Author Archive for Mark Donnell

The Leader’s Spiritual Gifts Affect What Happens In Groups

coffee mugA Bible study group met in a home to study how various ministries should work in the body of Christ. One member commented, “I don’t understand how different gifts can work together.”

At that moment a woman accidentally dropped her cup, which broke and spilled coffee all over the floor. Each group member responded differently to the mishap, according to their spiritual gifts:

The teacher gave some advice.  “Next time if you will put your cup on the coffee table, that won’t happen again.”

The administrator responded by organizing a clean-up committee. “Bill, please go find a mop. Sally, could you help him with a towel?”

Bill, who had the gift of service, hurried to get the mop.

Sally, who had the gift of helps, followed Bill and said, “I’ll help you!”

The person with the gift of exhortation said, “We all make mistakes so don’t let it get you down.”

The person with the gift of mercy put her arm around the woman, patted her hand and said, “I feel so badly for you.”

The person with the gift of giving exclaimed, “I’ll buy a new set of coffee mugs to replace the broken one!”

They all used their various gifts together to resolve the situation.

A spiritual gift can be defined as “an individual manifestation of grace from the Father that enables you to serve Him and thus play a vital role in His plan for the redemption of the world” (Ken Hemphill, Serving God: Discovering and Using Your Spiritual Gifts Workbook, p. 22.).  It is not a special ability that one develops on their own like a skill or a talent.  It is important to choose group leaders with the group purpose in mind, because the group will ultimately begin to take on the characteristics of the group leader. The goal of a group leader is to discover how God in His grace has gifted them for service and to lead others in the same joy of discovery.

According to the book, “Countdown: Launching & Leading Transformational Groups,” the prime candidates for group leaders are those with one of the speaking gifts:

  • Prophecy – proclaiming the Word of God boldly in order to build up the body and lead to conviction of sin. (Romans 12:6)
  • Teaching – instructing people in the truths and doctrines of God’s Word for the purpose of building up, unifying, and maturing the body. (Romans 12:7)
  • Shepherding – looking out for the spiritual welfare of others. (Mark 6:34)
  • Exhortation – encouraging and motivating members to be involved in and enthusiastic about, the work of the Lord. (Romans 12:8)

Groups will tend to take on the characteristics of the leaders gifts.  However it is important that all of these ministries be carried out.  So other group members will need to be enlisted to cover them, much like our little story at the beginning.  When recruiting leaders to help accomplish the ministries of the group, recruit people to a vision, not just a job description.  Help them to understand how their service will help the group accomplish God’s purposes.

 

Mark Donnell serves as the Small Group Sunday School/Discipleship Specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Day 29-Leadership Results

number-3Have you ever heard of the writing principle called the “Rule of Three?” According to Wikipedia, the Rule of Three is a writing principle that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. The reader or audience of this form of text is also more likely to consume information if it is written in groups of threes. From slogans (“Go, fight, win!”) to films, many things are structured in threes. Examples include The Three Stooges, Three Little Pigs, Three Billy Goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the Three Bears and the Three Musketeers. The Latin phrase, “omne trium perfectum” (everything that comes in threes is perfect, or, every set of three is complete) conveys the same idea as the rule of three.

In Sunday School, the effective leader should expect three results: REACH, RELEASE, REPRODUCE

Reach
If your Sunday School class is going to grow and reach new people, it will take all the members being on mission. Encourage your class members to share the names of lost people they know who need to be involved in Bible study. List these names on a poster in the class and pray regularly for them. Celebrate when one comes to know Christ and when they are enrolled in a Bible study class. Challenge your members to enroll at least one person in the class over the next quarter. Lead the class to become missional by finding a need in your community and plan a ministry project to address it.

