Archive for Organization – Page 2

Sunday School in a Transformational Church

This is article four of a ten part series. Click here to view the previous article.

Mission Oriented

 

If Sunday School is to become a transformational ministry, its mission must be to make disciples that become more like Jesus.

But I believe that in many of our churches Sunday School has lost its purpose.   It has become simply a program that exists to sustain itself.  Today, we have a lot of people that diss a program.  There is nothing wrong with a program; it’s simply an organized way of doing something.  We’re reminded in TC:  If structure is not added to what God starts, the powerful momentum can be short lived. Tri Robinson, Revolutionary Leadership

However, when a program is not mission-oriented it quickly loses its reason for being.  The focus is on keeping the program spinning, and consequently on Sunday morning the Sunday School Director goes to the secretary’s office and helps her count nickels and noses and if there is a vacant hole, he grabs a round person and stuffs him into that square hole just to keep the program spinning.  It exists to sustain itself, not to accomplish the mission.  Sunday School must re-discover its true identity and purpose; not as a program or a church growth strategy but a mission-oriented ministry for making disciples and transforming lives through Transformational Small Communities.

Read Acts 8:30-35 and Listen for God’s Mission…

Later God’s angel spoke to Philip:  ‘At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.’

He got up and went.  He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit told Philip, ‘Climb into the chariot.’  Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, ‘Do you understand what you’re reading?’ He answered, ‘How can I without some to help?’ and invited Philip into the chariot with him.  The eunuch said, ‘Tell me who is the prophet talking about:  himself or some other?’  Philip grabbed his chance.  Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.

The Message

What was God’s Mission? For Philip…For the church…For Sunday School…For your class or small group…For you…

The Mission has not changed! Principle:  A Mission oriented Sunday School is outwardly focused and intentionally evangelistic.

What is needed to develop a Mission-Oriented Transformational Small Communities ministry?

A Mission-Oriented Pastor

  • To lead the church to discover its Mission.
  • To Empower the Sunday School to accomplish its purpose of making disciples.

A Mission-Oriented Sunday School Ministry Team – Without a team, the SS Director’s hands are tied.  He can’t do this by him/herself.  With a team, a mission-oriented, transformational, disciple-making strategy can be planned.

  • Sunday School Director
  • Outreach Coordinator – Works with Class Outreach Leaders
  • Ministry Coordinator – Works with Class Care Group Leaders
  • Adult Representative – One of the Adult Teachers
  • Student/Youth Representative – One of the Youth Teachers
  • Children’s Representative – One of the Children’s Teachers
  • Preschool Representative – One of the Preschool Teachers

Functions of the Sunday School Ministry Team:

  1. Annual Planning: to accomplish the mission of the church.  Each spring the team meets for an extended planning time to plan the year of Sunday School Ministry.  Example:  Meet Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon.  Divide the year into seasonal quarters and plan each quarters work.
  2. Monthly Coordination: Keeping track and measuring progress of Transformational Ministry.
    1. Evaluate past ministries
    2. Coordinate current ministry
    3. Plan Ahead for future ministries

The team meets for one hour monthly to keep the ministry coordinated around the mission. 

A Mission-Oriented Sunday School Organization with a Missionary Mentality in which each group can answer the question:  Who is your ‘People Group’?

  • Age Grading
  • Life-Stage
  • Generational Group
  • Affinity Group
  • Inter-generational
  • Ethnicity

Organize your Sunday School based on who needs to be reached in your community. Create small groups so that each has a people group to reach.  Example:  People in a small group for 25-35 year old adults will focus on the 25-35 age group as their people group to reach.  This is a missionary mentality for developing a disciple-making culture.

Mission – Oriented Care Groups in Adult/Student Classes

  • One Care Group Leader for every 4-6 members
  • Function:  Contact Every Member and Prospect Every Week.

Next week’s blog post( number five of ten) will on Word Driven

____________________________
Phil Stone is the State Sunday School Director for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.


Sunday School in a Transformational Church

This is article three of a ten part series. Click here to view the previous article.

How Small is Small?

Jeremiah prophesied thusly, For my people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13) Well, I’m no Jeremiah, but I believe that Baptist have committed a sin or two when it comes to Sunday School. Just yesterday, I had a Sunday School Director call me about her Sunday School. She shared with me some information about several of the classes and asked, Why aren’t we growing? Enrollment in these classes had topped 40+ and they had either plateaued or declined. When I suggested that these classes needed to reproduce, she immediately shot back, Oh, we can’t split those classes. The members would stop coming; we’d have anarchy, for sure. This Sunday School had dug cisterns which had become broken, and the fountain of living water had been replaced by the Dead Sea. Our role as Sunday School leaders is to keep the fountain flowing; to remove as many barriers as we can to making disciples and transformation and to create an environment in which the Holy Spirit can do His work.

In the Simple Church Rainer and Geiger encourages the church to develop a simple disciple-making process that connects people to God, to other people, to the lost in the community. Sunday School is that second step that connects people to other people in a transformational small community. Any barrier that keeps the Sunday School from connecting people with people should be removed.

