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Basic Classroom Space Principles

By Tom Belew · Comments (0)

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

The kind and quality of space for a class or department has a significant impact on overall success of the class. At a minimum space should be clean, attractive and large enough for the current attendance plus a few guests. Age-appropriate furniture and equipment should be in the room depending on the classes or departments using the space. The following chart provides some basic guidelines for the amount of space needed per person by groups:

Access to space is another important concern. Parents with preschoolers and older adult need the space to be convenient to parking, with ground level access.

Adult and student rooms are best painted in soft, neutral colors with a color accent wall or trim. Carpet is the preferred floor covering. The room needs a focal wall with a whiteboard or chalkboard, as well as, chairs for participants and table(s) if there is adequate space. The focal wall needs open space for posters. There should be a cabinet or open shelf for basic supplies. It is a good idea to have a few extra Bibles in the room.

Preschool and children’s rooms are best painted in soft, neutral colors with a color accent wall or trim. The furniture should be age-appropriate. There should be a focal wall or bulletin board for displays with the exception of younger preschoolers. Preschool rooms are set up by activity areas with the exception of babies and 1’s. Preschool rooms need a water source and restroom in the room or nearby. The preferred floor covering is carpet with the exception of vinyl floors for babies-1’s.

Caring for preschoolers includes providing a clean environment where the child can explore, create, learn and play. That means toys, teaching materials, equipment, walls and floors need to be clean and ready for the child. It is important to be aware of cleaning procedures and hygiene practices to ensure a safe and clean environment for the child. For recommended hygiene practices visit http://www.lifeway.com/Article/childhood-ministry-basics.

In conclusion, I want to share some common shortfalls I find when consulting with churches. Entrances and doors are not clearly marked. Today, it is highly important to have a visible registration/check-in process for preschoolers. Preschool rooms often have too many and inappropriate toys (they can produce

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a safety hazard or might be unrelated to teaching). It is common to find outdated displays and posters on walls and bulletin boards. I find furniture with sharp edges or broken tables and chairs still in use. Often, I find rooms filled with lots of equipment and other items unrelated to its use(s). Learn to think like a guest; look around your room to see if anything would catch a guest’s attention. When we are expecting guests at home we clean house. Why don’t we do that at church? Maybe we are not expecting guests?
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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.

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Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Organization, Space, Space and Facilities, Sunday School

Space for the Kids

By Richard Nations · Comments (1)

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

The most important areas in a church building are the Sunday School rooms for the preschoolers and children. Some might want to argue that point, but it’s important that the kids ministry area be top quality.

This is the area of the church that should be well-equipped and should “shine” as you enter the area. When young families with children come to the church for the first time, they are evaluating the preschool and children space as they drop their children off for Sunday School and for preschool care during worship times.

Unfortunately some churches allow these areas to become cluttered, outdated and are placed in less than convenient areas of the church educational facilities. Don’t let that happen. Lead your Sunday School ministry to make preschool and children’s space a priority instead of an add-on.

There are several reasons for doing so. Here’s a list of a few:

Preschoolers and children need more space than youth and adults (it is recommended that preschool rooms have 35 square feet per child and children’s rooms have 25 square feet per child). This may seem like a lot, but preschoolers need room crawl and toddle around. Children are active and need some space to move and do activities during Sunday School teaching times.
Parents are taking note. If it’s not clean or updated, they probably won’t feel comfortable leaving their children in that room. Make sure the floor coverings are clean and modern. Have bright lighting and colorful painted and decorated walls. Check the safety of the furnishings and equipment. In recent years there have been new federal safety guidelines issued for baby cribs so make sure the cribs meet these standards.
If the preschool and children’s areas are in an inconvenient place or not near the worship center, consider doing a swap with other age groups. With the exception of the senior adult classes (which should also be on a main level near the worship center) you could possibly arrange for adults or youth to be further away or on other levels of the facility. Parents want their children fairly close by and they like the ease of dropping off children soon after they enter the building, so try to have preschool/children rooms in convenient areas.
It’s about the kids! When Sunday School ministry started in the late 1700’s in England, it was a ministry for children. Don’t forget the kids. When children come to Sunday School, it is often an easy step or two to also reach their parents.