Release
Sometimes Adult Sunday School classes seem to forget where new leaders for the preschool, children, and student classes come from. They come from Adult Sunday School classes! As your Sunday School grows, you will need many more workers. Rather than be upset about losing class members to serve in these important areas of the church, you should celebrate them as missionaries from your class. Call them Associate Members or Members-in-Service. And make sure to keep them involved in the life of the class by keeping in touch with them and inviting them to all class functions. By doing this, more members will be willing to serve in the church.

Reproduce
Every living thing needs to reproduce. Otherwise it will slowly die away. The same is true for a Sunday School class. If you truly want to grow, then each class must reproduce itself! When is a class ready to reproduce? When the room is too full, when the teacher cannot keep track of all the member’s names, or when your apprentice teacher is ready to lead. Instead of “splitting the class” or “dividing the class”, try “birthing” a new class. Make it as exciting as having a new child or grandchild being born. Enjoy the pregnancy period as you prepare the class, and then celebrate the birth with a party!

Don’t forget…”omne trium perfectum”. Your Sunday School is not complete until these three things are happening in every class – Reach, Release, Reproduce!

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Mark Donnell is the Sunday School/Discipleship specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention.

Day 8-Teacher Ruts

lectureWhat is the worst method of teaching that you can use? I often ask conferees that question when I am leading an Adult Sunday School teacher’s workshop. Usually someone is quick to answer – “Lecturing!” Sometimes the answer is “reading directly from the pupil’s book!” However, both of those answers are wrong. So what is the worst teaching method you can use? The answer, of course is…”the one you use all the time!”

No two people learn in exactly the same way. Therefore our teaching needs to address their learning styles. However, we usually are most comfortable teaching using the same method that we learn best from. So, someone who is an auditory learner usually is most comfortable with lecture or discussion questions. A visual learner enjoys using multimedia presentations, pictures, graphs, charts and other visual aids. Kinesthetic learners like to touch and do through role play, drama, puzzles and art.

There are three significant steps that we need to accomplish each week in our Bible study teaching:

  1. Introduce the lesson and create interest
  2. Encounter God’s Word
  3. Bring Closure

However, in order to not get into a rut in our classroom, we need to use a variety of teaching methods each week to reach the variety of learning styles of our class members. Now, I know what many of you are going to say…“Bro. Mark, my class members don’t really like me to change things up. They like me to just lecture because they enjoy learning from what I have to say.” What I’m afraid you are saying is…”That’s a lot of work. I just don’t have time!” We get stuck in a rut and then wonder why our class members are not faithful in attending and why we are not reaching any new members.

Let me give you 8 simple steps to keep your class from getting stuck in a rut:

  1. Each week study the scriptures thoroughly. We cannot teach what we have not already experienced ourselves.
  2. Decide what you want to accomplish with the lesson. Make sure you plan your time and teaching methods accurately so as to finish the lesson on time. So often, we fail to get to the most important part of any Bible study lesson…the application! The “so what” of the lesson. Plan out your time and stick to your plan.
  3. Start your lesson preparations early. Don’t wait for the “Saturday night special!”
  4. Use your imagination. Vary your teaching methods and styles.
  5. Enlist people to help you. This gets the class involved, increases attendance and also takes a lot of work off your shoulders!
  6. Keep it simple! 
  7. Don’t lose the message in the medium. Remember, we are teaching God’s Word.
  8. Don’t give up. If you try something new and it doesn’t work, don’t get discouraged. Thomas Edison, after another failed attempt at creating the light bulb said – “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

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Mark Donnell is the Sunday School/Discipleship specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention

Find New Leaders

If we truly believe that starting new groups is the best approach to growing our Sunday Schools, then we must understand that we will need to find a lot of new leaders to lead those new groups. As I visit with Pastors and Sunday School leaders and talk with them about starting new groups, I can always count on one question being asked – “We don’t have enough workers now. Where are we supposed to find workers for new groups that we start?” Good question! Where can we find new leaders?

I believe that the beginning point in our search for new leaders is prayer. Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Ask, and God will guide you to the right people!

