Outreach/Evangelism :: Sunday School Leaders

Jan

Outreach: Just Do It!

By Marie Clark · Comments (0)

When it comes to outreach, the advertising slogan, “Just Do It” comes to my mind. Consider these principles and ideas for outreach. Identifying potential class members and securing contact information is essential. But unless you actually do some kind of outreach, all you have is a list of names.

Plan for Outreach – Outreach will never happen consistently unless you lead your group to plan for it. Planning should include who, when and the specific outreach activity.
Variety is the Spice of Outreach – The who, when and what of outreach should rotate regularly to keep outreach fresh. Contacts made in person are most effective, but also learn to make good use of phone calls, e-mails, texting, mail, or even Facebook and Twitter. (See some suggestions below.)
Involve as Many Members as Possible – Harry Piland, a former Director of Sunday School for the Baptist Sunday School Board, stressed this approach by explaining, “Divide the work of a Sunday School class into do-able hunks, then
give each person one hunk.” There is no better area to apply this principle that in outreach.

Invite them to Bible Study – This is the simplest and most direct form of outreach. The ideas below can help you develop a relationship with potential members and make ongoing contacts that are “non-nagging.”

Vacation Bible School Follow-up – Always make a follow-up contact with boys and girls and their parents that are prospects who attended VBS. Idea: during VBS planning schedule a VBS outreach evening or Saturday morning the week after VBS. Go in teams of 2-3 to make a quick doorstep visit and leave a memento of VBS (a VBS Music for Kids CD or deliver a picture made during the week). Be sure to include information about your church and Sunday School.
Be Part of a Church-wide Community Event – Block party, Easter Egg Hunt, Parents Night Out, etc.
Time Change Reminder – Make quick phone calls, to both prospects and members, to remind them to change their clocks in the spring and fall. Leave a voice mail if no one answers, identifying yourself and your church.
Happy Birthday Wishes – If you have a birthdate, send a “Happy Birthday” card, text, or phone call.
Party Invitation – Invite the prospective member to your class social. Offer to pick them up or meet them at the event so you can go in together and introduce them to others.
Work Invitation – That’s right! Invite them to join your class in a work project, such as serving meals at a shelter or raking the yard of an elderly person. Many of today’s adults and teens are attracted to helping a worthy cause. While working, they also get to know others in the group and feel more comfortable with them.

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Marie Clark has served as team leader for the Bible Teaching & Discipling Team of the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists since 1996.

Categories : Flake's Formula, Outreach/Evangelism

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Jan

Everyone Needs a Class!

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)

Bad Lessons run off more people than good outreach programs can bring in. You will literally kill your church visiting if all you ever visit is Chronic Absentees. If you’re not enrolled in Sunday School, you ain’t got no class! Enrollment is the most important statistic in the church.

These were just a few of the snappy little sayings by Andy Anderson. Everyone needs a class, but If you’re not enrolled in Sunday School, you ain’t got no class! It is so powerful to hear someone share how a class of people ministered to them in their time of need and brought them to Jesus. In September of 2006, I arrived at my classroom to find a message from the pastor on the marker board: Pray for Beth Smith. I had no clue that Beth was sick. On Saturday, I had chaperoned the High School Band to a Band Contest and we returned at 2:00 in the morning. Both of Beth’s daughters were in the band. When they arrived home, Beth had responded to them. Beth’s husband, Chuck, was accompanying a terminally ill boy on a Elk hunt as a part of an organization like Make a Wish. The next morning Beth was very lethargic and was rushed to the hospital. The majority of the members of Sunday School class spent that day and Monday morning with Chuck, Jordan and Jessica at the hospital. Beth never came out of the diabetic coma that she was in and died on Monday afternoon. During the next few days, our class took the lead and ministered to the family and continued to do so to this day. That experience led me to the conclusion: That my desire is that every Tennessean would have a Sunday School class like mine to minister to them in a time of need.

Andy is shouting from the grave: If you’re not enrolled in Sunday School, you ain’t got no class! Sunday School leader do you understand the importance of enrolling people in Sunday School? In my opinion, every church member should be a member of a Sunday School class. After someone has been won the easiest and most efficient way to assimilate them is a Sunday School class. In fact, Thom Rainer’s, President of LifeWay Christian Resources, research indicates that if we get someone connected to a Sunday School class or small group that 85% of these people will still be connected to your church 5 years later, compared with only 15% of those who only attend worship. Join me in believing that every person needs a class.

As a young minister of education, Andy convinced me that enrollment is more important than baptisms, church membership, and attendance. He would declare, “Enrollment is the most important statistic in the church.” In fact, I agree with my friend Bob Mayfield who says, enrollment is the forgotten factor in evangelism today. Churches are dropping people from the rolls instead of adding people to the roll. When your enrollment increases, your attendance increases. When you enroll lost people, your baptisms increase. When your enrollment increases, your offerings increase. When your enrollment increases, your membership increases. A pastor from West TN recently took the Power Up Your Sunday School Challenge and his church enrolled 41 new members in 7 weeks and the attendance grew from 80 to 120.

Daniel Edmonds, the State Sunday School Director in Alabama, has a great definition for enrollment. He says that enrollment is a covenant making, attendance increasing, relationship building, evangelistic opportunity. Everyone needs a class that will enter a covenant to pray for them, to love them, to minister to them, to challenge them in their spiritual journey. But if they’re not enrolled in Sunday School, they ain’t got no class.
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Mark Miller, State Sunday School Director, Tennessee Baptist Convention

Categories : Flake's Formula, Ministry, Outreach/Evangelism, Prayer, Small Groups, Sunday School

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Jan

Are you having trouble relating to your neighbors?