If you need to review the safety and security of your kids ministry facilities, here’s a link to a document you can download.

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Richard Nations is the Church Health Team Leader at the Baptist Convention of Iowa. Reach him at rnations@bciowa.org.

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Categories : 5 Weeks of Flake, Flake's Formula, Organization, Space and Facilities

Provide Space and Equipment for Sunday School Growth

By Darryl Wilson · Comments (1)

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

This month, we have been sharing five areas of Sunday School growth that have become 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. In today’s post, we will examine how important it is to “provide space and equipment” in order to allow Sunday School growth to take place. Consider these ways and reasons to provide space and equipment:

ENOUGH ROOMS. In Is the Size of Your Sunday School POT Keeping You Small, Part 1 and Is the Size of Your Sunday School POT Keeping You Small, Part 2, I shared this idea from Ken Hemphill in The Bonsai Theory of Church Growth: “You must keep the pot small to keep a bonsai small, and in a similar way many churches keep the church and Sunday School small because they keep the facilities small.” In order for your Sunday School to grow, you must have space available in which to start new classes. This can include using the space more than once and even using off-site space.
ENOUGH SPACE. Adults and teens need about 12-15 square foot per person. Children need 25 square foot. Preschoolers (due to activity level) need 35 square foot. When attendance approaches 80% of capacity of the room, growth will slow or stop. Moving classes to rooms of appropriate size to allow for growth is essential. Also, when a class reaches or exceeds the space’s capacity, it is time to start a new class.
ADEQUATE SPACE. There are many issues to consider in making sure that the space you provide for classes is adequate, such as appearance, location, usefulness, safety, cleanliness, noise, and more. Check out Conduct an Adult & Student Sunday School Space Walk for a set of questions from which you can evaluate your adult and youth space. When possible, locate preschool and senior adult space close to worship space.
ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT. What is needed by each age group is appropriately different. Certainly chairs and tables (if needed) should be of the right size for the assigned age group(s). It is important to provide the equipment and furnishings needed while taking into account the space available and potential attendance. As attendance begins to approach 80% of capacity, as much equipment and furnishings as possible should be removed making more room for people.
TOO MUCH EQUIPMENT. Too often classrooms fill earlier than necessary due to too much equipment and furnishings in the space. Tables are often the biggest culprit. People are more important than tables. Removing tables to have space for more people is more important that coddling people’s preferences (to hold coffee and Bibles and cover short skirts). Sometimes more chairs are in the room than are necessary. Only one or two more than expected attendance should be kept in the room. In fact, it can be depressing to enter a room with 20 chairs and only 3 attenders, while it can be exciting to have to set up one or two more chairs.

Make sure you plan ahead. Don’t get to a place where you need to start a class but lack the space, furnishings, and equipment needed. Anticipate needs. Plan ahead. Expect to grow.

For more ideas about Sunday School space, check out these blog posts:

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Darryl Wilson has served as Director of the Sunday School Department for the Kentucky Baptist Convention since 1997. 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 : Flake's Formula, Space, Space and Facilities, Sunday School

Multiply Your Space Through Multiple Sunday Schools

By Belinda Jolley · Comments (0)

Wednesday, May 25th, 2011

Need more space? Consider multiple Sunday Schools as a great way to gain more space and avoid or delay additional building and operational costs. As you consider moving to multiple Sunday Schools, answer the following questions to clarify how, when or if you move to multiple Sunday Schools.

What leaders can best help us prepare for multiple Sunday Schools and/or worship services?

•The pastor’s support from the pulpit is critical.

•Be sure to include several key Sunday School leaders as you move ahead.

•Bring other leaders onboard in phases.

