Archive for 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School – Page 2

Providing Space

By Rick Ellison · Comments (1)
Sunday, August 26th, 2012

This is day 26 of 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School.

Providing Sunday School space effects multiple parts of your church’s ministry. In Mark 2, Jesus was teaching in the house one day. The place was packed out and there was no more space, not even in the doorway. Four men carried a paralytic to be healed by Jesus, but there was no room for him. The men removed the roof and lowered the man on the mat down to Jesus. Healing took place and this man’s life would always be richer for the healing experience.

Providing adequate Sunday School space impacts your ministry in many ways. It allows for the starting of new Sunday School classes where new people may be reached. It allows for existing Sunday School classes to be able to include new people. It effects the number of people receiving Christ and being baptized in your church. It effects the number of people growing through life changing Bible study. It effects the number of people receiving ministry.

When space is provided and new adult classes are started it has a dramatic impact on financial giving to the church. When new adult classes are started there will typically be an average attendance increase of about 10 people per class somewhere in the organization. I recently studied a church where the average per capita giving was about $47.00 per Sunday per attender. If the church started five new adult Sunday School classes and the average attendance increased by 50 people per Sunday, can you imagine the financial impact? That would translate to an increased giving for ministry and missions to $2,350 per Sunday or$122,200 per year.

The office that relates to Sunday School in your state convention can be a valuable resource in helping you to evaluate the amount you need and use of your space. They can often help you project future attendance and giving as you increase the Sunday School organization. Please remember that you should assess your Sunday School space, because 80% full capacity can begin to inhibit your growth.
___________________________
Rick Ellison: Office of Leadership/Church Health at Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions

 

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Bible Study, Ministry, New Groups, Small Groups, Space, Sunday School, Teaching

Enlist and Equip Leaders

By Bob Wood · Comments (0)
Saturday, August 25th, 2012

This is 25 of 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School

A growing church needs to continually develop new leaders.  The number one reason I hear for not starting new groups is, “We don’t have enough leaders.”  Do you have enough leaders?  How do you develop new leaders?  Do you have a process or pathway for developing new leaders?

Developing leaders is a two-pronged process: 1) disciple-making, and 2) skill development.  An intentional process for disciple-making will produce maturing believers who are experiencing the power of Spirit-filled living and are ready to serve based on their Spirit-giftedness.  Following are ideas for helping these maturing believers find a place of leadership and develop leadership skills.

 

Enlist Leaders

Personal enlistment is the key to recruiting new leaders.  Announcements are fine to create awareness, but most people won’t respond to an impersonal announcement.  And often those who do respond are not the ones you really want. The goal is not to “fill slots” but to help people find places of ministry.  Get to know people.  Discover their gifts and passions.  Prayerfully consider where God would have them serve.  Ask them personally when you can honestly say, “I think you’re the right person to serve in this place.” Be honest in your enlistment.  Give them all the information they will need about their places of service.  Challenge people.  If “there’s nothing to it,” why would they want to do it?  Challenge them with a vision for what could be done for the Lord.  And don’t put people on the spot.  Give them time to pray about their response  (There are a number of excellent previous blogs on the Enlistment Process).

Equip Leaders

Every leadership position has a set of skills which are required for the leader to be effective.  For a leader in Sunday School these include skills in reaching their people group, ministering to their people group, and teaching their people group. How do you equip your leaders?  Letting them serve as apprentices is effective.  They get on-the-job training from skilled leaders.  One-on-one training can be effective.  I’ve trained a number of leaders like this over the years, but it produces leaders in smaller numbers.  Classroom training for potential leaders works well.  As a young adult I learned a lot in a potential teacher class led by Mildred Wade.  “Turbo groups” are another approach.  You enlist a group of potential leaders for a small group with the expectation that when the group finishes, they will enlist and lead their own groups.

Empower Leaders

If you want people to do their best for the Lord, you have to turn them loose.  You have to give them freedom to serve their ways, which will not necessarily be your way.  Sure you want clear goals and guidelines for what is acceptable.  However, when you enlist maturing believers to lead, you must trust that they can follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit just as you do.  Empower leaders.  Give them freedom to lead and serve in the ways God has gifted them.

Encourage Leaders

Inexperienced leaders can easily become discouraged.  Things don’t always go well.  You need to keep in touch, ask how things are going, and encourage leaders to keep moving forward. Even experienced leaders need encouragement.  Often Satan’s attacks are strongest against the most effective leaders.  Your words of encouragement can help your leaders stand strong.

