Relationships are important. Effective teaching-learning situations benefit from knowledge about each other and trust built from healthy interaction in class and between them. Fellowship activities during class along with planned and spontaneous fellowships between classes can begin and deepen relationships among Sunday School class members, absentees, and prospects.
More than once in this blog, I have agreed with Josh Hunt in his book, You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, about the value of a monthly fellowship or party. For me it is not theory. I have seen it in practice in classes I have attended and taught. I have seen it in classes with whose teachers I have served as Sunday School director or Minister of Education. The great majority of time, classes who fellowshiped regularly were the ones which attracted guests and new members. They tended to be the classes that grew.
As I have reflected back on these classes, I remember a couple of those classes which enjoyed being together so much that they got together more often than one time each month. In fact, people who attended both classes wanted to spend time together after worship. I was reminded about the classes by Leslie Maddox in a recent blog entry entitled Plan a Weekly Class Lunch.
In the blog entry, Maddox supports weekly Sunday School class lunches:
It’s best to plan a class lunch for every Sunday. When I first started teaching my class, I tried to have lunch just once a month. This didn’t work out because people would forget about it and make other plans. With a weekly lunch, the class always knew that it was going to happen and tried to make it. And even if someone couldn’t make it one week, there’s always the next week to catch up with them.
Those are good reasons. And sometimes, planning fellowships lead to the best kind: spontaneous ones simply because attenders enjoy being together. Maddox includes additional good suggestions, including avoiding “places that require everyone to pay on the same ticket.” Check out her post.
Want to “kick it up a notch?” Want to take your class to the next level of learning, relationship, and growth? Try planning weekly lunch times. Does your class already have weekly fellowship lunches? Share about your experience and your class by pressing the Comments button below. Go to lunch together. Be revolutionary!
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