to do during that six-week period. They invited. They prayed. They made contacts with members and absentees. They believed. On high attendance Sunday with God's blessing, we exceeded the goal with an all-time record attendance (about 200 more than had ever attended on one Sunday before). Wow!

As we evaluated the day and our records, we noticed we had made over 2000 contacts above our usual weekly number. Now, I had read in Andy Anderson's Growth Spiral materials that 7-10 contacts above your usual average will result in one additional person in attendance. As I did the math, I found this to be true. We also noticed a significant increase in guests by a factor of about six times the normal number (we were not as prepared to follow up as I would have liked for us to be). In addition, we had class members attend that had not been in class in months. Several were enrolled that day and in the weeks that followed.

So what are some of the benefits you can expect from your efforts of working toward a high attendance Sunday?  Consider these revolutionary benefits:

• increased prayer and expectancy of God's blessing and help,
• increased understanding of the need for the whole class to be involved in the work of the Sunday School,
• increased opportunity to teach about the purpose and benefits of Sunday School,
• increased contacts and ministry with members and absentees (re-engages those relationships),
• increased vision for prospects to invite,
• increased excitement from pursuing a common goal together as a class and as a Sunday School,
• increased sharing of testimonies about the benefits of Sunday School with friends and family,
• increased understanding of the value of fellowship and relationships,
• increased ownership of the pursuit of people in their age group,
• increased value of good Sunday School records,
• increased Sunday School attendance and enrollment,
• increased worship attendance (and sometimes offerings),
• increased opportunity for lives to be changed through Bible study, and
• many more benefits.

For more ideas about high attendance days and making contacts, check out these blog posts:

• Preparation for High Attendance Day in Sunday School
• March Madness Sunday School Contest
• Simple Steps for a Successful Sunday School High Attendance Day
• Summer Sunday School Spectacular
• Sunday School: Take the Love Dare
• Steps in Response to Sunday School Decline, Part 2
• Sunday School Contacts Make a Difference!
• Sunday School Contacts Result in Increased Attendance
• Promotional Tools for Sunday School: Don’t Keep It to Yourself!
• Ways Sunday School Can Help Increase Baptisms
• Calendaring Sunday School Growth
• Increasing Interest and Attendance in Sunday School, Part 1
• Starting a New Sunday School Year with Momentum
• How to Make It Easy to Attend and Join Sunday School, Part 2
• Reach Up, Reach Out, Reach In High Attendance Sunday Pilot Project

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). We have reached the top ten. Here is the number eight favorite! Enjoy!

In Genesis 19, we see God sending two angels to save Lot and his family. When judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah can no longer be postponed, the two angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hands to lead them out.  In verse 19 (NIV),one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" (1) Lot and family needed to flee from the evil influences. (2) They needed to avoid longing for the past and their possessions, or else like Lot's wife risk getting stuck there. (3) They needed to pursue a goal (the mountains) in order to be successful.

Revolutionary Sunday School needs to understand the angel's instructions. (1) We must look and avoid unproductive activities and practices. (2) The enemy of the best is the good. We need to not get satisfied or stuck in the old thinking. (3) We must pursue goals in order to accomplish everything God wants. Revolutionary Sunday School seeks God and His leadership. Revolutionary Sunday School evaluates what has been done and works toward even greater effectiveness. But revolutionary Sunday School also must be purposeful and balanced in pursuit of healthy Sunday School growth.

Following thirty years pastoring growing churches, Andy Anderson served for seventeen years as church growth consultant for the Baptist Sunday School Board (now called LifeWay Christian Resources). During that time, he put together a system that has helped pastors and church leaders to evaluate, predict, and prepare for church growth through effective, balanced, intentional Sunday School work. That proven step-by-step method is called The Growth Spiral. Consider the following elements of this system:

• Spiral.  What if you set goals for your Sunday School, and then you divided those goals into quarters for your whole Sunday School, for each age group, and for each class? The goals could then be bite-sized rather than elephant-sized.
• Enrollment.  Set a God-sized enrollment goal. What if your goal was an increase of 40. That would be 10 per quarter.  If you had 10 classes, that would be a goal for each class to increase by 1 person in enrollment.
• Prospects.  Through research, Andy realized that a growing Sunday School needs to work toward developing a list of prospects that is the same size as the enrollment list.
• Teaching Units.  Through research, Andy discovered that the best size class enrollment for growth was between 12 and 18. New units are needed in order to assimilate growth.
• Workers.  Again through research, Andy realized that the entire Sunday School needed a ratio of 1 worker for every 5 in attendance to be in a growing stance. Workers include teachers, outreach leaders, department/division directors, pastor, educational staff, Sunday School director and secretary, and adult care group leaders.
• Workers Meeting Attendance.  Andy believed in accountability through a weekly workers meeting at which 75% or higher attendance of workers was expected in order for growth.
• Training.  He believed every worker needed training every year, and each year there shoul d be an increase in numbers trained.
• Space.  New classes need to be started for every 20 enrolled. This means new space must be sought, prepared, and provided annually. We must plan ahead or risk slowing growth.
• Contacts.  For growth, contacts by visit, card/letter, or call need to equal or exceed half of total enrollment each week. These contacts should be with members and prospects.
• Outreachers.  For growth, at least one person from each class should make home visits to prospects each week.
• Attendance.  Attendance ranges between 40 and 60% of enrollment. Attendance below or above that range signifies the need to deal with problems. Enrolling 40 new people will most likely result in an attendance increase of around 20.
• Worship Attendance.  Numbers in excess of 10% more in worship than Sunday School meant that Sunday School needed to do a better job of caring for and reaching out to people, especially new people.
• Offerings.  Usually when attendance increases, so does giving. There is often a per capita increase that can be tracked.
• Baptisms.  He discovered that only 1 out of 342 lost persons accepted Jesus in 12 months if they were only in worship while 1 out of 3 did if they were in Sunday School.

