I have several objectives for my blog posts. I want to create an awareness of what effective Sunday School and small group work looks like. I want to raise the level of expectation. I want to raise the level of effectiveness. And I want to encourage creative thinking about how we can utilize Sunday School/small groups to carry out the Great Commission.
At times, I raise questions that may not apply to every church and every community. Such is today’s title question. It may be that your community would not respond to Sunday School on Tuesday night. But many churches need to consider what to do in response to the fact that as many as 40% cannot attend Sunday School on Sunday morning (they are our doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, service station attendants, Wal-Mart workers, etc.).
I chose to write about Tuesday night only because I read a recent article entitled Sunday School on Tuesdays Spurs Local Interest. The Presbyterian church in the article started Sunday School on Tuesday nights after children were sad when Vacation Bible School ended. (In many ways, Sunday School is year-round VBS). While the church in the article has offered Sunday School on Tuesday nights only for children, it could work for teens and for adults.
So allow this post to lead you to think creatively about how to address the issue of offering Bible study to those who cannot attend your church on Sunday morning. Could you offer Sunday School on Sunday night? How about Saturday night? or Saturday morning? Could you offer it on Wednesday night? Or what about another weekday night?
What if you prayerfully prepared and promoted a Tuesday night (or another time) Sunday School and 20 or 50 or 100 showed up? What if your Sunday School developed a bigger vision? What if your Sunday School discovered and developed new leaders? What if unchurched people attended and accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord? What if the goal of every adult class on Sunday morning was to pray, apprentice a new teacher, and launch a new class on Tuesday night?
You’ll never know unless you are open to praying about this possibility. Pray. Think. Dream. Prepare. Invite. Launch. Celebrate. Be revolutionary!
Leave a Reply