Bob Mayfield :: Sunday School Leaders

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.

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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

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Sep

The Primary Evangelism Strategy

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (1)

What is your church’s primary evangelism strategy?

Worship?
Block Parties?
Special Events?
Revivals?

In fact, this Sunday, ask the people in your group what they think their church’s primary evangelism strategy is. The chances are that they will probably not mention the very organization that they are participating in at the moment… their Sunday School class or small group! In fact, it is very likely that the group will not be able to name their church’s primary evangelism strategy – which should tell us volumes about how effective the church is in evangelism.

And honestly, Sunday School may not be their church’s primary evangelism strategy. But it is that way because of a choice made by the church leadership, not because Sunday School is ineffective as an evangelism strategy.

Andy Anderson’s classic work, The Sunday School Growth Spiral, states that one out of every three lost people enrolled in Sunday School will make a profession of faith in one year. I have talked with education ministers recently who have told me that the ratio today is even better, typically one out of two.

So why is Sunday School so effective as an evangelism strategy? Isn’t it supposed to be the assimilation arm of the church? In my opinion, Sunday School is the church’s primary evangelism strategy for the following reasons:

Sunday School is the largest and only organization of the church that includes ALL of its members (if your Sunday School or small group organization has fewer members than the church membership, it’s not much of an assimilation strategy either);
When group members bring a lost friend to the group, their friend gets to see the church in action… every Sunday School class is a microcosm of the church. Their friend participates in: prayer, ministry, Bible study, and fellowship;
The spiritual gifts of each person in the group can be used to share the Gospel in a group setting;
Interaction with the Word of God. A group that is studying God’s Word is presenting the Gospel each time they open and study the Bible.

Many lost people know that making a decision for Christ is important, and therefore do not want to make an impulsive decision. The Sunday School class offers what they need; time to make the decision; a laboratory to check Jesus out; and people to answer their questions.

Sunday School should not be the only place in the church where evangelistic emphasis is occurring. However, I believe that the church’s Sunday School or small group structure should be the church’s primary strategy.

Since the church has a Great Commission to make disciples and witness for Christ (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8), shouldn’t it make sense that the largest organization of the church have evangelism as its prime directive?

Now let me ask a question: Who was the last person your group led to Christ, and when was it?

How can your group become more evangelistic? I do not have a formula or a red pill you can take that will magically transform your Sunday School into a Gospel-sharing, evangelistic dynamo. However, here are a couple of thoughts:

1) The chances are the culture in your group needs to change from an inward-focus to an outward-focus. You change change culture by repeated behavior. One Friend Day a year is not going to change culture, but repeated and continual attempts to bring unchurched people to the small group will eventually change the group’s culture.

2) Related to #1 above, most people (perhaps 80%) must act their way to new behavior. So a Bible study series on evangelism is not going to have the deep change we hope it will. Instead, be sure to help the group find a way to apply evangelism into their daily life as a part of every group Bible study. Also, plan class activities (Josh Hunt calls it “Friday Nights for Jesus”) where the group can bring unsaved friends.

3) Focus on the micro instead of the macro. Let’s face it, macro-evangelism (seeing God save many people at once, like in a revival service or a youth camp) is inspiring. But micro-evangelism (sharing Christ with a neighbor, bringing a friend to a group meeting) is more difficult, but is usually more effective and ultimately can involve more people sharing their faith on a regular basis.

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Bob Mayfield is the Sunday School/Adult Discipleship specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He also blogs at bobmayfield.com

Categories : Outreach/Evangelism, Sunday School

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Aug

Praying for Unreached People Groups

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

What kind of Sunday School class or small group do you want to belong to? A group of people who are centered around their own needs, or a group of people who want to make a difference in their community and across the world? If you are not interested in sharing the Gospel with others and impacting lost people around the world, well… you might want to come back tomorrow, because this post is NOT for you!

I firmly believe that many Sunday School classes have not discovered their mission. Your group’s mission comes straight from God’s Word – “Go, therefore, and make disciples of every nation…” The actual Greek word for “nation” is pante ta ethnos. We get our word “ethnic” from it, but this word means people groups. Your Sunday School class is how your church is organized for its mission. Notice the verse again ”make disciple of every nation (ethnos)”. You are falling short of the Great Commission if you think reaching your neighborhood is enough.

I believe that most of our members are more than happy to give their time and treasure to a worthwhile cause. Let me connect you with one… your class should Adopt an Unreached People Group. Approximately 28% of the world’s population (2.1 billion people) have no access to the Gospel – none! Your Sunday School class can have an impact on thousands of people by simply adopting and praying for an unreached people group.

This year in Oklahoma, we began challenging Sunday School classes to adopt an unreached people group for one year. To date, over 2,200 classes have stepped forward to adopt and pray for their adopted group. At right is a pic from a worship service at Northwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, whose Sunday School classes have adopted 32 unreached people groups. In fact, this week one of our smallest churches (they have one adult class) sent a mission team to Africa. They are meeting and discovering the needs of the group they adopted just a few months ago so that they can share the Gospel and begin a church among the people they have adopted.

Here are some things your group can do to adopt and pray for your people group:

Visit www.joshuaproject.net and do some research on people groups;
Go to www.bgco.org/6426project or www.imb.net and register to adopt a people group;
Those registering for the 6426 Project through the Oklahoma Convention will receive an email with information about their new adopted group;
Share information about your people group with your class. Take time during every meeting to lift your group up in prayer;
Ask group members to go online to learn more about your group;
Pray for opportunities to bring the Gospel to your unreached people group.

