Author Archive for Kenneth Priest

Who is Your Sunday School Leader?

By Kenneth Priest · Comments (1)
Monday, August 6th, 2012

This is day 6 of 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School.

I think this question is challenging for most. There are a variety of factors that roll into this query. We can address church size, polity and governance, and a plethora of other issues. However, the movement to a Missionary Sunday School challenges leaders at every level to think hard about who is the actual leader. I would like to propose that you ask this question of yourself, “Who is Your Sunday School Leader?” And as you are asking that question think about this.

In Noel Tichy’s writing, “The Cycle of Leadership” he challenges the reader to think about their company as a teaching organization. In fact the end of the book provides a “Handbook” which is essentially           “a field guide to building and leading a teaching organization.” That’s a great concept for the church to adopt. After all, there should be no greater teaching organization than the church. After all, we have the greatest curriculum to teach in God’s Word. So, who is your leader?

Pastor as Leader – The senior pastor should be a champion leader. There is no greater platform to champion the Sunday school ministry from than the pulpit. Churches with great Sunday schools have pastors at the helm telling their story of Sunday school. Listen to Johnny Hunt, Senior Pastor of FBC Woodstock, GA preach sometime. He loves to tell the story of him being in Sunday school. He finds the time to be in a community of faith with others. This is a great example for pastors. However, some of you are preaching because of your model. My encouragement, find another time to meet with a small group. Your Sunday school class can take place on Tuesday night, or Thursday morning. In our global economy, limiting Sunday school to Sunday morning is a methodology the church simply cannot afford. We must begin finding new times to engage the culture with opportunities to learn about Christ.

Church Staff as Leader – The point is short and simple, if the pastor is taking the time to make this a priority, so should the rest of the staff. We can address the details if we need to, however the options are the same. If the preschool leader has to be available during every hour of Sunday school, she should find a small group at another time to meet with. When the staff prioritizes being in community, and tells the story of being in a Sunday school environment, the rest of the church begins to take notice. In my opinion, for too long church staff leaders have neglected the community of small group for the sake of the ministry. The model of Jesus was small group. He had a circle of twelve, and an inner circle of three. He made time for prayer, fasting, preaching, ministering, and community. We must follow His example for success in ministry.

Director as Leader – Someone has to handle the administration. The director is the administrative leader of the Sunday school ministry. Whether you are a department director, division director, or Lay Minister of Education, you are responsible for making certain the teaching organization of the church, is teaching. That’s what makes your role so vital. If the church is going to be the premier teaching organization in the community, the director must make certain everything is functioning correctly, teachers have what they need to teach, outreach is occurring, ministry is being handled, and did I mention, the director should be in a small group? No one should neglect this opportunity for personal spiritual growth in the context of the community of faith which can happen when we are meeting and discussing God’s Word together.

Teacher as Leader – I would presume most people when asked the “Who is your Sunday School Leader” question immediately thought, pastor, minister of education, or teacher. The teacher is essential for the successful Sunday School ministry. He/She is the spiritual leader of the class. As such, there is a tremendous responsibility for spiritual preparation and discipline in order to effectively deliver the message God would have shared on a consistent basis.

Learner as Leader – This is the one that I think is the least thought of. YOU are the Sunday School leader. Our theme in writing this month is “Missionary Sunday School”. This is the process of insuring our classes are Missional in all we do. We can only be Missional, if YOU are Missional. The learner in the class is the greatest Sunday School leader for the church. You are in the community, at work, in school, involved in community service, connecting with your neighbors. All of these things make you the leader you need to be. In order for us to reach our communities for Christ, YOU have to lead out in your life. Yes, the rest of us are in the community doing things as well, but if you noticed, every one of the leaders above have also been encouraged to be in a small group. Making them a Learner/Leader as well. It is the learner/leaders that are on mission in the community.

Will you accept the challenge to be the Sunday School Leader in your church?!
____________________
Kenneth Priest serves the Southern Baptists of the Texas Convention as Church Ministries Associate

 

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Group Life, Leadership, Learning, Ministry, Small Groups, Sunday School

How to Effectively Group People in Sunday School/Small Groups

By Kenneth Priest · Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

There are several primary considerations for effectively organizing groups for Sunday School/Small Groups. Before developing your structure, account for the total active church membership. Second, determine whether the groups will be offered on-campus, off-campus, or both. Finally, evaluate community and church demographics. Once the primary considerations are determined, you can begin grouping people for effective community.

Grouping people effectively requires intentionality. Whether using on-campus or off-campus groups, focus should be given to creating genuine community. This is accomplished by modeling the biblical principles of Acts 2:42; “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers.” (HCSB). When a group focuses on studying God’s Word, praying for one another, spending quality time getting to know one another, and meeting together consistently, an environment is cultivated for community. Once community is created, there is a natural attraction for persons to connect with the group. The genuine community which exists is a warm, inviting atmosphere.

Simple group dynamics state persons connect with others persons of affinity. Effective grouping, therefore, works best through these considerations. There are several options to group persons.