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

• What Is the Key to Unlock Sunday School Growth?
• Plan for Your Sunday School to Grow This Year, Part 1 and Plan for Your Sunday School to Grow This Year, Part 2
• Grow Your Sunday School: Set Goals This Year
• Characteristics of a Good Sunday School Teacher, Part 3
• Personal Invitation and Enrollment: Twin Key Metrics in Sunday School Progress, Part 2
• Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Favorite Post: 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year, Part 1
• Set God-Sized Goals for Sunday School Growth
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 3
• It’s Time to Launch One: An Apprentice, an On-Campus Group, and an Off-Campus Group
• Are You Planning for Sunday School Failure?
• Four Stumbling Blocks for Sunday School Growth, Part 2
• Dimensions of Sunday School Growth

• frequently used as hooks, to launch the lesson, to capture interest/attention of individuals in the lesson/truth/passage
• fun, interesting, lighter direction
• break down any tension; help participants to relax
• make participants comfortable with each other
• help participants get to know and trust each other; build connections that last; affirm affinities
• get to know new people and allow them to get to know us
• make participants comfortable in talking/sharing
• designed to create conversation between individuals
• best when they are connected to the lesson rather than free-standing.

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be completing the writing of a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). We have reached the top ten. Here is the number ten favorite! Enjoy!

I led a conference at Super Saturday in Owensboro today entitled Creative Ways to Train Your Teachers. We began by listing Sunday School workers who need training. The group identified teachers; substitute teachers; potential teachers; class leaders like secretary, outreach leader, fellowship leader, and others; Sunday School directors, pastors, and others.

Then we formed three groups to identify reasons why training is important and creative ways to provide training. The groups had great responses to both questions. At that point, I shared a wide variety of training ideas, some the class had never considered and some they had not thought about in years. Here are many that I shared:
1.        provide a book or article; ask them to read and complete questions you provide
2.        provide a book or article; get together to discuss one or more chapter each month (or week)
3.        provide a book or article; get together on a retreat to discuss it
4.        take leaders to a training event sponsored by associational, state, or national leadership; travel together; debrief while traveling and/or at a scheduled time after the event and/or in age groups
5.        take leaders to a training event; attend different conferences; set up a time to share the training everyone got upon return
6.        request an overall Sunday School training event from associational or state leadership
7.        request age group training from associational or state leadership
8.        request topical training (like outreach, or teaching methods, etc.) from associational or state leadership
9.        request training from associational or state leadership for your church and another church, for area churches, or for your association
10.        set up your own fun training events:

• assign a topic to different teachers and ask them to prepare a short presentation for the other teachers in their age group
• contact a neighboring church and plan two training events with one church hosting while the other provides training leadership; then switch
• offer small segments of training during every worker meeting, whether monthly or weekly or quarterly
• plan an annual overnight leadership retreat which includes training
• plan a Sunday School launch (promotion) week which includes cleaning/setting up classrooms and training the week before the new year begins
• provide substitutes and training for a small group of your teachers for a month during Sunday School; rotate the group
• invite the pastor to share his vision for the Sunday School this year
• gather teachers to develop an agreed upon teacher covenant (reinforces good work and is opportunity for small doses of training)
• gather teachers to evaluate Sunday School progress and set goals for the coming year (same as above)
• provide potential teacher training at least once every year
• provide a coach for every 3-5 teachers for regular training, encouragement, mentoring, and accountability
• walk through classroom space with teachers and talk about good space use
• invite a speaker for morning worship to preach on elements of effective Sunday School work; follow the service with a meal and a brief time of training
• set up a worker appreciation banquet combined with a training event and/or Sunday School speaker
• conduct a training li brary or space scavenger hunt with clues leading to topics or age group training facts for discussion
• develop your training around a fun theme; decorate, promote, and have fun training around the theme
• take workers on a field trip to another church or a business and debrief the experience
• watch a training event; provide popcorn an d a listening guide; debrief
• watch a sports event together; have them look for examples of teamwork; debrief; apply lessons to Sunday School
• have a progressive dinner training event, going from house to house for appetizer and training, main course and training, and dessert and training
• since 60% of people today are visual learners, put up lots of pictures and training facts in the training area
• present an object lesson for Sunday School training
• since they will remember 90% of what they say and do, don't just tell them how to do something; lead them to say and do it
• start your own blog; for ideas here is one example: http://www.sundayschoolcentral.blogspot.com

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that time, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number eleven favorite! Enjoy!

