As a former high school football coach I would never think about putting my players on the game field until we had spent adequate time on the practice field.  Yet, too often we put our Sunday School leaders in the game on Sunday morning when they have not been on the practice field preparing.  Understand that ministry, like football, is 80% preparation and 20% performance!

Corporate Leadership Meetings That Work

Plan your corporate meetings around three approaches to the meeting.

1. A Practical Approach: You need to select a day and time that is most conducive to have your leaders in attendance.  Make your meetings as convenient as possible for them to attend.  Provide refreshments and select a room that is comfortable, convenient, and equipped with appropriate light and media needs.

2. A Philosophical Approach: Your meetings should be intentionally arranged by your Sunday School philosophy.  In my case, I arrange Leadership Meetings under five headings.  Each of these headings can be addressed generally and specifically.

• Reaching People addresses outreach, discovering prospects, visitation, contacting, follow-up, witness training, VBS, etc.
• Teaching People addresses curriculum, lesson planning, teaching styles, doctrine, room set-up, etc.
• Ministering to People addresses the Care Group ministry, chronic absentees, benevolence, life issues, deaths, sicknesses, etc.
• Leadership speaks to developing your leaders, enlisting and equipping new leaders, teamwork, appreciation, etc.
• Administration covers things like records, room assignments, logistics for high attendance days, adding another Sunday School hour, ordering curriculum, etc.

3. A Purposeful Approach: Plan several meetings in advance so that you cover various aspects of Sunday School.  Then, plan each individual meeting with the end in mind.  Be able to fill in this statement: “At the conclusion of this meeting we will have accomplished…”  Remember, it is better not to have a meeting as to have a useless one.

At the end of each meeting your Sunday School should move closer to accomplishing the purpose of her existence.

Class Leadership Meetings That Work

Sunday School needs corporate planning, but she also needs individual class planning.  I have found that many classes need a structure from which to work in order to have a productive meeting.  We provide a sheet for each class as follows.

Five Major Categories in an Effective Planning Meeting

Outreach Planning, Lesson Planning, Ministry Planning, Administrative Planning, & Prayer Time.

Instructions

• Arrange the five categories in your preferred sequence.
• Indicate the amount of minutes to be used for each category.
• Indicate the person(s) responsible to lead each individual category.
• List the items (person, place, thing, etc.) needing discussion in each category.
• List items to pray about.

Date: Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Like a train, most people need a track to run on.  This chart allows the leader to fill in items to address as things come up from week-to-week in the class.  Therefore, the class leadership meeting will be productive in making the class operate more effectively.

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Allan Taylor is the Minister of Education at First Baptist Church Woodstock, GA.