Why Changing Curriculum Will Improve Your Sunday School

This post is two of a two part blog post. Chick here to read post one.

In my last post, I offered some thoughts concerning why changing curriculum won’t improve your Sunday School.  On the other hand, changing curriculum may be exactly what is needed to give your Sunday School a boost toward greater effectiveness.  Consider these ten reasons why a change in curriculum can be a positive move for your church.

Changing Curriculum can improve your Sunday School if:

1. You use the change to promote a “kick-off” to the Sunday School year or, better, as a motivation toward a new strategy for Sunday School in your church.
2. The new curriculum provides you with incentive for launching a new commitment to Sunday School as the key vehicle for reaching and assimilating those who are only attending worship services.
3. You use the new curriculum as a means for starting new groups, to fill gaps in your current class roster, or as way of encouraging “groups within the group” to launch out on their own.
4. You use the new curriculum to provide some type of distinction between multiple Sunday School hours or locations, thus creating much needed space.
5. You use the new curriculum as a tool for recruiting (and training) new leaders in Sunday School.
6. The teacher helps provided in the new curriculum are better suited for higher quality, on-going teacher training that equips leaders to plan lessons that engage learners and teach for life change.
7. The new curriculum reflects a scope (the whole of what you want to teach) and sequence (the way the whole is broken into parts/lessons) that more successfully achieves the teaching goals for the Sunday School.
8. The delivery methods offered in the new curriculum enable the church to be a better steward of the resources designated for Sunday School.
9. The new curriculum provides a better complement to other aspects of the church’s ministry, such as preaching or family ministry.
10. The new curriculum reflects an approach to studying Scripture that encourages learners to prepare for each class session by spending personal time in the word of God.

Changing for the sake of change will likely not increase the overall effectiveness of a Sunday School ministry.  However, a strategic change in curriculum can be a turning point. Understanding the reasons why a change in curriculum may be appropriate will help leaders better explain to teachers and class members how the decision was reached.  People are often more willing to embrace change when they are given adequate explanation or even invited to participate in a discussion over some of the issues raised by the suggestions above.  A strategic change in curriculum, supported by solid training, can breathe life into your Sunday School.
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David Bond serves as Adult Sunday School Strategist for the Evangelism & Church Growth Team of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.