There are a number of resources to help you and your group share the Gospel with your group:

Order Operation World, which will help you pray daily for people groups all over the world and will also probably have some information about your group;
Visit www.bobmayfield.com/6426project to order materials such as bookmarks, bulletin inserts, and posters;
Put the name of your adopted people group on the sign outside your classroom door;
Plan a time during your worship service to actually pray for unreached people groups that classes in your church have adopted;

There are some definite benefits to adopting an unreached people group:

Any age-group can adopt an unreached people group;
By asking every class to adopt an unreached people group, more church members become involved in prayer and ministry. More doors open as a result;
By praying for those who have yet to hear the Gospel, we deepen and expand the prayer lives of our members;
Our members become more aware of lostness when they research their people group and discover the needs of those for whom they pray;
By praying for unreached people groups, we challenge our members to put the Gospel on display and expect God to move in their adopted group.

First Baptist Church of Sapulpa, Oklahoma adopted an unreached, unengaged people group. A woman in the church realized that a lady that clerked in a local business might be from the area her people group was located. She was, and she was even a member her adopted people group! After some time of developing a relationship with this lady and contacts she has back home, the church has made several mission trips to this people group. They are starting the first church ever for their adopted unreached people group.

A major reason for decline in many of our churches is that we have disconnected the purpose of Sunday School from the mission of the church. A group with no purpose belongs in a bingo hall, not in a body of believers who have a mission to carry the Gospel to every people group on our planet.

Be a leader. Lead your group to adopt an unreached people group and make a difference.

Categories : 31 Days of Transformational Class, Mission, Outreach/Evangelism, Prayer

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May

Conquering the Space Issue, pt 2

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (1)

So why don’t churches make better use of their space? One word – change! Generally speaking, the physical issues are not as difficult to overcome as leading people, especially the group leaders, to change! This one issue is why many churches fail to address their space problem.

Here are some of my thoughts to help you think through the process of asking a class to relocate or start a new group in an off-campus facility:

Connect the move to the direction and purpose of the church.
Meet with the leader prior to meeting with the entire group. For many groups, once the group leader understands what is involved, he or she will take care of letting the group know the plan.
Have a plan. Share your reasoning with the group. Bring some statistics if needed.
Make heroes of groups that give up space and relocate. When you start a new group or relocate an existing class to a restaurant down the street – praise the group for being pioneers!
Move adult groups often. This helps prevent the “this is our room” syndrome from forming.
The absolute best way to relocate a class (or start a new group for that matter) is for the group’s leader to initiate the conversation. People accept change better when the immediate leader of the group (the teacher), both initiates and supports the change.

Ultimately, one of our key leadership roles as a pastor, Sunday School Director, or Minister of Education is to help people step forward into change. Let’s face it, your church cannot afford NOT to change! Too many of our churches are plateaued and declining and a major reason behind this decline are our comfort zones. We have simply become comfortable where we are, and that comfort causes us to be poor stewards of our facilities and opportunities.

As a general rule, I have found that when people understand the plan they are willing to make the changes necessary to help the church be a good steward of its space and facilities.

Categories : Space and Facilities

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May

Conquering the Space Issue, pt 1

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (0)

What issue limits your church’s ability to grow, reach new people, and make disciples? For some churches, it appears to be the lack of people willing to step up and lead. Other churches struggle with direction or purpose. For many churches however, their most limiting factor may be space.

If you chose space, there is good news. From my experience, the space issues that many churches experience is more a matter of perspective and choice, rather than a facility issue (or lack thereof). Of all the limiting factors a church can face, space is one that can be overcome with some planning… and some dreaming!

As the minister of education at a growing church, I ran head-on into the space issue a few years ago. We had on-campus space for about 350 people in Sunday School, yet our Sunday School attendance reached 1,600 average attenders. How did we do it? We maximized the space we had, and utilized space we did not own! Here are some suggestions:

Clean the Easter and VBS props out of old classrooms. In church, any space that is unused by the Sunday School will be claimed by another organization. Don’t use rooms for storage that your church built for Bible study!
Alternative on-campus space. You may have space available that you are unaware of because these spaces are used for other stuff. Consider putting classes in the church kitchen, the weight room, the church library, and the pastor’s office.
Multi-use your space. After you have exhausted 1 & 2 above, a next step could be going to dual or even triple Sunday School hours. Remember that when you move from one Sunday School to two Sunday School hours, you do not technically double your space. Preschool and some children space will be used by the same people for both hours. Typically you can increase your space by about 60% by going to a dual Sunday School schedule.
Move into space that you do not have to build. Many churches have space available to them that they are unaware of, such as restaurants, businesses, and homes. These spaces are often available for free, or for a very small amount of money… especially when you compare the cost of building new space!
Ask some of your Sunday School classes to begin meeting in homes during the week, or even on Sunday morning. Often, the children of middle-aged adults are either grown or can drive themselves, and they have less need to be in the church building. Being on campus for Sunday School is not as vital to this age group as when they had small children that they brought to the facilities for Sunday School.

You may be thinking, all of this sounds good, but how do I convince the class that has met in a certain room for years to relocate to the church kitchen?

I’ll touch on that issue in tomorrow’s post…

Categories : Space and Facilities

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