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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?
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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

The Role of Sunday School & the Impact on Family

By Chris Shirley · Comments (0)

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

In the LifeWay training guide, Missionary Sunday School, David Francis referred to a 1888 speech by Henry Clay Trumbull to emphasize that what goes around, comes around. In an address at Yale University Divinity School, Trumbull argued that “’family education’ was indeed stronger where Sunday Schools operated effectively.” To prove his point, Trumbull cited surveys indicating that “students entering university from upper-class families who did not ‘send their kids to Sunday School’ were far less biblically literate… than students from less fortunate families who attended Sunday School.” The implication is that Sunday School was an important and essential partner in family discipleship in the 19^th century, and it remains so today.

The role of Sunday School and its impact on the family is much debated in the halls of church leadership today. On one end of the spectrum are those who would abolish Sunday School and placed the entire responsibility for spiritual training in the hands of the parents; on the other end are those who contend that children are better trained in a church-based program. Most leaders find themselves somewhere between the two points, trying to figure out how to leverage the best of what we do in Sunday School to support the efforts of parents to be the spiritual leaders God has called them to be.

Can I propose that one of the best strategies for training parents is adult Sunday School? If we intend to prepare the next generation of children to follow Christ faithfully and advance the Kingdom forcefully, they will need parents who are being well trained for this awesome responsibility. The effective adult Sunday School class is a place where parents can learn and respond to the word of God in a systematic and consistent process, develop a network of strong and supportive relationships to encourage them during the victories and the difficult times, and reach other parents with a gospel message that will impact their children as well.

Let’s examine each of these benefits:

Learning and Responding to the Word of God: In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, the Lord issues His first command to the children of Israel; He called them to love Him completely and to teach their children to do the same. This process would entail learning and responding (obeying) to His commands and then teaching these commands to the next generation. An effective Sunday School offers adults the opportunity to come together once a week for the purpose of intentional and interactive Bible study. The disciple-making process that starts in Sunday School should extend into the home. Parents who are solidly equipped in the Word will be more confident and capable of leading their children to love the Lord and respond to His love by obeying His commands.

Developing a Network of Strong and Supportive Relationships:
The importance of the relational component of Sunday School cannot be understated. Parents are faced with a monumental task as they bring children into the world and seek to raise healthy, well-adjusted sons and daughters. The Christian parent is even more challenged: to lead their children to faith in Jesus Christ and disciple them to become devoted followers of the Lord. These tasks cannot be accomplished in isolation; parents need the help and support of other parents.

To this end, the adult Sunday School serves as a weekly connection point for parents. A Sunday School class can become a “band of brothers (and sisters)” who care for one another, minister to each other, and provide mutual support during the good times and the bad. As minister of education at Wedgwood Baptist in Fort Worth, I saw this benefit in action. A few years ago, we started a “youth parents” class that was specifically designed for parents of teenagers who needed the encouragement and support of others like themselves. Some of these parents were going through difficult situations with their teenagers, and they knew of other parents in the community who could also benefit from a class like this. This group became a “safe harbor” for parents who needed the comfort, encouragement, and friendship of those who were making the same journey.

Reaching Other Parents with the Gospel: Children can learn how to lead a missional life by watching the example of their parents. Parents who take seriously their part in the Great Commission are powerful role models for their children. If adults are consistently and naturally sharing the gospel, their children are going to be more likely to do the same. The adult Sunday School class not only serve as a center for evangelistic training, but it can also be a “sending agency” as well. When adults commit to a missionary mindset in Sunday School, they will be witnessing in the harvest field during the week and inviting other parents to be a part of their Sunday School ministry. When mothers and fathers are won to Christ, their transformation will influence their children and extended family as well.

Age-segregated Sunday School has developed a bad reputation among family ministry proponents, and rightly so if segregation is leading parents to abdicate their God-given responsibility for spiritual leadership. Adult Sunday School is not, and should not be, a place to escape parental responsibility. Rather, it should be the parent’s best resource for developing disciples in life and disciple-makers at home.

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Chris Shirley serves as Assistant Professor of Adult Ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served at Minister of Education at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas from 1997-2007

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

Transforming Lives Through Sunday School

By Darryl Wilson · Comments (0)

Friday, August 3rd, 2012

Transformation for the Christian is less about what we are being “changed from” and more about what we are being “changed to.” The change can be dramatic making comparison natural, but the focus is not on the past or even the future. Rather the focus is on a Person, Jesus Christ.

Transformation is less a specific moment in time and more a process over time. Consider simply two verses:

Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2, HCSB)–note that “renewing” is an ongoing action

…now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12b)

Sunday School classes walk alongside believers in that process. Teachers and class members become cheerleaders and encouragers. They challenge each other toward keeping commitments and toward obedience to God’s Word. They affirm progress and adjustment to thinking, plans, and action where needed.

What evidences can be seen that transformation is taking place in the lives of attenders? Consider the following:

accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord
hunger for God’s presence through prayer and Bible reading
faithfulness in group and worship attendance
concern about others
testimony about how God is at work around and/or in the attender
a need to share an insight about God’s Word
change in priorities and behaviors
change in language and thinking
concern for other believers and for those who are lost
willingness to serve in or through the class and church
witnessing to people in the attender’s world
increased tithing and giving
ministering to others, locally or globally
and much more.

How does this transformation take place in and through a Sunday School class? Consider these ideas and practices during the coming months:

Prayer. Seek God’s leadership here. Pray for the specific sheep in your care. Ask for help in preparing and presenting the truths of God’s Word in ways that will impact their lives.
Transform. Think transform, not teach. Think life-change, not knowledge. Think disciple, not learner. Plan lessons, application, and activities that will move attenders one more step toward being like Jesus.
Expand. There are 168 hours each week for transformation to take place. Not all efforts have to occur in one hour on Sunday morning.
Encourage. Set up time and methods for encouragement and accountability. Ask for testimonies and reports. Assign prayer and accountability partners. Catch people doing something good and affirm them.
Reflect. Take time each year (and throughout the year) for class members to set goals and make plans for transformation into the likeness of Jesus. Stop periodically to allow members to evaluate and adjust their plans.
Plan. Take time as a class or class leadership team to consider what class plans could accelerate the growth and transformation of attenders. Would an emphasis on spiritual disciplines help? Are mission trips/activities needed? Is a special study needed? Where are attenders struggling and in need of assistance?
Goals. Set goals as a class related to transformation. How many people do you want serving in the class and/or in the church? How many do you want to witness or make contacts? How many do you want going on a mission trip or ministry project? Goals can be motivational.
Measure. Measure your progress toward goals. Measure faithfulness in attendance. Measure each of the categories listed above. Even when concrete numbers are unavailable, make estimates in areas you consider important. Work to be able to measure these areas in some way.

What would you add to this list? Stop teaching, and start making disciples. Stop delivering content, and start changing lives. Pause to see the results. Adjust your plans were needed. Never, never give up. Lives are at stake–not only those now in your care, but those they will impact as well! Transform lives though your class this year!

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Darryl Wilson serves as the Sunday School & Discipleship Consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He served as Minister of Education in five churches in Kentucky and South Carolina. He is the author of The Sunday School Revolutionary!, a blog about life-changing Sunday School and small groups.

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Categories : 31 Days of Missionary Sunday School, Sunday School, Teaching, Transformation

Why Changing Curriculum Won’t Improve Your Sunday School

By David Bond · Comments (0)

Monday, July 16th, 2012

This post is one of a two part blog post. Look for the second post July 17, 2012.

In college, a buddy and I decided that we should take up golf. So, I bought a well-used partial set of clubs from someone who already had the good sense to quit the game, supplemented them with sticks from the bargain barrel at a local golf store, and went to the course. Soon, my friend and I were addicts who couldn’t wait until the next opportunity to get in a round. I wasn’t a good player, but that didn’t stop me from giving it my best shot week after week.

After a year or so, I came to the conclusion that the reason for my struggles on the course was that I was playing with inferior equipment. I convinced myself that with a shiny set of pro-line golf clubs, my game would improve overnight. With new clubs, I believed my slices and shanks would give way to fairways and falling scores.

Unfortunately, only a few outings with the new equipment revealed that my ability to play bad golf was not limited by name brand or club design. In order to see significant improvement, what I really needed was not new equipment but new skills. In the hands of an untrained player, the equipment makes little difference.

Curriculum choices for Sunday School are as plentiful as brands of golf equipment. One temptation for churches looking for a way to improve their efforts in Sunday School is to change over to a new study line, believing that the problems of declining attendance, ineffective teaching, unchanged lives, and stagnant class rolls must be due to the teaching materials used from week to week. However, simply changing the curriculum used in Sunday School will rarely result in significant change because of these factors:

Curriculum changes do not equal increase in teacher skill. Certainly many curriculum lines strive to include better teacher helps, learner guides, lesson plans, and other supplements. However, most also admit that they provide much more material than is intended to be used in a single class session. Teachers need training on how to pull from the material provided and assemble lessons that are faithful to the Scripture, applicable to their context, and designed for participation that leads to life change.
Curriculum changes do not substitute for creating ministry systems that that are essential to fulfilling the other functions of the Sunday School. For example, changing curriculum will not address ways that classes can do a better job of meeting member needs, noticing and contacting absentees, and participating in outreach/evangelism.
Curriculum changes do not by themselves help churches see the bigger picture of Sunday School as a strategy rather than as a program. In fact, promoting a curriculum change as the cure-all answer may give the impression that Bible study is the sole function of Sunday School. To be sure, Bible study is a central function, but certainly not an isolated one when Sunday School is viewed as a key strategy for ministry care, service, and evangelism.

So is it wrong to change curriculum in Sunday School? Of course not! In fact, in some instances changing curriculum might be exactly what is needed. In my next post, I’ll share my thoughts on why I believe this is also true.

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David Bond serves as Adult Sunday School Strategist for the Evangelism and Church Growth Team of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention.

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Categories : Learning, Ministry, Sunday School, Teaching, Transformation

What Is Your Sunday School Lesson Destination?

By Darryl Wilson · Comments (0)

Monday, June 11th, 2012

Why are you teaching your class? I hope it is more than pressure to serve or flattery at being enlisted. I hope it is more than filling a position that no one else would take. I pray you are serving because of God’s call.

But the question I am asking might be better expressed this way: What are you teaching your class to do? To word it as Paul did in Ephesians 4, how are you equipping the saints for works of service? What are your expectations about your attenders at the conclusion of your service as teacher? How do you expect them to have changed? What do you expect them to be doing?

If you have no destination, you will wander aimlessly. Without a teaching target, you will be less likely to lead the people in your class to grow as disciples. In preparing each lesson, ask yourself how your class will be better able to serve, share, obey, walk, and live as His disciples.

For instance, what if you focused on teaching them to discover their gifts, abilities, personalities, and passions and find a place of service in the church and community? You have a target. Your lesson(s) will naturally help you to lead them to hear and respond to God’s Word about serving. You might set a date for sharing about how everyone is serving.

If you focused on leading the class to share Jesus with others, this destination will guide the lesson journey through passage and truth examination and application. This might include a challenge for members to pray, write, call, and visit someone to share Jesus. This might include writing a testimony, sharing it in pairs in class, and then sharing it with a family member as practice before prayerfully seeking an opportunity to share it with a lost or unchurched person.

Your destination changes the lesson preparation, delivery, and results. A destination lends itself toward intentional follow up. A destination clearly communicates that Sunday School and the Gospel are much more than Sunday morning. It raises expectations.

Where is your lesson headed? Think about that the next time you begin prayerful preparation. Listen to God in your personal encounter in His Word and prayer. Then allow Him to lead you to the spot where the lesson needs to head with the sheep in your care. Then plan lesson steps to carry out the plan. Watch what happens in their lives when the destination leads them to take steps they were not taking before!

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Darryl Wilson serves as the Sunday School & Discipleship Consultant for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. He served as Minister of Education in five churches in Kentucky and South Carolina. He is also the author of The Sunday School Revolutionary!, a blog about life-changing Sunday School and small groups.

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Categories : Sunday School, Teaching, Transformation