By Tom Belew · Comments (0)

A Sunday School can easily lose its edge of effectiveness if it loses touch with the community it intends to reach. In the following paragraphs I will share a few things I have found helpful in knowing your community. They include:

Prayer Walking
Windshield Tours
Interviewing Community Leaders
Demographic Study

Prayer Walking – Today, many churches and classes have found it valuable to develop a strategy to prayer walk their community. Nothing substitutes for what leaders and members will notice in the neighborhood when they slowly move through it street by street. Over the years, I have discovered ministry opportunities in the form of poverty, children and apartments. Prayer walking provides focused prayer and surface ministry opportunities.

Windshield Tours – Early in my ministry, my wife and I did a lot of door-to-door surveying. Every effective effort began with mapping the area. The second step was to take the map and drive down all the streets counting the number of housing units. This process reveals traffic patterns, unnoticed housing, areas where children and senior’s live and opportunities for ministering. Your neighborhood will look different after a windshield tour.

Interviewing Community Leaders – Your church is not the only organization concerned about your community. To get the “under the hood” view of your community some interviews are in order. Set up interviews with school principals, the police department, the fire department, the mayor and a few other key community leaders. Ask these leaders about the major in your issues in our community, the needs of (children, youth, seniors), and where they could use some help.

Demographic Study – From my rich consulting experience, I have learned demographics can help a church get the big picture and see the potential. Here are some questions to guide your demographic study:

How many people live in the church area?
Is the population in the church area growing or declining? At what rate?
What is the ethnic diversity in the church area? Is there an ethnic group that warrants a new Sunday School, Bible study class or new work?
How much lifestyle diversity is in the church area?
What are the major generational groups in the area? Are the generational groups growing or declining?
How traditional are the family structures (two-parent families, blended families, single parent, single)?
How educated are the adults? Does this reveal ministry concerns or opportunities?
What is the blend of home owners, renters, and vacant properties? What are the ratios for housing structures (single family home, apartments, group quarters, etc.)? What does this tell you about your community?
How does the average household income and individual income affected ministry in your area?
What can be learned from information about occupations (professional, service industry, blue collar, academic)? What percent of women are in the work force?

Answering these questions can quickly surface people and places with potential for new Bible studies or Sunday School opportunities.

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Tom Belew has served as Small Groups and Childhood Specialist for the California Southern Baptist Convention since 2002. He previously served as Minister of Education in churches in Arizona and California.

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Flake's Formula, Ministry, Outreach/Evangelism, Sunday School

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Jan

Know the Possibilities

By Dwight Moss · Comments (0)

Exactly what Arthur Flake was getting at when he arrived at the first point of his “Formula” could be debated but the simple fact is that before we begin attempting to grow our Sunday Schools, we must understand what possibilities lie before us. I am not talking about what we, as leaders, in our own strength, can do either. I am referring to what God can and will do through us if we are surrendered to Him.

All five elements of Flake’s Formula stand on their own and they each provide strength to one another also. But as we look at each element, we have to remember that there are possibilities to look for and to plan for in every area of the formula-leader enlistment, training, meeting space demands, and evangelism.

Obviously, if we live in a metro area with thousands or hundreds of thousands of people within a few miles, the opportunities to reach more people is greater than if we are located in the middle of the mountains of Montana. So, one of the first things we have to look at is the possibilities of our prospect pool.

Secondly, whether we are in an area where the possibilities of numbers are great or small, we still always need to look at our leadership possibilities. Do we have people who can soon be put in leadership roles? Are they strong in their walk with the Lord? Are they on board with the overall philosophy of our church’s leadership? Have we looked “outside the box” for what space needs we might have as we grow? As we look at the possibility of an increase in attenders and leaders, are we considering the increase in budgetary needs in the area of curriculum costs? Also regarding finances, are we prepared to meet the needs of our children-toys, baby beds, snacks, craft materials, etc? Have we allowed for the training of our leaders and the possibilities of alternative methods?

One of the key elements of knowing the possibilities of your Sunday School is vision. What sort of vision do we, as a Sunday School leaders, have for our own Sunday School? It will never exceed our own vision for it. None of our leaders will see farther than we will. Have we let God’s Spirit seize our hearts for what He wants to do? Not every Sunday school will be a large Sunday School but every Sunday School can be a great Sunday School.

Finally, knowing the possibilities is not the end; acting upon the things God shows us is where not only the work begins but also is where the rewards begin. We need to begin by knowing and acting on the possibilities for our own specific Sunday Schools.

Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Flake's Formula, Organization, Outreach/Evangelism, Sunday School

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Dec

Take Advantage of Christmas for your Sunday School Class

By Mark Miller · Comments (0)

Every member and every prospective member in your group needs a little Christmas. Many classes and groups have or will engage in Christmas parties and projects during this season. Why? Because Everyone Needs a Little Christmas…Right this very minute…

On December 3, my Sunday School class of gathered for a great time of fellowship and fun. The class had encouraged everyone to bring gifts for the “Dirty Santa” exchange. People had signed up to bring food. The class was fully taking advantage of Christmas.

On the night of the party, my wife and I were absent. Yes, we missed the great food and the great fellowship and the fun. It wasn’t by choice…my mom was in critical condition in ICU. We needed a little Christmas too.

In the weeks following, many of the class members have sent e-mails, phone calls, and prayed for my mom and my family during this time. My experience this year, reminds me that taking advantage of Christmas is more than just having the parties and doing the service projects. Christmas is a great time to remember class members who might be struggling to have a little Christmas this year. Maybe, their daughter graduated from college, got married, and now lives in Indonesia . This will be the first Christmas without her. Maybe it is the loss of a loved one and this will be a difficult Christmas. Maybe the family has broken up and this is the first Christmas apart. Maybe it’s the first Christmas of a blended marriage between a great couple, but the kids are struggling because their mom or dad is no longer there.