Bob Mayfield :: Sunday School Leaders

Jan

Go After the People

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

In the previous weeks here at Sunday School Leader, we have focused on the first four principles of Flake’s Formula:

Know your possibilities;
Enlist and equip new leaders;
Enlarge the organization;
Provide space.

The final ingredient of the formula developed by Arthur Flake comes straight out of the Great Commission… “Go”. Go after the people.

Many Sunday School classes and small groups are filled with wonderful people. In your group, you probably have stay at home moms, businessmen and businesswomen, clerks, managers, and more. But one person that is missing in the typical Sunday School class… a lost person who does not know Christ as Savior.

Almost any research you study will reveal the same basic truth: lost people generally are not flocking to our churches. In order to reach them, somebody is going to have to go get them.

Unfortunately, the “somebody” in most of our churches that is going into the community to reach and bring the lost to Christ is actually “nobody”. Far too many of our people think that “somebody” means somebody else. From their behavior, somebody means anybody but them.

As we wrap up our final week of Five Weeks of Flake, we are going to turn our focus to the people who are outside the church walls and are not attending our group. Sunday School used to be called the “evangelistic arm of the church” for a reason – it was! It is time for Sunday School to earn that label again!

You may look around your church as a group leader and realize that very few, if any of your church’s small groups are intentionally focused on bringing the lost to Christ. If I may offer a small suggestion… Do not worry about the other groups. Focus on your group! What can you do, as the leader or teacher of your Sunday School class, to lead your people to be an evangelistic group that brings eternal life to your lost friends and neighbors?

Now… go reach them!

________________

Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Small Groups specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He also has his own blog at www.bobmayfield.com

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake

Comments (0)

Jan

Enlarge the Organization

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

Quick! What is one thing that virtually any church, any where, of any size, large budget or small, can do that will reach new people with the Gospel and make more disciples?

The third principle in Flake’s Formula is “Enlarge the Organization”. Okay, you’ve been waiting for this, right? It is absolutely imperative for church’s to start new groups. There it is… it’s out there! Start a new group.

Of the five principles of Flake’s Formula, this principle may be the least applied of them all. Let’s face it: most of our classes and small groups are focused on themselves and branching out to start a new group is not in our DNA. One of the best things that a group can do to enlarge the Kingdom is something that many groups are firmly against!

I was visiting recently with an education minister of a large and fast-growing church and asked him about their growth. He response was that although they were experiencing a lot of growth, the groups that had been together the longest were not growing. Virtually all of their new growth was coming from new groups the church had started in the past year.

Know the Rule of 10
The “Rule of 10″ simply means that for every new group your church starts, attendance will grow by 10 people. So if you want your church to grow in attendance by 50 people this year… that’s five new groups.

Churches are becoming more creative and experimenting with new ways to start new groups. This week you will learn a couple of new ways that churches are starting new groups. Steve Gladen of Saddleback Church has a very aggressive and creative plan to starting new groups that you may need to consider. His post will be up Wednesday the 18th.

How is your church doing? Are you making new disciples? The proven strategy for reaching new people and making new disciples is starting new groups. Join us for a great time together this week.

______________________

Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Small Groups specialist at the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He also serves First Baptist Church of Moore as Interim Education Minister. Bob blogs at www.bobmayfield.com

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Growing your Group, New Groups

Comments (0)

Jan

Know Your Mission

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

What is the purpose of your group?

I ask this question or something similar to it at almost every leadership conference I have the privilege to lead. The answers almost always fall in one of these three areas:

Bible study
Fellowship
Ministry

Although Sunday School or small groups certainly has these elements to it, these are three functions of the Sunday School. But your group has a mission!

The mission of Sunday School is to make disciples. In fact, Sunday School should be your church’s primary discipleship strategy.

To put it another way…

The mission of Sunday School is to make missionaries.

For the most part, many groups do not know their purpose, their mission. And when you do not know your true mission, then any old mission will do. In fact, when an organization has no mission, people project whatever mission they want onto the organization. As a result, our churches are full of people who somehow think that their mission is to show up!

As a group, it is vital that you connect your group to your church’s mission of making disciples. Groups that are focused on their true biblical mission are less self-serving and more other centered.

Consider asking your group what they believe the group’s mission is the next time that you meet. Have them read Matthew 28:18-20 or Acts 1:8 for comparison.

