EDucationally SPEAKING

By: Alan Taylor; Minister of Education; First Baptist Church; Woodstock, GA.  (Borrowed from Josh Hunt at allstarsundayschool.com)  Hope you enjoy it!

Reaching people is an ongoing process. Oftentimes we reach out to a prospect with a visit or phone call, and then that prospect never hears from us again. Essentially we have implemented a hit-and-run outreach strategy. We hit them with the gospel, and then they never hear from us again. Now, let me be quick to say that this is better than never hitting them with the gospel. However, it is usually an ineffective way to reach them. Most people are not going to respond to a gospel message or an invitation to church from a person they have just met for the first time. People today are skeptical and need to have a trust level with the messenger before they buy in to his message. Therefore, outreach must be seen as a process, a relationship-building process. The ones who should build that relationship are those in their life stage, which would be someone in their prospective Sunday School class. This is the reason we have implemented the MTV strategy at First Baptist Church Woodstock.

This strategy provides an easy way to employ continual “touches” on the prospect that will help build a relationship. When a class receives a prospect, we ask them to make an initial visit. After the initial visit we ask them to follow up each week thereafter with sequential contacts of Mail, Telephone, and Visit. The “touches” on the prospect look like this:
Week 1: Make initial visit.
Week 2: Mail them a note (can be e-mail).
Week 3: Telephone them.
Week 4: Visit them again.

If we still have not gotten them connected, then we continue the Mail, Telephone, Visit cycle over and over again until we do get them connected in Sunday School or they instruct us to leave them alone. The MTV strategy gives every class a hands-on, practical way to carry out the church’s mandate to be Great Commission people. It also gives every person a means by which they can get involved in reaching others. Some will not be comfortable making a visit, but they might be comfortable writing a note or making a phone call.

Taylor, Allan (2009-06-01). Sunday School in HD: Sharpening the Focus on What Makes Your Church Healthy (pp. 50-51). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Steve Parr has just had a new book published by Kregel Press, entitled Sunday School That Really Responds. The subtitle of the book is “Wisdom for Confronting 24 Common Sunday School Emergencies.” This is a book that ought to be in the library of one who has a passion for Sunday School, whether that is a Minister of Education, Pastor or a layman who wants to see their Sunday School grow. One of the book’s great premises is that “a healthy Sunday School is focused on engaging the congregation in fulfilling the Great Commission” (page 31).

Steve Parr wrote the book out of his experience, and his passion. He understands the local church and he understands how Sunday School will either grow the church or hinder it’s growth. The book has two sections with the first addressing “larger” organizational issues and the second section focusing on specifics faced by smaller Sunday School situations or small (class) groups. Each chapter is divided into five sections showing Steve’s understanding of Sunday Schools and their importance. The sections are…

∙ THE EMERGENCY: this is an introductory section which contains the situation with plenty of good teaching, sermon or newsletter material along with some suggestions for immediate actions.
∙ TRIAGE: this section will help you identify the severity of the situation and whether this is a quick fix or one that requires additional work.
∙ PRESCRIPTION: this section gives three to five scripture references giving spiritual direction in directing your Sunday School.
∙ FIRST AID: this section deals with the immediate actions that can be taken.
∙ REHAB: this section deals with the long term actions that need to be taken and implemented to resolve the problem.

Some common organizational emergencies covered are: Our Sunday School is Dying; We are going through a Slump; Our teachers Will Not Participate in Training; We have a Teacher Who Needs to Step Down; We are Completely Out of Space and We Have a Class That Will Not Cooperate. Do any of these sound familiar to you or are you dealing with any of these now? If not, I only listed six of the twelve listed, so I am sure there are some on this list that you are dealing with.

However as a Minister of Education I could identify with most, if not all of the “Common Class/Group Emergencies.” My favorite is: They Want to Split (or Change) My Class. (How many times has that been said in my 42 years of Sunday School work)? Others include: Our Guest Never Return; No One Wants to Help with Outreach; I Cannot Get Anyone Involved in Discussion; My Class is Not Growing and I Want to Quit. Have you ever heard any of those from your workers? If not there are seven other emergencies you can read about and if your Sunday School has any life at all you have a least one of these emergencies.

I do own a Kindle and have been trying to use it more and more the older I get. Books do take up a lot of room. But when you find a book you will use over and over; and being an “underliner” you buy the book! For me this is one of those keepers. I marked too many pages and underlined too many passages to list them under this blog, but some that stick out as I flip though the book are:

∙ The pastor and key leaders must declare that they are personally committed to making the necessary adjustments of time, priorities, and practices, and then call on the remaining members to do likewise (Page 30).

