The Kentucky Baptist Convention has partnerships with a couple of countries and with the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. I was asked to lead a team to provide training in Baltimore next week as a part of that partnership and in connection with the Embrace Baltimore strategic focus city initiative. My team will provide Sunday School training for preschool, children, youth, and adult teachers and workers as well as pastors/Sunday School directors, outreach workers, adult class officers, and parking/welcome workers.
As I have prepared myself to lead the training for pastors and directors, I have once again reassessed what the essentials are for effective leadership by the pastor and director. Many would assume that I should have this material memorized after ten years, but I am constantly learning from every interaction with pastors and directors, from experiences in churches, as well as books and articles. In addition, earlier this month I taught a seminary class for Ministers of Education that included a session on evaluation tools and measures of effective Sunday School work.
Each of us has two hours to provide help and training for these church leaders. The question is how to narrow the focus enough so these pastors and leaders will understand and be able to implement what they learn while not being overwhelmed or discouraged with too much information. That is important in every training setting but especially in two hours when they are hundreds of miles away.
Anyway, my reassessment of essentials focused me in the direction of material that I have covered in three blog entries and on a set of material that needs to be added soon. The three blog entries include the following:
- What Does It Take for a Revolutionary Director to Lead the Sunday School?,
- What Does a Revolutionary Sunday School Director Do on Sunday Morning?, and
- Top Ten Actions to Increase Sunday School Attendance.
I will also take printed copies of the entry 5 Goals for Sunday School Growth This Year. And I will encourage them to check out this blog on a regular basis.
The other material that I will share (and that needs to be added to this blog) is material from LifeWay‘s Sunday School Evaluation and Growth Plan. In some ways, it was lightly treated when I posted the entry, Sunday School Growth Spiral. The plan looks at the key measures of growth for planning and progress in the Sunday School. These include the following: enrollment, prospects, units, workers, space, contacts, training, leadership meetings, attendance, discipleship, worship attendance, outreachers, and baptisms.
Are you a pastor or director wanting to lead the Sunday School effectively this year? Let me encourage you to look through these blog posts and talk with your Sunday School teachers and leaders. Prayerfully identify needs, priorities, goals, and plans needed to help you to take steps toward carrying out the Great Commission through the Sunday School. Be revolutionary!
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