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Mission

Comments (0)

Nov

Better Together

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

I have just returned from a mission trip with a team of five people from our state. It was one of the most rewarding and effective mission efforts that I have ever participated. I’m convinced that one of the primary reasons it was not only effective, but very enjoyable was because of the group chemistry of our team. We faced some surprises and challenges on the trip. Although each of us had specific responsibilities on the trip, each team member pitched in and did whatever was necessary to help us accomplish our mission. As we shared with each other on the 15 hour plane trip home (we had plenty of time to share!), I realized… we were better together than any of us would have been alone.

A vital aspect of a small group or Sunday School class is the need to belong. In his breakthrough research, Abraham Maslow revealed that human beings have some basic needs that we all yearn for… and right there at the top of the list is the need to belong. God knew about our need to be in community long before Maslow proposed it, God created us with this need.

All people are designed for community, both those in and out of church. Community is one of the biggest attractions to Christianity. Not only do we get to be in community with other believers, we have the incredible opportunity to be in community with the Creator of the universe! In addition, we get to belong to a group of people who do not meet over trivial pursuits. Your group should be on mission together. Belonging to a group is great, belonging to a group on mission is even better!

This month at sundayschoolleader.com, we are focusing on the various aspects of group life that are essential to a healthy small group or class. You are going to get ideas of how to improve your group’s community through fellowship, ministry, prayer, and friendship. We are even going to talk about the link between belonging and that old-fashioned word “enrollment”.

While you’re here, why not take a few moments and evaluate how well the people in your group are connecting to one another. Here are a few questions to ask of your group:

Do the people in your group know each others’ names?
Do the people in your group know the names of each other’s children?
Who in your group needs fellowship? … a friend?
Who has not attended a group meeting in the last six weeks? Have they been contacted and ministered to?
Does your group have an intentional plan to help people connect with others in the group, and… does your group know the plan!

________________

Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Adult Discipleship specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Bob also writes at his own blog at www.bobmayfield.com

Categories : Group Life

Comments (0)

Oct

Breaking Through Group Status Quo

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

I’ve never attended or belonged to a perfect small group or Sunday School class. Never. Perhaps it was my own imperfections that ruined it for everyone else, but more than likely your group isn’t perfect either. We have shortcomings, people issues, and the realities of every day life that can often drag the group down from its lofty goals and make the group experience kind of ho-hum. After a while, this attitude sets into the group and we find ourselves with a group that could… and often should be so much more than it is.

No group has ever fully arrived, and when we as leaders accept things as “just the way things are” and stop working to help the group grow, then we are failing as leaders.

As the leader, it is part of our calling to rise above the status quo and accept the responsibility to address issues that our group may be facing. We are talking about some things that we as leaders can do to make sure that our group is doing what it needs to accomplish in its mission of making disciples.

First, recognize that you have a different role than the other people in your group. You are the leader, and your group members are followers. As such, it is critical that you realize that the “tone and tenor” of the group is your responsibility. There are reasons James 3:1 says, “Not many should become teachers… knowing that we will receive stricter judgment”, and this is one of those reasons.

Second, a suggestion. Although your group is part of the bigger picture of your church’s small group strategy, do not lose focus on your group’s identity. Instead, focus on the group that you lead, the group’s specific needs, and your group’s role in the bigger picture of the church’s mission.

Third, as the leader there are some issues that only you can address. Sometimes this can feel a bit overwhelming, so narrow it down into bite-size increments. Rather than tackle everything at once, narrow your focus to between 3 to 5 things that you want your group to work on right now.

Getting practical:
Make a list of areas where you feel that your group needs to improve. A couple of phone calls or a lunch or two with some trusted group members may help you get a larger perspective.

Next, make three columns on a sheet of paper. In the left column, narrow the list down to no more than five areas that will help your group do a better job of making disciples and help the church fulfill its Great Commission mandate.

In the middle column, what action will you take to address this issue.

In the right column, write the name of person you will enlist to help you with the issue. Below is a sample…

Issue	Response	Person to enlist
Need improved personal ministry	Call each person every week	Mark
Lack of evangelism	Start an evangelistic prayer list during group meeting	Beth
Meetings start late	Start – even if only one person is in attendance	Me
Leadership development	Need a leader in training	Aaron
Better friendliness before group starts	Enlist a couple of hosts to make sure everyone feels welcome; Refreshments & food	David & Yvonne Brenda

Recognizing group needs and taking action to meet those needs is one of the most vital roles of the group leader. Also, establishing and addressing these needs will help you and your group have a winsome feel. People prefer to be in a group that is actively engaged. Although they may not be able to identify exactly what has happened, your small group will notice a different atmosphere in the group as well.

_________________

Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School & Adult Discipleship specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Bob also writes on his own blog at www.bobmayfield.com

Categories : Leadership

Comments (0)