I have written about using icebreakers before in a blog entry entitled Using Icebreakers Purposefully in Sunday School/Small Groups. Icebreakers serve some of the same purposes that "hooks" do with Bible study groups. My blog entry entitled Hooks: Launching Powerful Sunday School Lessons lists three from Glenn Brooke:

• Get their attention and interest.
• Generate expectations.
• Set up the key elements of the lesson to be relevant to the individual.

• HELPING A NEW GROUP GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER. Until there are trusting relationships, there is very little indepth sharing. Icebreakers can help them talk about lighter, fun topics which make them more comfortable to begin getting to know one another. In fact, early in the group the icebreakers will likely be directed more toward fun, personal sharing.
• HELPING NEW MEMBERS TO INTEGRATE INTO A GROUP. The same applies when a guest or new member joins the group. Until they get to know the group and vice versa, discussion will tend to be more superficial. Icebreakers can help the guest/new member to know and trust those already attending and vice versa.
• HELPING PEOPLE FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE. In general, icebreakers help most people laugh, share, and feel at home with the group. When they feel more comfortable, they are more likely to ask questions and share concerns. They are more likely to learn and to change as a result of the experience.
• ENCOURAGING COOPERATION. Icebreakers are intended to be sharing experiences between individuals and the group or pairs, triads, or small groups. Some icebreakers lead participants to work together, to listen to one another, and/or report about the other(s) in the experience. This interaction, again, leads to greater relationships and trust.
• ENCOURAGING LISTENING TO OTHERS. Whether sharing something funny or personal, icebreakers pique interest and listening. Listening is a skill that can be learned and pays dividends in small groups and ensuing relationships.
• ENCOURAGING WORKING TOGETHER. Icebreakers require working together whether simply in listening, or listening to report about what the partner said, or working together to accomplish some simple task. This reinforces the cooperation, trust, and interaction.
• ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO BREAK OUT OF THEIR CLIQUES. Cliques form quickly. Icebreakers can help people to get to know new or other people in new ways. It can help people to branch out beyond those they know best. It can open up relationships in class and beyond.
• BUILDING RAPPORT WITH LEADERS. It is important that leaders participate in icebreakers as well. The group needs to trust the leader in order to follow the leader. In addition, the example of the leader in sharing and being transparent goes miles toward helping the group to be willing to do the same.
• CREATING A GOOD ATMOSPHERE FOR LEARNING AND PARTICIPATION. One of the great benefits of icebreakers is that everyone participates and shares. When everyone talks early in the group time, they are more likely to freely share later in the session, even on deeper subjects.

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

• Nine Reasons to Use Icebreakers in Sunday School/Small Groups
• Five Suggestions for Using Icebreakers Well in Sunday School/Small Groups
• Using Icebreakers Purposefully in Sunday School/Small Groups
• Creating a Safe Zone for Discussion in Sunday School/Small Groups, Part 1
• Dealing with a Sunday School Dominator, Part 2
• The Big Four to Be a Sticky Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Keys to Increasing Verbal Participation in Sunday School
• Sunday School at Work During the Other 167 Hours, Part 1
• Sunday School/Small Groups: Where Everybody Knows Your Name, Part 1
• Sunday School Teacher, You Are in Charge of Keeping Your Learners’ Attention!
• Revolutionary Teachers Capture Attention and Refuse to Let It Go!
• Benchmarks for Excellence in Sunday School Teaching, Part 2
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3
• Shifting from Boring to Exciting in Sunday School
• Generating Excitement about Learning in Sunday School, Part 1

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number twelve favorite! Enjoy!

Today I attended the Kentucky Baptist Religious Education Association annual meeting prior to our state convention annual meeting. Educators from across the state were there: ministers of education, preschool/children's ministers, youth ministers, associate pastors, denominational leaders, and others. In fact, it was the largest crowd that I can recall in my years of experience with KBREA.

I believe the topic and speaker contributed to the great group size. Dr. Donald Whitney was the speaker. Whitney has been the Associate Professor of Biblical Spirituality and Senior Associate Dean at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, since 2005. He is also the founder and president of The Center for Biblical Spirituality. The theme for the KBREA meeting was "The Minister and Spiritual Disciplines." So many are realizing the importance of that theme for their personal discipleship and their ministry.

Whitney focused on "Praying Through Scripture" in the morning sessions. Honestly, I am fairly jaded as a conference attender. I have attended so many conferences that it is easy to think "been there, done that." I have heard so many speakers, so many stories and illustrations, and so much content that little content is new. Added to that is presentation style and methodology; I have encountered so many of the ways that content is delivered.

But today was different. I think God had prepared me. I already had a great interest in the subject. It is so needed. I already had a hunger for a simple answer to a great question that disciples everywhere are searching for. Dr. Whitney's style was not flashy but my attention never waned. Dr. Whitney's content was not new, revolutionary, or controversial. Instead, it was simple and right on.

As a pastor, director, or Sunday School teacher, do you want your attenders to grow as disciples? Do you want them to grow in their relationship with God and their knowledge of His Word? Do you want them to grow in their quiet time? Do you want them to grow in the practice of the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study? Whitney offered a simple, practical solution: teach them to pray through scripture.

Whitney made several observations:

Over the next couple of weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number thirteen favorite!

Revolutionary Sunday School desires to make a difference for God in the world. That's why revolutionary classes focus prayer, time, and energy on touching lives for God. These classes regularly make ministry project plans (at least quarterly).

