In the previous two blog entries as well as this one, I have shared stories about new adult classes. But I want to remind us all of the importance of starting new preschool, children’s, and youth classes. While they tend to be easier to start, they are important in a church’s strategy to reach and assimilate new people. If a church does not add classes in these age groups, it is likely that the adult classes will slow or stop reaching and growing.
Following is another story of a successful birth and development of a new class:
SIMPSONVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH, SIMPSONVILLE. Tommy Redding said,
We have a class that is doing a lot of great things in their class at our church. The class (Quest) was birthed March of last year with about 8-12 people from another SS class helping it start. After 13 months, it is not uncommon for this class to run 30. I met with the teacher (Rick) and discussed certain goals and desires I would like to see accomplished in his class. He caught the vision, supported it, and started handing out responsibilities in his class. He has an outreach person, an in-reach person, an announcements person, a fellowship coordinator, and even has a class email group through Yahoo mail. The class is an all-age adult class and is very successful. They have, on average, one fellowship a month. In a couple weeks, we are moving his class to another room so they can (1) have room to grow and (2) begin conducting class in small groups in order prepare the class for birth within the year.
It helped that Rick was a very talented teacher who has a wonderful gift of presenting material clearly and providing quality information. We will be meeting soon to discuss apprentices for his class because, in all reality, he won’t be here in a couple years and the class will also be giving birth sometime this year. We both want the class to continue being a success and we want more leaders to rise to the occasion. My hope is that I will be able to use this story with other classes and show them how important it is to have members take responsibility instead of the teacher being the utility man. Rick can truly focus on teaching and let others run the day-to-day operations of the class. As a result, the class has grown and we have seen a 10% growth in Sunday School from 2005 due to it.
How about telling your story of a new class birth and development? Press the comments button below and share your story. You can encourage others! If you don’t have a story, start a class. You don’t have to wait until September, you can prepare for it and do it soon. Pray and follow God’s lead. Pray about adding at least two classes every year. Be revolutionary!
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