Archive for Small Groups

Reaching Young Adults

I regularly hear church leaders say, “We need to reach young adults,” usually in a church that is struggling to reach and keep young adults. If this is your church, there is hope! Here are three suggestions for reaching young adults.

1. Listen

Listen to God. Why does he want to reach young adults? How has he led you to desire to reach them? How would he have you proceed?

Listen to church members. To whom else in your church might God be speaking about reaching young adults? What wisdom do others have on the subject? (Someone has probably “tried that before,” right?)

Listen to young adults. Build friendships and hear what they are saying about faith and church participation. Avoid the urge to tell them what they should be doing differently. Make sure you are not approaching young adults with a target mentality. Young adults are not a project or a goal to achieve, but individuals to be valued, heard, and loved.

2. Evaluate

What are the possibilities for your church? There certainly nothing wrong with dreaming big, but if there are few young adults in your community or few in your church today, then starting one group or hosting a meal with young adults may be a great start! Your local Baptist association or state convention may be able to provide a demographic study that will help you understand the possibilities, or you can look for yourself at the US Census data for county population characteristics here.

Evaluate the desire of your church’s leaders and members to (1) give up some comfort and control (favorite pew, decision-making, programming, finances, traditions), and (2) mentor and bless new young leaders. These two areas may reveal the biggest barriers to reaching young adults. If you reach young adults but are not ready to invite them into significant ministry and leadership roles, they are likely to go elsewhere.

3. Get to work

Based on 1 and 2 above, recognize that simply starting a young adult class/group or adapting worship style will not reach young adults. Spiritual, relational, and organizational effort is needed.

Spiritual – Invite existing adult groups to pray regularly for young adults as well as you or others who are leading your church’s efforts to reach them. Pray for opportunities to meet needs and share the gospel.

Relational – Weddings, births, kids’ sports, Vacation Bible School, fall festivals, and other events provide natural points of connection with young adults. Be intentional in using these opportunities to begin new friendships. Invite two or three young adults to meet you for breakfast to discuss plans for starting a young adult Bible study. Ask other church members to make a point of getting to know young adult neighbors.

Organizational – Start a new Sunday School class or small group when a core group of young adults are ready to begin. In the meantime, develop one to four young adults through a personal discipleship group or less formal get-togethers. As you reach young adults, invite them to serve in the church. Young adult guests who see young adult greeters, ushers, committee members, and ministry leaders are more likely to believe your church has a place for them, too.

David Adams

Director of Discipleship

Texas Baptists

Five Ways to Engage Children in Sunday School

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”  Benjamin Franklin

Research suggests that eighty-seven percent of all learners learn through kinesthetic activities. [1] Children are no exception and thrive on opportunities provided through experiential learning and hands-on activities. With this in mind, classrooms need to be a reflection of how children learn best. Below are five practical ways in which you can actively engage children in your Sunday school classroom:

#1:  Provide an Interactive Environment.  Children learn best when they are involved in the process of learning. Optimal learning can be facilitated by engaging children and encouraging them to be active in the classroom, not merely spectators. Some tangible ways in which we engage students include:  collaborating with other children, problem solving, manipulating objects, and by exercising independence.  Active learning not only increases a child’s performance in the classroom but also helps with the retention of knowledge.

#2:  Plan Ahead with Classroom Preparation.  Bill Emeott states, “The best session is a planned session.”[2] Providing an active learning environment will take time, careful planning and intentionality. Be creative in your ideas and be flexible with the learning process.  For instance, allow children an opportunity to problem solve together, let them move about freely using objects to build, or encourage them to tell the teaching story in their own words. Developmentally appropriate practices will help you determine what is age appropriate and feasible for each child.  Never challenge a child beyond their capability, but lead them towards success.

#3:  Relationships Matter.  An effort must be made to know the children you work with and to understand their unique learning styles. Each child is different and they learn in different ways.  Understanding what communicates best to the children you serve will make the learning experience both meaningful and memorable. A teacher is an observer, an active supporter and actively engages children in conversation.  According to Erika Christakis from The Atlantic, “Conversation is gold.  It’s the most efficient early-learning system we have.”[3]

#4:  Commit to Long-Term Benefits. Children will not comprehend everything you teach immediately. It takes time for information to be processed and each spiritual truth you share will be reinforced by teachings they will receive as they grow older. Be committed for the long-term, knowing that you are an integral part of this process. Making the learning process memorable and interactive will enable a child to recall those moments as they grow older and the teachings are reinforced.

#5:  Repetition Is Vital. Children enjoy and need repetition. Allow children the opportunity to tell and retell the story in their own way. Have them recite a verse or an important concept over and over again.  Make it fun and exciting.


[1].  Donna Walker Tileston, “What Every Teacher Should Know about Learning, Memory, and the Brain” (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2004).

[2].  Lifeway Church Resources, Wholly Kids:  Guiding Kids to Life in Christ, (Nashville: Lifeway Ministry Publishing, 2015), 121.

