I’m New, Help!

So you’ve been enlisted to be a Sunday school teacher and this is your first time to serve in this role.  You probably have some questions.  These may have been answered by the person enlisting you or maybe you didn’t think to ask them as this role was being discussed with you.   Here are a few questions you will want to ask and maybe you can think of some others:

• Who are the members of the class?  Do we have their contact information?  Do we know anything about them, for instance, their birthdays, their family members, etc?  Can the church office help me find this information out if it’s not on our Sunday school roll book?
• Do we have a prospect file?  Are there people who would possibly come to the class if we invited them?  Do we know their contact information or anything about them?  Are there some family members of our existing members who would be prospects?  Do we know their spiritual condition?
• What Sunday school materials are available for our class?  No doubt there is a leader guide and some learner books.  Is there also a resource kit (tied to the curriculum)?  Maps? Charts?  Any videos available?  Do we have a budget if we need supplies, etc.?
• What training is available to me or expected of me?  Does the association, the state convention or the church have any training events planned or is there something available via the Internet that can help me become a better teacher and Sunday school leader?  Do we have Sunday school teacher/worker meetings in our church?
• Who are the people in our class that are potential leaders to help with this ministry?  Do we have a substitute teacher or better yet an apprentice teacher (being trained to become a teacher someday also)?   Do we have someone “keeping track of people” (a class secretary)?  Do we have people who are focusing on outreach, prayer, care groups or social activities? 

There are a lot of questions that could be asked.  This will get you started thinking in this direction.

What other questions would you have or would you pose as good questions for a Sunday school teacher to be asking?  Post a reply to this blog and let’s talk about it? 

Blog post by Richard Nations, Church Health Team Leader for the Baptist Convention of Iowa, Des Moines, Iowa.