Your church cannot grow without new leaders.  What’s your next step to develop new leaders? ­­­­
______________________
Bob Wood is a State Missionary with the Baptist State Convention of Michigan, assisting churches to become more intentional and effective in making disciples

 

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Bible Study, Enlistment, Evangelism, Group Life, Growing your Group, Leadership, Learning, Ministry, Mission, New Groups, Organization, Outreach/Evangelism, Small Groups, Sunday School, Teaching, Training, Transformation

ENLARGE THE ORGANIZATION

By Dr. Tim S. Smith · Comments (1)
Friday, August 24th, 2012

This is day 24 of 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School

It was my privilege, 30+ years ago, to serve as the BSU president at two colleges as well as the president for Georgia.  At one of the colleges it became very clear to me that if we were going to increase the involvement of the students, we needed to revamp the leadership structure.  I did my homework and made my presentation.  We needed to create new positions of responsibility and have different levels of leadership structure.  I can still hear the campus minister saying, “But we don’t have that many kids in BSU!”  My response was, “I know and that’s why we have to enlarge the organization.”  We created the new positions, prayed for those that would take the positions and personally enlisted and trained them. Within one year the BSU had tripled in attendance.

I had learned this basic principle in Sunday School leadership.  In 1920, Arthur Flake became the first leader of the Sunday School Department of the Baptist Sunday School Board, which is now called LifeWay Christian Resources.  Flake was the author of what eventually became known as Flake’s Formula: (1) know the possibilities, (2) enlarge the organization, (3) provide space and equipment, (4) enlist the leaders, and (5) go after the people.

If your Sunday School is to be the best at outreach, ministry, fellowship and teaching, then it must be constantly enlarging the organization.  It should be noted that the organization is to be enlarged prior to the new people arriving!  Too many churches have the mentality that they will start new classes and enlist new leaders after the new people show up.  It does not work that way!  If you wait until the new people come before enlarging the organization then more than likely you will never enlarge the organization.

As we think about enlarging the organization, the first place to start is with the correct number of leaders.  You need to determine what your current leader to learner ratio is by dividing the enrollment by the number of leaders.  The leader to learner ratio varies for each age group.

Class/Department Leader-to-Learner Ratio

  • Babies – Two Year Olds: one to three
  • Three Year Olds – Kindergarten: one to five
  • Grades 1 – 6: one to six
  • Grades 7 – 12: one to eight
  • Adults: one to five

The next element of enlarging the organization is to have the correct number of classes.  Again, you need to determine your present reality by dividing the enrollment by the number of classes.  Each age group is different.

Class/Department Class-to-Member Ratio

  • Babies – Two Year Olds: one to twelve
  • Three Year Olds – Kindergarten: one to twenty
  • Grades 1 – 6: one to twenty
  • Grades 7 – 12: one to fifteen
  • Adults: one to twenty-four

In conclusion, enlarge the organization prior to new people coming, make sure you have the correct leader to learner ratio and, finally, make sure you have the correct class to membership ratio.

__________________________
Dr. Tim S. Smith serves as a state missionary with the Georgia Baptist Convention and is the Sunday School & Open Groups Specialist of the Sunday School/Open Group Ministries.  Visit their website at ssog.gabaptist.org for more information and other resources to aid your Sunday School.

 

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Bible Study, Flake's Formula, Group Life, Growing your Group, Leadership, Learning, Ministry, Mission, New Groups, Organization, Outreach/Evangelism, Small Groups, Sunday School, Teaching

Know Your Possibilities

By David Bond · Comments (0)
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012

This is day 23 of 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School

 

At the first church that I served as a staff person, we enlisted a relatively new church member as our Sunday School director. He had come from a larger church in a nearby town and had success in leading a growing Sunday School. He approached his new role with confidence and enthusiasm, implementing several new ideas into the ministry. One of them was to organize and promote a high attendance day with a goal – that he came up with on his own – of having 300 people in attendance.

The big challenge was that the church had never in its history had a Sunday with 200 in attendance let alone 300. Unfazed, our Sunday School director held to his lofty goal. When the big day arrived, the actual Sunday School attendance was the highest the church had ever had . . . yet, there was disappointment at having “failed” to reach the goal. Knowing the actual possibilities would have helped our Sunday School director set a goal that was challenging yet attainable, offering him the opportunity to motivate leaders, create momentum, and celebrate a victory.