[3].  Erika Christakis, “The New Preschool is Crushing Kids:  Today’s Young Children are Working More, But They’re Learning Less.”  Last modified (January/February 2016).  Accessed on December 3, 2021.  https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/01/the-new-preschool-is-crushing-kids/419139/

Jennifer Howington  is the Childhood Ministry Specialist for Texas Baptists

Developing Apprentice Teachers

“How could I be so stupid?”  Maybe you’ve never asked yourself this question.  But I have—lots of times.  I’ll never forget the day that my perspective on Sunday School teaching changed forever.  I had always been a good Sunday School teacher.  I had shepherded my students.  I had tried to ground them in the key doctrines of Scripture.  I had tried to encourage them to live for Jesus, in church and out of church.  But I had failed to develop apprentice teachers.  I had sought to gather students in my classroom, rather than equip students to minister in other classrooms. 

I was attending a LifeWay Sunday School training, when 2 Timothy 2:2 gripped my soul.  “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”  The verse became my life verse.  I determined that I would no longer evaluate myself based on the size of my class.  I would evaluate myself based on the Christian leaders, especially the Christian teachers, who came out of my class. 

We tend to grieve over the loss of students, even the students who leave our class to teach other classes.  In some ways, that’s understandable.  The world judges us by the number of students who sit in our classroom.  But Christ judges us based on our impact on his kingdom.  We should always be looking for that student who has the potential to teach.  We should be seeking to multiply our ministry, as the Apostle Paul did, through the lives of others.

Prepared by Dr. Fred Creason

Leadership Strategist, Wyoming Southern Baptists   

Connect through others: Share with your one

Is your church eating itself?

Author and management consultant Peter Drucker once said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

As a pastor, you experience it when you step on the platform and attempt to motivate your congregation. You see heads nod in agreement and even hear a few say “Amen!” But then enthusiasm fizzles out in a short time.

“Who’s your One?” may be the most significant initiative Southern Baptists have ever undertaken. What would it look like if you utilized a strategy that got your groups on and off campus involved in “Who’s your One?” as a group strategy?

Mark Clifton of the North American Mission Board says, “If you want your church to become a congregation that makes disciples that make disciples, you have to get your people into discipling relationships with one another.”

It’s more efficient and effective to teach evangelistic tools like the “3 Circles” in a group setting. It’s even more important to teach not only what the gospel is but what the gospel does. The gospel restores our relationship with God, our relationships with others and our relationship to ourselves. Relationships are important — not only to those inside the church but to those outside as well.

Groups decentralize your church. In group life people are more focused on “being” the church in everyday life rather than “doing” church. People outside of the church are not looking for religion. They are looking for relationships.

In an article for Lifeway’s Facts & Trends, Alex Himaya wrote:

“Starting with love and relationship rather than religion doesn’t change my beliefs; it changes how I communicate my beliefs. Everyday I’m trying to mimic the same manner that Jesus used when he talked to people. When he encountered the woman at the well (John 4) he didn’t start with her multiple marriages and adulterous lifestyle. He started with a simple request that began a relationship, ‘Can I have a drink of water?’

Why is this important? The Bible says so.

Scripture teaches us to be disciples and to live and share the gospel. A new strategy is to use your groups to create action for “Who’s Your One?” initiative in your church. Here are a few ideas:

  • Train your group leaders and teachers in the “3 Circles.” Teach them what the gospel is and what it does.
  • Have every member of your group identify one person they know. Encourage them to love and build an authentic relationship with that person.
  • Invite those individuals to the group and group functions so they can experience relationships instead of religion.
  • Have gospel conversations with the new people you have established trust with.
  • Fight for them and not against them.

John O’Brien, co-author of The Power of Purpose offers an additional insight into Drucker’s famous quote about culture eating strategy for breakfast. O’Brien writes, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast, but culture gets its appetite from purpose.”

Going beyond an understanding of what the gospel is to what the gospel does will significantly impact your congregation and those with whom they share the gospel.

Connect through Groups 3

As a Sunday School teacher or a small group Bible study leader you need to know the members of your group.  You should be praying for them every week and praying for them by name and specifically praying to the needs in their life.

If you can’t identify the information below about everyone in your group it could be that your group is too large and it’s time to start another group.  Or you need to do a better job of getting connected to those in your group.

What is it that you need to know in order to really connect with those in your group?  You need to know the following …

  • Their name. We need to call people by name even at church.  We need to use their names when we pray out loud in your class/group.
  • Family members. If you are going to connect then you better know those who live with them.  Who is in their household.
  • Their joys. What do they love to do when they have a day off or where do they go on vacation?  What are their hobbies and interest?  Know those things and help connect them with those in the group that have similar interest.
  • Their hurts. All of us have something that has our attention.  Pray for them and help them with their hurt.

If you don’t know these things about people it is doubtful that you will fully connect with them.  But in order to know these things about others you first must be willing to let these things be known about you!

Dr. Smith is the lead state missionary with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and serves the Sunday School, Small Groups, Discipleship and Faith Development Specialist.  Visit their website at gabaptist.org/groups/ for more information and other resources to aid your Sunday School or Small Group.  Dr. Smith is available for conferences or other speaking opportunities and can be contacted at tsmith@gabaptist.org.