Age-grade

This category groups persons who are at the same age. Smaller churches typically have larger age-spans in these groups which creates part of the challenge in dynamics to grow a particular group. Twenties typically do not have much in common with forties, yet the smaller the congregation, a young adult class may span the ages of 20-49 year old. Whereas critical mass is important, a healthier balance may need to be considered with emphasis given to the group-size:age-graded ratio., (ratio is philosophical, most off-campus groups will be below 15, on-campus groups will vary in size based on leadership abilities).

Life-Stage

This category groups persons who are at a similar life-stage. This may be determined by age of the children, grandchildren, retirement, the fact of being a boomer, etc. An example is a group may be for parents of elementary age children. The effectiveness of this model is most persons are going through similar experiences whether professionally in the marketplace or personally in home life.

Note:  when using the age of the children to group parents, you may have older 40s in the class as persons who married and had children later in life compared to couples in their 20s or early thirties with the same age children. Using the age of children may disregard couples without children which are an ever-increasing portion of the population.

Interest

This category groups persons around interest. Categories may include men only, women only, sportsmen, outdoors men, marketplace women, etc. The effectiveness of this model is inherent in the “interest” itself. The challenge of this model is using the “interest” group to connect while keeping the study focused on God’s Word.

Proximity

There are two options in using off-campus groups. You may choose a similar structure as the on-campus for creating community groups centered around age, life-stages, and/or interest. The other option is proximity groups. If your demographics draw from all over the community, an off-campus group may be organized with persons who live in the same neighborhood or proximity. This option may bring together varied generations into community groups. This multi-generational approach creates inherent mentor-mentee relationship opportunities. A challenge to this approach is the participants do not have a common-bond of going through similar “life-stage” milestones together. A positive is an older person in the group has “been there, done that” and can share from his/her life experiences.

Effectiveness for either group, on-campus or off-campus, weighs on intentionality of the leadership team. Leadership development is core to either option succeeding. Leaders must be prepared and equipped to reproduce themselves as the group connects and grows. Effective groups have an outward focus. As group leaders insure all persons are connecting, caring environments are created and ministry occurs.

More information regarding this topic can be found in Missionary Sunday School by David Francis.

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Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Flake's Formula, Growing your Group, Leadership, Ministry, Organization, Space and Facilities, Sunday School

Continuing Education for the Group Leader

By Kenneth Priest · Comments (3)
Friday, January 13th, 2012

In Paul’s letter to the Romans, Chapter 6, he states in verse 17, “But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (ESV; emphasis added). It seems that Paul had a type of “New Believers” course for converts. As I was discussing this idea with my Bible Fellowship group this past Sunday, I directed the conversation to discuss our personal “standards of teaching.”  The exact question was, “What are your standards of teaching you live by?” As we are looking at the New Year, this is a great time to evaluate our standards. One area where I believe we can all do better relates to our standard of personal development. I believe this falls into the category of a standard of teaching, as we are to be lifelong learners.

I like to encourage directors and teachers to develop a growth plan. I include a number of items related to working as an educational team in the life of the church; your participation on this team is important as the disciplers of the church.

  • Annually, attend a Sunday School or Church Growth Conference.  Many conferences are now being offered online via live streaming or even for download after the event.
  • Annually, attend a church-focused training event coordinated specifically for your church. Many churches provide an annual training event where the pastor and or/minister of education equips the leaders within the context of your specific church needs. This is a great way to stay in touch with what your pastoral leadership team sees as the needs of the church.
  • Monthly, meet with church Sunday School Director, pastor, and/or minister of education to discuss any issues with curriculum, inform them about needs within your small group, etc. This communication times helps the pastoral leadership team stay “in touch” with what is happening and know better how they can support and provide ministry within the church.

I also think we need to have our personal study practices challenged and in place. So here are some thoughts for 2012:

  • Read through the Bible.  You may not do this each year; but you might choose to do so. I recommend finding different methods of doing this. Zondervan has a great study, “The Bible in 90 Days.” This is a real challenge.
  • Read a doctrinal study.  Make certain you know why you believe what you believe. This can be done through a number of studies, I like Ken Hemphill’s study from Auxano Press, “Core Convictions” which essentially helps provide you a systematic theology of your doctrine.
  • Read a book on evangelism to remind yourself of the great need to keep the Gospel message in the forefront of your class and make certain you are sharing your faith through your teaching. Try “SPLASH,” also from Auxano Press.
  • Read a spiritual gifts book.  My Bible Fellowship is called Gateway.  The word “GATE” is an acronym for Gifts And Talents Exercised. We constantly remind our members to serve, and you might also. Maybe they need a little assistance. Studying up on spiritual gifts can help you answer questions as you are encouraging members to use what God has gifted them with.

There are training sites you can go to for continued education as well. Your state convention might have something.  At the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, we have launched a Leadership App.  Simply go to itunes and search SBTC.  The App name is “iLead.”  LifeWay offers online training through: www.lifeway.com/onlinetraining

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Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Bible Study, Sunday School, Training