Thanksgiving is a natural time of year to minister to others as an act of giving thanks to God. For the Christian, the symbol of Thanksgiving should be praying hands rather than a turkey. It should be a thankful heart and attitude rather than a full belly. It should be acts of service rather than acts of day-after shopping.

If your class has a Ministry Leader, pray and present options to your class at the end of October or first of November about a Thanksgiving Class Ministry Project. There are lots of possibilities. Here are a few of them:

• BOXES OF LOVE. Collect food, Bibles, gospel tracts, and money. Use the money for fresh, perishable food such as turkey, bread, milk, etc. Check with local agencies for names of needy families. I will never forget taking a group of boys to the home of a needy family on the night before Thanksgiving. The refrigerator was almost empty. The family and the boys were impacted deeply from the effort. Reconciliation Resource Ministries lists this as their November monthly project.
• THANKSGIVING FEAST. Invite a needy person or family to your homes for Thanksgiving. Your gift will mean more than simply a full stomach. Or get your class together at the church to feed a group of abused women, needy people, or other group. This could even be done on Thanksgiving for the evening meal.
• WORLD HUNGER. Pray and collect money to give to a world hunger agency like the International Mission Board. Your gift will meet human needs around the world.
• NEEDY CHILDREN. Pray, give money, or collect food/food cards. Call an agency like the Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children to find out about projects with which your class may volunteer to help.
• PRISONERS. Contact local area jails/prisons about projects. Start a monthly/weekly Bible study. Contact Prison Fellowship about how your class can help. Minister to the families of prisoners through Project Angel Tree.
• WIDOWS/WIDOWERS. Prepare a meal for widows/widowers. Conduct home winterization projects. Look for small in-home projects, like replacing bulbs, replacing furnace filter, etc. Visit in homes. Listen to stories and needs. Pray with them. Rake leaves. Help around the house. Run errands. Take them to appointments.
• SINGLE PARENTS. Collect money and seek out persons who are handy in small car repairs. Change oil and plugs; add fluids; rotate tires; check air pressure; replace bulbs, wipers, and air filter; etc. Open the effort to needy singles in the church and community.

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

• Calendaring Sunday School Growth
• Five Dimensions of a Healthy Sunday School Class
• Sunday School at Work During the Other 167 Hours, Part 2
• Reach and Assimilate People into the Kingdom Through Sunday School Fellowships
• Best Friends in Sunday School
• Creating Sunday School Class Outreach Momentum
• Sunday School Fellowship: More Than Food and Fun
• Leaders Take More Time for Revolutionary Sunday School
• Do You Want Your Sunday School to Survive or to Thrive?
• Don’t Throw Away Leftover Sunday School Literature; Share It! Part 2
• Sunday School Carrying out the Purposes of the Church
• Ways Sunday School Can Encourage Friendship-Development
• Missions Project Ideas for Taking Sunday School Ministry Beyond the Classroom Walls
• Can Food Lead to Growth Through the Sunday School?

Over the next three weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number fourteen favorite!

Too often "warm bodies" are enlisted as Sunday School teachers. What do I mean? I mean the nominating committee, team, or individual approaches a potential teacher candidate without prayer, hands him/her a teacher book, and tells them they are needed. The candidate has not prayed and feels pressured (or worse, guilted) into accepting. The candidate's gifts, passions, personality, or experience don't match. And most of all, they sense no call from God to serve in that capacity.

Sometimes these individuals have a compassionate heart. They really care that there is a need, and they want to help. Sometimes they don't know how to say "no," even when they need to do so. And occasionally they are able to do an acceptable job because they are surrounded by capable people. But how much impact is lost because the "best" person is not enlisted? How much is lost because a qualified person is not serving? How much is lost because a God-called person is not following His lead with His people?

What qualifications should a Sunday School teacher possess? What qualifications should a nominating committee, team, or individual seek in a teacher? There are lists of them in many printed and online resources about Sunday School. One list was put together by Elmer Towns in a free online resource called How to Grow an Effective Sunday School. On page 48, Towns shares teacher qualifications. In Part 1, I will share the first nine qualifications which I have listed in all capitals followed by my brief commentary:

• PERSONAL SALVATION. This should not be assume. Ask him/her to share her testimony, including how God is active in his/her life today.
• THE GIFT OF TEACHING (EPHESIANS 4:11). If the gift of teaching is absent, other spiritual gifts needed by the class should be present.
• A THOROUGH KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD OF GOD (2 TIMOTHY 3:15-17). This is preferred, or at least the beginning of a thorough knowledge along with a strong desire to learn more.
• DAILY DEVOTIONS CONSISTING OF PRAYER AND BIBLE STUDY. While this should be an expectation of every believer, nothing less should be acceptable from those who will teach God's Word to others.
• REGULAR CHURCH ATTENDANCE (HEBREWS 10:25). Only in the case of physical limits should a teacher be allowed to serve who does not attend the worship service.
• PLANNING AND ADMINISTRATIVE ABILITY. The teacher is key to carrying out the work of the class. In some cases, capable administrators are present and/or already enlisted and serving in the classes. In that case, the teacher should be visibly supportive.
• LEADERSHIP QUALITIES, THE ABILITY TO INSPIRE CONFIDENCE. Leadership is taking a group where they need to go. If they aren't following, then the teacher is not leading.
• VISION, THE ABILITY TO VIEW THE JOB OBJECTIVELY AND NOT BECOME DISCOURAGED IN IT (PHILIPPIANS 3:13-14). Spending time daily with God and getting to know attenders weekly and through home visits and fellowships, will help the teacher to understand what should be worked toward together.
• ABILITY TO EXPRESS HIMSELF AND COMMUNICATE. This ability is more than teaching. The teacher needs to listen well, talk, and speak one-on-one, in meetings, and in other interactions.

For more ideas about teacher responsibilities, check out these posts:

• Benefits of Teaching Sunday School
• Sunday School Teacher, Is Your Relationship with Christ Stale?
• The Best Adult Sunday School Teachers Are Facilitators
• As a Teacher, You Might Be Unprepared If . . .
• As a Sunday School Teacher, You Might Be Unprepared for Christmas If . . .
• Capitalize on the Benefits of Discussion in Your Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Great First Impressions for Sunday School Guests, Part 2
• Capitalize on the Benefits of Discussion in Your Sunday School Class, Part 1
• Sunday School Class TEAMS
• Diagnosis Murder: How to Split a Class
• Is Your Class a Praying Class?
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 1, Preparing Your Class to Invite New People
• Sunday School’s Contributions to Disciple Making
• Qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and as Sunday School Teachers
• Preparation for an Adult Sunday School Class with Impact
• Crafting a Sunday School Lesson to Lead to Learning AND Action
• Job Descriptions Are Necessary in Revolutionary Sunday School
  Training Leaders through Adult Sunday School Classes
• Balancing Class Growth and Multiplication

Over the next three weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number fifteen favorite!

Many Sunday Schools have been going through the motions for years. Leaders have been doing the same things year after year. There is little passion, little planning, no goals, and little sensitivity to God's leadership. That is NOT revolutionary Sunday School. Revolutionary Sunday School has a target. It is following God's leadership. It is heading somewhere. It desires to accomplish something.

Revolutionary Sunday School seeks God and His leadership. Revolutionary Sunday School cares too much about people to leave them alone. As a result, there is a desire to care for hurts, meet needs, share Jesus, create followers, develop disciples, mobilize servants, and apprentice and train leaders. Revolutionary Sunday School refuses to go through the motions but desires to blaze new trails in order to bring about life-change and to reach and develop new people. Revolutionary Sunday School sets goals in order to accomplish more and to give expectancy, purpose, and vision for everyone.

I read an article on LifeWay's website entitled, Set 5 Key Goals to Improve Your Sunday School. In the article, 5 goals are shared for your Sunday School evaluation and planning: prayer, increased enrollment, starting new classes, special events for prospects, and training for Sunday School workers. Wow, that is a great list. Following are the five areas from the article (in all CAPITALS) followed by my commentary. I also enlarged the second goal.

PRAYER: Set aside special time on your personal and church calendar to pray for your Sunday School, classes, leaders, and members. Listen to God's still small voice. Seek His leadership and power. Step boldly out in response. Recognize His blessings and give Him praise and thanks. Pray for your plans and goals. Pray, and set prayer goals this year!

INCREASED ENROLLMENT/ATTENDANCE/CONTACTS: When enrollment increases, attendance tends to increase. Adding someone to a class list is a way for the class to know they have an opportunity to pray for, care for, minister to, and fellowship with someone new. Those actions often result in attendance at class fellowships and Sunday School. One vital method for increasing enrollment and attendance is making more contacts: calls, cards/letters, e-mail, and visits. What should be your goals? Pray, and set a God-sized enrollment goal (remember to give Him the credit when you reach it).

START NEW CLASSES: New wineskins hold new wine better than old wineskins. Similarly, new classes attract and hold new people even better than existing classes. For every 10 additional people you want to increase in attendance, start a new class. Don't wait until they come. Add new classes throughout the year. Pray, and set a goal for new classes you will start during the year.

SPECIAL EVENTS FOR PROSPECTS: Setting goals for weekly contacts with members and prospects is important. But I also like the idea of having special events. When you have special events, register your attenders and expect your Sunday School classes to reach out to the prospects you discover. Special events are a way of intentionally focusing our attention and efforts on prospects: FRANs (friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors) who do not attend Sunday School. Have fun together. Get to know one another. Let's fellowship prospects into attendance, relationship, and the Kingdom! Pray, and set a goal for special events for prospects.

TRAIN SUNDAY SCHOOL WORKERS: Give your best to God ! Help your workers understand how to reach, teach, and care even better. Offer large group training, age group training, individual book study, articles to read, and train during planning meetings. Start with the basics and build from there. Train new teachers. Train care group leaders and greeters for every adult and youth class. Plan a church event or join in an associational or state training event. Your workers are important. Give them your best. Expect their best. Pray, and set a goal for Sunday School worker training.

What are the revolutionary possibilities for your Sunday School if you set goals in these area? Pray! Dream! Set goals! Work! Watch as God blesses! Be revolutionary!

