What are the four actions every Sunday School must take or growth will not be possible. Stop and make a list. Which do you believe is the most critical on your list?
What are the four actions every Sunday School must take or growth will not be possible. Stop and make a list. Which do you believe is the most critical on your list?
Allow me to share my list. Compare these actions with those on your list:
- PRAY. We don’t have to ask if God wants us to do the work of Sunday School (reach out, study the Bible, and care for each other). We know He does. But we do need to pray for His help and leadership. Pray for God to send workers into the harvest. Pray for people to be reached. Pray for disciples to be made and mobilized into service. Pray for relationships to be established. Pray for good decisions to be made related to organization, space, training, etc.
- ENLIST MORE LEADERS AND START MORE GROUPS. To grow existing classes, additional leaders are needed. Prayerfully enlist outreach leaders, member care leaders, greeters, and apprentice teachers. Each new leader expands your care capacity by five people. Enlist 5 additional leaders and you can care well for 25 more people. Enlist the best of these leaders to help start new classes. Each class on average grows to 10-12 attending and 20-25 enrolled. Start 4 classes to increase 40+ in attendance with 80+ enrolled.
- REACH OUT AND ENROLL MORE PEOPLE. No Sunday School can grow without enrolling new people. Attendance my increase for brief periods of time without enrolling, but those times will be rare. Pray for an reach out in care to prospects. Invite them to your fellowships and projects. Developing a relationship with them. Invite them to your class. Share Jesus with them. Ask if you can add them to your class care list (list of people for whom you pray, care in time of need, and invite to fellowships/projects).
- CARE FOR ALL THOSE ON YOUR CLASS LIST. When a Sunday School has people dropping out faster than new people are enrolling, there is no way to grow. Care for those on your list–all of them–not just those who attend faithfully. Contact every member regularly (at least every other week). Share about the class and class plans. Ask for prayer requests. Pray together. Have a fellowship and a project every quarter to deepen interaction and time spent together. Eat together. Organize to meet needs. Communicate.
Without all four of thee critical actions, Sunday School is destined to decline. By the way, poor teaching can run off members and prospects faster than our efforts to care and reach out can grow the class. So keep preparing and teaching well. For help there, check out my new book, Disciple-Making Encounters: Revolutionary Sunday School.
Assess the four actions above. How are you doing on each? Which is your strongest? Which is most in need of work? How can you make plans this year to address all four of these actions? Grow healthy and strong this year. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!
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