My favorite quote in Transformational Church is, We’ve got to move from sitting in rows to sitting in circles to going out and changing the world. Ed Stetzer. Next Sunday in worship try looking at the backs of the heads of people in front of you to see if you can tell who they are. Can you learn anything about a person by looking at the back of his head? Not very much! But when you look him in the eyes, you can see expression, emotion, and response to you. The eyes are indeed the windows to the soul. Stetzer contends that transformation takes place best in small communities among friends both old and new. Therefore, for transformation we’ve got to move from the sanctuary, sitting in rows to a small group, sitting in circles where we can connect with others and provoke one another to love and good deeds and then to going out to change the world. In fact, I take it a step further. In our Sunday School classes we need to move to even smaller learning groups where interaction takes place around the Bible study. In my Sunday School class of around 9-12 people, we are usually in three learning groups of 3-4 each. Sadly, too many of our Sunday School classes are still sitting in rows or either in large semi-circles where people must communicate across a crowded room. Try it. Next Sunday, move out of those rows or that semi-circle and arrange your class in small learning groups of 3-4 each. Let them connect, share stories, and interact with the biblical truth. Create an environment for connection and transformation. For more information see Transformational Bible Study.

I shared with the Sunday School Director on the phone the following principles that help to eliminate barriers and create an environment for making disciples:

  1. When a class reaches maximum enrollment/attendance the class is less motivated to reach potential disciples, ministry diminishes, and growth subsides. Solution: Reproduce – start a new class.
  2. When member / leader ratio exceeds recommended limits ministry and class interaction diminishes; Solution: Reproduce or enlist leaders.
  3. When space is filled to 80% capacity members are less motivated to make disciples – Solution: Reproduce

These principles are based on ideals and of course we must work with what we have and make progress toward the ideal. These principles can help eliminate barriers to transformation and will assist in developing a culture of disciple-making through the Sunday School ministry. They have the potential for changing those broken cisterns we’ve developed and transforming them to fountains of living water for the renewing of minds. Can we follow these principles, eliminate barriers, and still not be a disciple-making, transformational ministry? Absolutely! Everything depends on how transformed and mission-oriented our hearts are. But, you can bet that life will not flow into a dead organization unless we do follow time-tested principles that remove the obstacles to transformational ministry. We can’t just talk about it; we’ve got to do something about it under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Use the chart below to evaluate your small group ministry:



 

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Phil Stone is the State Sunday School Director for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

Train your Replacement

This is 30 of 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School.


I remember my first meeting with the Sunday School Director at my new church. He said, “We know we need to start new classes, but we are facing the age-old question: where do you get the leaders?” I responded, “There is a reason it is the age-old question, no one has answered it, and I don’t have an answer either.” He stared at me, shaking his head with disappointment. “However, the Bible never asks that question,” I said. “The Bible is filled with examples of leaders training new leaders.” The question is, “Are your leaders developing new leaders?”

The Bible gives numerous examples of training your replacement: Elijah and Elisha, Jesus with the disciples, Paul and Timothy, and Timothy with faithful men. Training leaders capable of taking the reins of ministry should be a focal point of leaders according to Ephesians 4. Each of these Biblical leaders gives us some insight in training a replacement; prayerful enlistment, personal preparation, participatory development, and a plan for multiplication.

Elijah – How do I know who I should enlist?
There are several unforgettable scenes in the life of Elijah such as the fire of God falling at Mount Carmel and Elijah’s whirlwind ride to heaven. Another unforgettable scene took place at Horeb where Elijah felt he was the only leader left. Perhaps this is the Old Testament rendition of ‘where do you get the leaders’ as Elijah believed he was the last in his line of prophets. God sent a strong wind, a powerful earthquake, and a blistering fire, but He was not found by Elijah in any of the three elements. Then there was a gentle whisper, and Elijah heard the voice of God. God assured Elijah that he was not alone and sent him to anoint Elisha as a prophet to take his place. God still provides us with an Elisha if we will listen to his voice. Your Elisha may not be a likely candidate, but through prayer, God will reveal His choice servant to you.

Jesus – How do I train them?
Reading through the Gospel of Luke is an excellent way to discover a model of leadership and multiplication. Real leaders must go through a time of personal, spiritual preparation where they are securely rooted in the Word of God. In Luke 4, Jesus demonstrated this personal preparation as he overcame life’s greatest temptations through the Word. Reading further in Luke, one can see how such preparation is necessary when calling others to follow your example to become ‘fishers of men.’
In Luke 9, Jesus gives an example of participatory development. He had called the disciples alongside so that they could participate in the mission. As chapter 9 unfolds, one can see how this participatory development moves to a new level as he sends the disciples out on a ‘field test.’ He sent them out empowered, equipped, and educated for what would take place. In training a replacement, one should call the apprentice alongside and then give him or her opportunities for a ‘field test’ of what has been learned. Empower, equip, and educate your apprentice for what lies ahead.

Paul – How should I release them to serve?
Paul gives leaders some tips of how to release new leaders into service. Learn to celebrate the accomplishments and value of the apprentice. Paul, in Philippians 2:20 – 22 (NAS), said Timothy was like “no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare” and celebrated his “proven worth” in sharing the Gospel. Celebrate the value of the new leaders and release them with a plan for multiplication as Paul did with Timothy. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, encouraged his prized pupil to take those things that he had learned and pass them on to “faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2 NAS). Train your replacement and send him or her out with a plan to multiply.

_____________________________
Daniel Edmonds, State Missionary, Director of the Office of Sunday School & Discipleship, Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions

Enlist and Equip Leaders

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

 

ENLARGE THE ORGANIZATION

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.