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

• 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year, Part 1 and 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year, Part 2
• Enroll + Care + Invite = Attendance in Sunday School
• Improve Sunday School Through Evaluation
• Planning Steps Toward Sunday School Progress
• Key Actions for Sunday School Class Growth, Part 5
• Sunday School Retreating to Move Forward
• Nine Actions for Starting New Sunday School Classes, Part 1 and Nine Actions for Starting New Sunday School Classes, Part 2
• Sunday School’s Vision to Change the World
• Overcoming Sunday School Problems, Part 3
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3
• What Is the Key to Unlock Sunday School Growth?
• Set God-Sized Goals for Sunday School Growth
• Grow Your Sunday School: Set Goals This Year
• Personal Invitation and Enrollment: Twin Key Metrics in Sunday School Progress, Part 2
• Four Stumbling Blocks for Sunday School Growth, Part 2
• Four Tools for Growing Your Sunday School Class, Part 2
• Plan for Your Sunday School to Grow This Year, Part 1 and Plan for Your Sunday School to Grow This Year, Part 2
• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 1
• Incentives to Increase Sunday School Class Enrollment

Over the next three weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number sixteen favorite!

I previously posted an entry entitled, Top Ten Actions to Increase Sunday School Attendance. In this entry (and the next two), I want to take those ten actions and give more details, suggestions, and illustrations. Let's look at how prayer, starting new classes, making more contacts, and inviting members and guests to monthly fellowships can lead to increased attendance:

• PRAYER. When your class prays for your class, members, and prospects, they recognize God's leadership and power and their own responsibility in response. Ask them to pray specifically for increasing class attendance. This leads to a sense of expectancy. Pray for a God-sized goal, but challenge them to work toward the goal in bite-sized portions. For example, if your goal was to increase 12 in attendance this year (a God-sized goal for many classes), then the goal each month would be an increase of just 1 person (makes it bite-sized). Pray every month that God will lead your class to invite prospects to attend and enroll.
• STARTING A NEW CLASS. If your class planned to start a new class in a few months, they would have a purpose for existing, for learning, for training, for apprenticing, and even for inviting. If you were starting a class for younger or older adults than attend your class, you could go ahead and invite prospects to attend and join your class in preparation for the new class. Why wait until you launch the new class? (Also, since new classes tend to attract more prospects and grow more quickly than existing classes, your efforts to start a new class will likely increase combined Sunday School attendance.)
• MAKING MORE CONTACTS. In my September 4 entry, I mentioned that an increase of 7-10 contacts above your usual number will result in 1 additional person in attendance. I have seen this truth illustrated multiple times over the years. For high attendance Sundays, those classes that made more contacts were the ones with more persons in attendance. If you want to increase your attendance by 1 each month, you need to increase your weekly contacts reported by 7-10 each month. At the end of the year, you would have increased your class contacts by 84-120 per week, but you should see the results in an attendance increase of 12 or more.
• INVITING MEMBERS AND GUESTS TO MONTHLY FELLOWSHIPS. Just having a fellowship does not necessarily mean your attendance will increase the next Sunday. But if you invite members, absentees, and guests each month, and then remind them at the fellowship that you hope to see them in class the next day, your efforts should lead to greater assimilation of members and guests. Absentees can be reclaimed. Some members will stay regular in attendance that may have dropped out. And some guests will develop friendships and desire to be with their friends on Sunday. Set a goal for the number of guests you want to invite each month to your fellowships.

For additional information, check out the next two blog entries in this series:

• Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 2
• Increasing Sunday School Class Attendance, Part 3

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

• Growing Versus Declining Sunday School Attendance
• Five Dimensions of a Healthy Sunday School Class
• Sunday School Class TEAMS
• Steps for the Pastor’s Leadership of the Sunday School
• Sunday School Health Checkup, Part 1
• Growing Your Sunday School by Increasing Your Budget
• Part 2: What Is the Ideal Balance of Age Groups in a Growing Sunday School?
• Sunday School Health Checkup, Part 2
• Balancing the Sunday School Aquarium, Part 1 and Balancing the Sunday School Aquarium, Part 2
• How to Make It Easy to Attend and Join Sunday School, Part 3
• Sunday School Growth Spiral
• Overcoming Sunday School Problems, Part 3
• Measures of Balanced Sunday School Progress
• Four Stumbling Blocks for Sunday School Growth, Part 2
• Seven Steps Toward Growing as a Sunday School

• Focus Your Sunday School Lesson Preparation to Make the Most Difference!
• What Is Your Preferred Routine for Sunday School Lesson Preparation?
• Shifting from Boring to Exciting in Sunday School
• Revolutionary Teachers Capture Attention and Refuse to Let It Go!
• Writing Your Own Sunday School Lesson
• Sunday School Teacher Tips, Part 1 and Sunday School Teacher Tips, Part 2
• Preparing for a Sunday School Lesson with DEPTH, Part 2
• Preparation for an Adult Sunday School Class with Impact
• Evaluation of a Good Sunday School Lesson, Part 2
• Sunday School: Preparation Is More Fun When It Is Shared
• Four Ways to Trim Your Sunday School Lesson
• Hooks: Launching Powerful Sunday School Lessons
• Sticky Sunday School Lessons
• Generating Excitement about Learning in Sunday School, Part 2
• Improve Learning Retention in Sunday School
• Leading an EPIC Sunday School Lesson, Part 1

Over the next five weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number eighteen favorite!