Next we must understand where Sunday School leaders come from. In “Extreme Sunday School Challenge”, Bruce Raley states – “All new leaders are in Adult groups right now.” Adult Sunday School classes produce Adult Sunday School leaders. We have to help our Adult Sunday School teachers understand that the goal is not to grow a class and keep them, but to send them out to ministries of their own in the church, whether that ministry is to be a teacher, an outreach leader, a care-group leader, etc. If your adult teachers do not embrace this concept, they will stalemate your church.

Every Sunday School leader should have an apprentice that they are training to take their place. Not just a substitute for when they are absent, but someone that God has chosen to be a future leader and that we can mentor and train. How do we find an apprentice? Again, ask God to reveal the person to you. Observe the members of your class – their faithfulness, the comments that they make, and the questions that they ask. Chances are if they are asking questions and making observations in your class, then God is working on their hearts. They may not yet realize what God has in

store for them, but we can begin to guide them and prepare them for future leadership.

Other places to look for potential leaders could include: Vacation Bible School leaders; Retirees who have experience and training; Former Sunday School leaders; Graduating college students returning home; and persons who respond to interest surveys. Ask current teachers to share the names of people in their groups that God might be preparing to teach in the Preschool, Children’s, Students or Adult classes. Search the church membership rolls prayerfully for potential new leaders.

Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (NKJV) I believe this promise pertains to His church as well as to us as individuals. If our churches are to grow we will need more leaders. God has promised that He will supply our needs.

 

Mark Donnell serves as the Sunday School/Discipleship/Small Group Specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention. He loves to brag about his 11 month old granddaughter who lives in Pearl City, Hawaii!

Partner with Families

Who’s Responsible for Family Bible Study?

My wife does a lot of preschool Sunday School conferences. One visual example that I have seen her use is to take a piece of twine that is 168 inches in length and have two volunteers come to the front to hold it out its full length. One inch of it is painted black. You see 168 are the number of hours in a week. The black inch represents the one-hour we have on Sunday morning each week to teach preschoolers about Jesus. For many of these children, this will be the only time they hear about Jesus all week. That’s why it is so

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important to use that hour fully and wisely. It is also why we must partner with families to help them teach their children the Biblical truths of God’s Word at home. One hour a week at church just won’t cut it!

So who is responsible for family Bible study? First of all the parents should take responsibility to be the primary Bible teachers and disciples of their children (Deuteronomy 4:6-9). The church should seek to build on, and support the work of, the home and

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family.

How can a church partner with families in Bible study? In the Lifeway resource book – “Ten Best Practices to Make Your Sunday School Work” – these ideas are given:

  • Provide a designated Bible study group for every family member. There should be a place for everyone no matter their age, need, or situation.
  • Provide Resources for Every Family Member. The Bible is the primary resource, of course. But supplemental Bible study resources such as learners guides, take home sheets and devotional guides can enhance and strengthen family Bible study.
  • Lead By Example. Sunday School leaders are responsible to be exemplary in discipleship and to model the powerful effects of God’s Word in life.
  • Help Families to Reach Other Families. Encourage families to look for opportunities to reach other families. Many non-believers have come to know Christ through the influence of loving Christian families and friends.
  • Partner with Parents of Preschoolers and Children. Preschool and Children’s leaders and parents can link together to support and reinforce Bible teachings so the children can obtain strong spiritual foundations for conversion later in life. In addition, your preschool and children’s Sunday School can provide parenting conferences, seminars, and support groups.
  • Other examples given are: Partner with Parents of Youth; Expand Your Definition of Family; Be a Partner to Adults.

The family is a powerful influence in building, or possibly destroying, personal faith. Many times I have heard non-believers say they wanted nothing to do with God or the church because of failures or inconsistencies they observed in a parent or family member. As Sunday School leaders, we must acknowledge the powerful influence of the family and commit to developing the kind of partnership with families that will result in family members accepting and growing in Christ.

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Mark Donnell serves as the Sunday School/Discipleship Specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention