Archive for Sunday School leadership

Live to Lead

By Dwayne Lee · Comments (0)
Tuesday, July 5th, 2016

Leadership Road Sign with dramatic clouds and sky.

I stood in front of a group of Sunday school leaders the other day and ask them the question, “When you think about leaders who influenced your life who comes to mind?” One by one they began calling off names that readily came to mind. Then I ask another question, “If I were to ask your Sunday school class the same question, would your name be one they would mention?” That question silenced the room! I then ask one more question, “Do you consider yourself a leader?”

You understand that without leaders you have no leadership. Leaders influence people to cooperate toward on the same goal, which they come to find desirable. Leaders have two important characteristics: they are going somewhere; and they are able to influence others to go with them.  You may remember this Chinese proverb that says, “He who thinks he leads when no one is following is just taking a walk.”

We know that leadership comes in various forms and styles and not everyone leads the same; however, those who lead exhibit leadership traits that set them apart from the rest of the group. You are a leader start acting like one. Learn from those God has placed in your life. Glean from the things they are doing right and even from the things they have done wrong. Leaders learn from their mistakes and grow in the midst of their circumstances. Take it all in, learn from it all and come out the other side a better leader, a better follower of Christ, and a better disciple.

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Dwayne Lee is a specialist for the Bible Teaching/Leadership Resource Group of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio

 

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Categories : Leadership
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Sunday School And Vibrant Leadership

By Dwayne Lee · Comments (0)
Wednesday, August 19th, 2015

MirrorWhen you think about vibrant leadership what image comes to mind? A military figure, sports personality, Hollywood star, government official? How about a hero of the faith, lead pastor or worship leader? Here’s a question…What about you? Do you consider yourself a leader? A vibrant leader? Let’s be clear, I am not talking about charisma, but I am talking about someone who knows where they are going and has the ability to persuade others to come along.

As the book “Countdown” alludes to the seven elements of Transformational Church, Vibrant Leadership is one of those qualities that rose to the top of all the churches surveyed. Each leader saw themselves as someone who knew where they were going but had the capacity to lead from a servant hood perspective. These were leaders who loved sharing Jesus, equipping disciples, getting the church to model Christ and ministering to the community.

So, what does that look like for a Sunday School Leader? To be quite honest…it should look the same! You lead from a humble spirit and yet at the same time you are confident in what you are doing. The class you have been given stewardship over is your class, to lead, serve, care for, minister too, disciple, and send out.

The only way you are going to have an effective Sunday School is if you are an effective leader…a vibrant leader. Remember this, models and administrative structure may change but there are two key principles that should never change under your leadership:

  1. Open groups practice open enrollment.
  2. Open groups expect NEW people every week.

I can hear it now…you are saying to yourself, “We are an open group”. Here is a quick test. Ask yourself and your class, “When was the last time you invited someone to your class?” Remember, not to your church, but to your class. Then ask, “when was the last time we actually expected a guest?”

I cannot stress enough that the class will take on the personality of its leader! Remember you have heard it said, “everything rises and falls on leadership.” The same is true for your class, they are going to follow your lead.

A vibrant leader is not afraid to make mistakes.  They are not afraid to lead. Work hard at keeping your class an open group. Make it an exciting place for newcomers and regulars members. Be willing to share and send out members from your class to help in other areas. Find an apprentice to invest time and energy into.  Always keep this idea of starting new groups in front of your group, and let your class be the first to do it!

Be a vibrant leader!

 

Dwayne Lee is the associate team leadership to the Bible Teaching/Leadership Resource Group of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio.

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Categories : 31 Day Countdown, Sunday School
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Essentials for a Healthy Sunday School

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (1)
Saturday, July 10th, 2010

What are some practical applications to help your group be more evangelistic? Here are some basic essentials from my point of view that may be helpful…

1. Quality Leadership. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins uses the image of a bus to illustrate how effective corporations get the right people on the bus, and in the right seats. While the church is not a business (non-profit right), there is a good principle to learn here that Rainer’s research discovered. Evangelistic churches put their best leaders into the Sunday School leadership. If you truly believe that the Sunday School is the church organized to accomplish its mission, then doesn’t it make sense to put the best leaders in the Sunday School? But these churches went beyond leadership placement! They also had leadership training!

  • Training is focused on quality;
  • Training is periodic and intensive;
  • Training honors time and resources.

If you are a teacher, agreeing to be a teacher was just the initial step. You also need training. Nobody knows everything about Sunday School. If your church does not provide training for its leaders, ask them to help out and provide it. We are offering training that you can download off the internet that is qualitative and resourceful. Check out One Day and put some of this training to use. Best, it’s FREE!

2. Responsibility. Let’s face it, as a Sunday School teacher you have more responsibility than most other church members. Read James 3:1 just to refresh your memory. A major part of your responsibility is to care for the people in your class, and the surrounding network of friendships spinning out of of your class. I used to require my leaders to fill in those organization charts. Although I am still a fan of this style of organization, I encourage you as a teacher to use a system that works for you and your group. The bottom line is that every member in your group needs consistent contact and ministry.

3. Organizational Quality. Healthy Sunday Schools are not slip-shod organizations. There are quality controls. One of my Sunday School mentors has been Bill Taylor. Bill told me once that “what gets inspected gets done”. He is right. As a Sunday School teacher, you need to be open and accountable to your pastor, Sunday School director, and your education minister if you have one. Teachers who become protective of their class and refuse to be accountable to their leaders are, well can I just say this… you are being rebellious! Your class will learn to be rebellious through your leadership. Submit yourself to your church leadership.

4. Evangelistic Intensity. Sunday School classes do not become evangelistic by accident. In fact, of all the things a class does, being evangelistic seems to be the most difficult. We human beings just have a tendency to turn inward. Inwardly focused classes are not evangelistic! One of your primary goals as a teacher is to lead your group to be evangelistic and fight the natural tendency of a class to become introspective.

Some practical suggestions to help your class be evangelistic:

  • Pastors – start small. Focus your efforts on helping one class become evangelistic and let success build success!
  • Teach your class a gospel presentation at least twice a year. Use One Verse Method or the Roman Road;
  • Have a class evangelistic prayer list;
  • Involve your group in evangelistic opportunities that your church provides;
  • Memorize verses about evangelism. They should roll off the tip of your tongue upon request;
  • Take one or two class members with you on evangelistic visits;
  • Be an evangelist yourself. It encourages others when they know their leader practices what he/she teaches.

Leave some questions or comments about your experiences with healthy, evangelistic Sunday Schools.

Bob is the Sunday School and small group specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.  Bob has also served the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention and he has been minister of education at First Baptist Church, Chandler, AZ and Indiana Avenue Baptist Church in Lubbock, TX

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Categories : Bible Study, Outreach/Evangelism
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