I mentioned in Part 1 that too often "warm bodies" are enlisted as Sunday School teachers. People are enlisted who have not prayed and feels pressured (or worse, guilted) into accepting. Or the candidate's gifts, passions, personality, or experience don't match. And most of all, they may sense no call from God to serve in that capacity.

What qualifications should a Sunday School teacher possess? What qualifications should a nominating committee, team, or individual seek in a teacher? In Part 1, I shared a list that was put together by Elmer Towns in a free online resource called How to Grow an Effective Sunday School. In Part 1, I shared the first nine qualifications. In Part 2, I will share the last five qualifications and five duties listed in all capitals followed by my brief commentary:

• A CHEERFUL, RADIANT PERSONALITY. A teacher should be positive and encouraging. His/her expectancy should be infectious.
• A MANIFESTED LOVE FOR [THE ASSIGNED AGE GROUP]. Ideally, this was seen prior to enlistment. Interactions were noted: people enjoyed hearing him/her share as a fellow class member or substitute prior to serving as a teacher and he/she relates well to others during fellowships and projects.
• PATIENCE. Impatience may be a sign of immaturity and can be challenged when working with a group.
• THE ABILITY AND DESIRE TO COUNSEL. A teacher cares about people and wants to help them individually. This comes through teaching time and through person encounters with attenders.
• ORIGINALITY, THE ABILITY TO CREATE AN INTERESTING AND DIVERSIFIED CLASS SESSION. A teacher does more than teach the lesson in the teacher's book. Instead, the teacher crafts a lesson based upon the truth of a passage of scripture that is needed by individuals in the class. Check out Crafting a Sunday School Lesson to Lead to Learning AND Action.

Over the next five weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number nineteen favorite!

Each year, Vacation Bible School is the largest prospect discovery effort for most churches. In fact, about 25-30% of baptisms in Southern Baptist churches are a result of VBS. In addition to key prospect information about participants in VBS, additional information is discovered about their families: parents, siblings, and others residing with the attenders. On top of that, ministry needs are discovered.

Each of these facts are opportunities for Sunday School to step in to follow up. So many times, VBS has required so much time and energy that when it is over, church leaders walk away with relief at a good experience. They stack registration cards on a shelf and don't think about them until next year. What a wasted opportunity!

Instead, there are so many ways that Sunday School can capitalize upon the great investment of time and energy during VBS. Consider some of the following:

• Enlist a VBS follow up director whose job is to mobilize Sunday School teachers and workers to visit and contact all VBS prospects and their families.
• Ask Sunday School classes to set aside a specific time to pray for VBS and for prospects to be enrolled and won to Christ.
• Set a goal for enrolling VBS prospects and family members.
• Enlist Sunday School leaders to help with advance and daily VBS registration.
• Make sure you get thorough records of every VBS participant and their families.
• Set up a special day immediately after VBS for Sunday School classes (and/or VBS workers) to visit all VBS prospects and families.
• Send information home with every prospect on the final day of VBS about Sunday School classes and other church activities appropriate for each age group.
• Have the pastor send a letter to every VBS prospect the week after VBS with information about the location of the age appropriate Sunday School class(es).
• Share reports about VBS with your congregation so they can share in the excitement, follow up, and prayer.
• Plan a VBS Day in Sunday School on the Sunday after VBS and don't remove the decorations or allow children to take home their VBS materials until then. Invite parents and families. Celebrate VBS in worship. Sing VBS songs. Share testimonies. Show pictures set to a VBS song. Recognize each age group. Give everyone present a handout with information about Sunday School classes.
• Ask Sunday School classes to sponsor a VBS Carnival on Sunday night after VBS with each class providing a game/booth and refreshments. Provide all attenders with a handout with Sunday School class information.

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

• Sunday School Enrollment: Attendance List or Ministry List?
• Sunday School Growth Spiral
• Sunday School’s Vision to Change the World
• The Big Four to Be a Sticky Sunday School Class, Part 1
• Part 2: What Is the Ideal Balance of Age Groups in a Growing Sunday School?
• Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 1, Identify and Invite Sunday School Prospects, Part 3
• Evaluate and Plan to Take Your Sunday School to the Next Level
• Sunday School Class Growth Is Spelled W-O-R-K, Part 3
• Avoid Enlisting ’Warm-Bodies’ as Sunday School Teachers!
• What You Can Do to Make Sunday School Classes Feel (and Act) More Like Small Groups, Part 1 and What You Can Do to Make Sunday School Classes Feel (and Act) More Like Small Groups, Part 2
• Using Sunday School Enrollment to Grow, Part 1
• Overcoming Sunday School Problems, Part 2
• Growing Your Sunday School by Increasing Your Budget
• Nine Key Healthy Sunday School Issues, Part 3
• How LARGE Should We Make Our Sunday School Goals?
• Changing Sunday School Measurements, Part 1

Over the next five weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). Here is the number twenty-one favorite!

Without any question, there is power in an invitation. People like to be invited (even if they don't accept the invitation). And the body of Christ is to be an inviter. We are to invite people to Jesus. We are to invite them to receive His and our love. We are to invite them on a journey to be His disciples. We are to invite them to assemble together for worship. We are to invite them to do works of service.