Will we provide identical Sunday Schools or portions of them? Most multiple Sunday Schools are not mirror Sunday Schools. For example, senior adults may largely attend the first Sunday School, but senior adult visitors should have a class option in all Sunday Schools. There may be different offerings for children in different sessions. For example, the first Sunday School may provide for grades 1-3 in one class. The second Sunday School may have one class for 1-2 grades and one for 3-4 grades.

How will we provide for preschoolers at each session? Some of your preschoolers are in the same area during Sunday School and extended session.

How will we project who will go to which Sunday School and/or worship service?

•Conduct a survey.

•The brief survey should give people several choices of options. Sample questions might be:

_____I/my family will attend Sunday School A (print the time)

_____I/my family will attend Sunday School B (print the time)

_____I/my family will attend either session to help provide a good balance.

•Recognize if you are offering multiple Sunday Schools AND worship options, most people choose their Sunday School after they choose their worship option.

•Aim for a good balance–60% attendance in the base Sunday School and 40% in the other Sunday School (if you are doing two Sunday Schools).

How much parking do we have available? You are using the same space twice, but you are likely using the same parking spaces with two sets of people present at one time. You may need to consider some shuttles running to/from nearby businesses or other possible parking areas.

How will we handle choir and other music/worship issues? Most worship leaders have found they can adjust the worship order to accommodate choir and/or orchestra members leaving in an appropriate manner at some point in the service to go to Sunday School.

How can we safely move a large number of people at the same time to/from the same space? Keep all hallways free of tables and other displays to prevent bottle necks. Encourage some classes or groups to enter/exit from an outside walkway instead of going through interior halls. Beginning and ending on time usually help the traffic flow remain manageable.

When will we launch the multiple Sunday Schools and/or worship services? Launch the multiple SS’s on an average day. For example, Easter Sunday may not be the best time for your first day of multiple Sunday Schools.

Regardless of whether you provide multiple Sunday School and/or worship options, insure you focus on the reasons for making these changes. People tend to follow leaders who focus on vision and mission. Keep talking about how multiple use of space can increase your church’s ministry impact in the community and around the world.

Click here to download a more extensive Multiple Sunday Schools handout you may use to dialogue with other church leaders.

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Belinda Jolley serves as the Director of the Adult Ministry Office of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Belinda and her husband, Steve, enjoy starting new classes at First Baptist Church in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

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Categories : Space and Facilities, Sunday School

Conquering the Space Issue, pt 2

By Bob Mayfield · Comments (1)

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

So why don’t churches make better use of their space? One word – change! Generally speaking, the physical issues are not as difficult to overcome as leading people, especially the group leaders, to change! This one issue is why many churches fail to address their space problem.

Here are some of my thoughts to help you think through the process of asking a class to relocate or start a new group in an off-campus facility:

Connect the move to the direction and purpose of the church.
Meet with the leader prior to meeting with the entire group. For many groups, once the group leader understands what is involved, he or she will take care of letting the group know the plan.
Have a plan. Share your reasoning with the group. Bring some statistics if needed.
Make heroes of groups that give up space and relocate. When you start a new group or relocate an existing class to a restaurant down the street – praise the group for being pioneers!
Move adult groups often. This helps prevent the “this is our room” syndrome from forming.
The absolute best way to relocate a class (or start a new group for that matter) is for the group’s leader to initiate the conversation. People accept change better when the immediate leader of the group (the teacher), both initiates and supports the change.

Ultimately, one of our key leadership roles as a pastor, Sunday School Director, or Minister of Education is to help people step forward into change. Let’s face it, your church cannot afford NOT to change! Too many of our churches are plateaued and declining and a major reason behind this decline are our comfort zones. We have simply become comfortable where we are, and that comfort causes us to be poor stewards of our facilities and opportunities.

As a general rule, I have found that when people understand the plan they are willing to make the changes necessary to help the church be a good steward of its space and facilities.

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Categories : Space and Facilities