Knowing the possibilities helps Sunday School leaders set goals and chart a course for growth both in the short and long term. Here are some sources of information that will assist in this endeavor.

Community Demographics
Census data reveals raw population numbers and other descriptive pieces of information. But a demographic report can also reveal trends and changes in types of families in your area, population based on proximity to your church, and even religious affiliation of homes near your church. Your state convention may be able to not only provide this type of information, but help you interpret and apply it to your Sunday School grouping strategy.

SS Class Rolls
Conducting an annual examination of your class rolls will also help understand possibilities for growth. Knowing not only how many have fallen out of regular attendance but also who they are and what life stage or family make-up they represent will give you clues toward what new groups need to be considered in your Sunday School organization.

Unique Attenders per Month
While we regularly calculate average Sunday School attendance, one often overlooked piece of information is the number of different people that attend Sunday School in a given month. For example, a class that averages 20 in attendance likely does not have the same 20 every week. In fact, the class may have 30 different people that attend at least once a month. If half of the marginal attenders are more intentionally connected to and cared for by the class to the point that their attendance increases to 2-3 times per month, the average attendance will increase proportionately. When this happens, other fruit such as personal spiritual disciplines, service, giving, and

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witnessing are more likely to increase as well.

Prospects and Potentials
A final group that helps define the possibilities are those in the past year who have been guests

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in worship services, attended special events, had children in Vacation Bible School, had students involved in youth ministry, or were connected through a community ministry. David Francis also suggests encouraging classes to make lists of their FRANs (Friends, Relatives, Associates, and Neighbors) as a way of identifying those who have a relational connection to people already in Sunday School. This list gives classes a great start in conducting intentional outreach.
____________________
David Bond
Arkansas Baptist State Convention

 

 

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Bible Study, Enlistment, Evangelism, Group Life, Growing your Group, Leadership, Learning, Ministry, Mission, New Groups, Outreach/Evangelism, Small Groups, Sunday School, Teaching, Training, Vacation Bible School

Start New Groups

By Sean Keith · Comments (0)
Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

Every vibrant, growing church I know has one thing in common; they start new groups. I can almost guarantee you that if you don’t start new groups; you will not grow.

I feel like we need to be candid in our conversation about starting new groups. If you want to have a healthy, vibrant growing church; you must start new groups. For some of you, that may be one of the most difficult things you do in your ministry, (professional or volunteer). Starting new groups in some churches and communities have a negative stigma attached to it. Let’s face it, some of those perceptions are realities. Starting new groups does mean that some people will be uprooted from their existing classes to start new ones. That is true. However, we have to utilize people we have in order to reach those we don’t have yet.

At one church I served as a Minister of Education, I recruited a new leader from an existing class to help start a new group. This wonderful lady was praying hard about the new role that I had presented to her. Her Sunday School teacher, somewhat in jest said, “Why do you have to take my best worker”? I replied, well I sure don’t need your worst one.

Starting new groups are scary. It does require a missionary mentality to separate yourself from what you know into an area that is unfamiliar. Just like God asked Abraham to travel to a land he knew not, today’s leaders of new groups must trust God and their leadership to step out.

Reaching people and engaging them in an ongoing Bible study experience in a community of relationships is not an easy endeavor but necessary. We are called to “Go and Make Disciples”; not to find a spot and squat and sit and soak.

What if every church started at least one new group every year? You do the math. In Louisiana where I serve we have over 1500 churches. If every one of those churches started just one new group, that would mean 1500 new Bible study groups, approximately 3000 new leaders and an additional 15,000 people in Bible study each week.

Some churches could and should start more. Some churches will not succeed in starting any at all. Could you make a commitment to start at least one new group in your church? Would your class be a “catalyst” to help start a new group in your church?

Do you know that for every new group a church starts, on average, the church will gain 10 or more in attendance? Do you know that churches that start new groups, average more in baptisms? Did you know that proportionally, every new group you start nets you thousands more in tithes and offerings each year? Did you know that a lost or un-churched person is more likely to attend a new group than an older, established group?

Healthy churches grow. Join us in starting a new group’s movement in our world. Decide today and sign up.

Sean Keith is the Sunday/Discipleship Strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention. Check out my website at www.LBC.org/churchgrowth.

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Evangelism, Group Life, Growing your Group, Leadership, New Groups, Outreach/Evangelism, Small Groups, Sunday School
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