An invitation to Sunday School can also have power. Many are seeking the benefits that Sunday School has to offer. This ranges from relationships, to understanding of the Bible, to ministry in time of need, and beyond. I invite you to check out the following blog entries for additional suggestions:

• Sunday School Testimony: Powerful Revolutionary Tool
• Revolutionary Sunday School Invitations (Postcards)
• Invitation to Sunday School
• Personal Invitations Are Needed and Still Work!
• Sunday School Inviting Worship Attenders
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 1, Preparing Your Class to Invite New People
• Grow Your Sunday School: Part 2, Steps for Inviting New People
• Who Will You Invite to Sunday School?
• Christmas Invitation to Sunday School
• Care Groups: Prayer, Ministry, Assimilation, and Invitation.

In addition to these things, I think it is important to emphasize the importance of the pastor's invitation and testimony. Some will try Sunday School simply because the pastor invited them to do so. So, pastor, do so regularly! I have shared about this important subject in another blog post entitled When Pastors Attend Sunday School/Small Groups, It Is Contagious!. Your leadership and example are contagious!

Finally, I want to "invite" you to check out a blog post by Chet Cromer entitled Sunday School Emphasis in Worship Service. Chet is a regular reader who leaves comments on this blog. In his post, he lists several actions they are going to take on the second Sunday of each month to emphasize Sunday School during the morning worship service. These range from bulletin inserts emphasizing each of the age groups to news and calendar items and from Sunday School testimonies to recognition services. Check out the ideas and see which you might be able to incorporate into your plans to promote Sunday School from your pulpit!

Invitations are powerful. Don't hesitate to utilize your pulpit to extend invitations regularly for church members and guests to attend Sunday School. Mobilize your members to invite worship attenders. Do everything you can to promote Sunday School's importance and impact. Challenge attenders. Invite them. Be revolutionary!

Over the next five weeks, I will be writing a book about Sunday School. During that period, I will be sharing favorite blog posts--those which have received the most hits (pageviews). I hope you enjoy these favorites!

In a great article entitled Ten Tips for New Sunday School Directors, Wayne Poling suggests, "Give purposeful thought to the direction of your personal leadership for the Sunday School director." Wayne made me think. I believe this is essential not only for Sunday School directors but also for pastors, ministers of education, teachers, age group leadership, and even members.

In many churches, Sunday School is on autopilot. Sometimes this occurs because of leadership vacancies or transitions. Sometimes it occurs because of lack of knowledge by leaders. At other times it occurs due to lack of leadership despite knowledge. Many times it occurs simply because of assumptions rather than accountability. Occasionally, a Sunday School will be on autopilot due to lack of intentional planning or creativity.

Then, how do Sunday School leaders and members break out of autopilot mode? How can we be more purposeful in giving direction to Sunday School? Allow me to make several suggestions, but let me emphasize that the first one is listed first because of sequence and priority:

• PRAY. God has plans for us, for Sunday School, and for the church. Don't tune Him out. Instead, invite others to join you in seeking Him and His leadership. Pray for revelation, understanding, and direction. Pray for his presence, blessings, and power to accomplish that to which He has called you. Don't make plans and ask Him to bless them. Ask Him first what He wants you to do and where he wants you to go.
• READ/TRAIN. There are many good books and conferences (like Super Saturday) about Sunday School, teaching, small groups, assimilation, reaching, and many more subjects. Sometimes the smallest new idea or reminder of something that is no longer being done can birth creativity and energy to break out of autopilot. This is especially true when a leadership team reads or attends a conference and debriefs together.
• OBSERVE. Watch what is happening in your class, your age group, other age groups, or Sunday School as a whole. Look for successes. Look for great practices. Look for needs. Go to other churches and watch how they do things. Look for needs in your community. Observe and learn from what is happening along the paths you trod through life. Ask yourself what these experiences have in common with Sunday School.
• GATHER. When you gather a group of Sunday School leaders, the synergy and their collective experience and intelligence have the potential to release autopilot. Pray. Listen. Ask questions. Evaluate. Assess needs/dreams. Establish priorities. Set goals. Make plans. Watch God work!

For more ideas about revolutionary Sunday School, check out these blog entries:

• Can Sunday School Make a Difference in the SBC Decline?
• Snapshots of Maintenance, Management, and Revolutionary Sunday School
• Leaders Take More Time for Revolutionary Sunday School
• Mentoring, Apprenticing, and Coaching for Revolutionary Sunday School
• REVOLUTIONARY Sunday School Anagram
• Five Purposes of a Revolutionary Sunday School
• Be Revolutionary! Wear Name Tags in Sunday School
• Measures of an Effective Sunday School Director
• Comparing Revolutionary and Mediocre Sunday School
• Sunday School Outreach: Giving Sunday Night to Jesus
• Revolutionary Sunday School Leaders Should Take a Field Trip to Starbucks
• Responding to Sunday School Teachers Who Don’t Want to Train
• Do You Want Your Sunday School to Survive or to Thrive?
• Revolutionary Sunday School Does Care
• The Best Sunday School Teachers and Leaders Are Great Listeners!
• Revolutionary Sunday School Prevents, Improves, and Removes Ineffective Leaders