∙ A quality Sunday school ministry will require high standards and you’ll have high expectation of your leaders. They will grow weary at times. Encouraging your leaders is the equivalent of filling the gas tank in our car. If you are not intentional about refueling, the car will run out of gas and sputter to a halt (page 44).

∙ A failure to emphasize and elevate the Sunday school as a key ministry in your church will only exacerbate the situation. Your congregation must know that Sunday school is not an add-on, not a grogram, and not an additional activity, but rater a key strategy for your church to reach the lost, lead members to grow, develop leaders, and minister to the congregation (page 92).

∙ A lack of personal spiritual growth on the part of teachers will result in passionless or boring teaching. The best teaching comes from overflow, and overflow is the result of growing in knowledge and intimacy with Christ…They cannot lead the members where they are not going themselves (page 123).

∙ A healthy class is characterized by these three qualities: (1) Lives are being changed…(2)The lost are being reached…and (3)Leaders are being released (page 160-161).

∙ Leadership is not a word to be feared by believers…You are to develop and utilize your skills in spiritual leadership to influence your group to more them from where they are to where they need to be (page 202).

Sunday School That Really Responds is one book you need it your library! This is not the last time you will find it mentioned in this blog or in my Sunday School Leadership training presentations!

I recently read the following letter to my congregation.

November 27, 2011

First Baptist Church of Douglas

Forty Five years ago almost to the date, I stood before my home church and shared with them I felt like God was leading me into full time Christian service. That decision changed the direction I had laid out for my life and gave me a future I had not planned on. Looking back on these forty two years of ministry they have been incredible. Recently Brenda and I had to make another one of those major life changing decisions.

As some of you know, about two years ago I was diagnosed with several forms of Arthritis. Last spring I had to have surgery on my right knee because of this disease, and for whatever reason I have had a total of five different surgeries in three years. I have found it to be very frustrating to carry on effective ministry and have successful recovery at the same time. Recently I found out that I have to have double knee replacement surgery in the near future and I find this totally unacceptable.

So, after much prayer, Brenda and I have decided that it is now appropriate to announce my intention to retire on or near my birthday in July, 2012. I still feel that God has a plan for my life and has prepared me for a life of continued ministry in retirement. To accomplish this, I need to have all the surgeries I need to get my physical house in order, so I can be effective in ministry.

My goal is to continue with a full schedule until July and then have surgery. I feel like God has still given me a job to do here at First Baptist and finish the mission he called me to do here before July, 2012. I ask your prayers, understanding and your blessings in the weeks and months ahead.

In addition to writing my own blog, I also like to read others. One I enjoy reading is by Ken Braddy’s Sunday School Guys Blog. Recently he wrote an article about dying churches and I wanted to share it with you.

Ken writes … “Have you heard the phrase, “You are never standing still…you’re either growing or declining”? That’s true of your Sunday School, for sure. Your classes are either reaching new people and remaining strong and vibrant, or they are becoming closed groups that forget the real reason Sunday School exists is to reach people who are far from God. Is it possible for your Sunday School to be in a state of decline that ultimately leads to its death? The answer is yes.
1. On a recent trip overseas, a friend of mine, Ross McLaren, took some photos of churches in Scotland. I was deeply impressed with the architecture of these buildings and the engineering that went into the designs. I was equally impressed that in an era without the benefit of computers, virtual models, and advanced equipment to bring supplies to the work sight, the architects, foremen, and workers managed to erect these monuments which became the centers of towns and the centers of people’s lives for centuries. I can only imagine what worship and Bible study must have been like in these churches. In my imagination I can see men, women, boys, and girls walking to church on a Sunday morning in their “Sunday best” to worship their Lord, summoned there by the church bells that announced services were beginning, calling eve ryone in the town to come and worship Jesus. For hundreds of years these churches were a spiritual legacy to the cities in which they were built. But something bad happened…something very bad…and these churches lost their legacy. Their once great legacy as places of worship, centers of Bible study, places of hope and spiritual healing for individuals and families have long since disappeared. Today, these churches are no longer churches at all.

As I examined the photographs my friend had taken, I quickly discerned that once-vibrant churches have now become void of the spiritual activity that once took place in them. St. Andrews and George’s West Church has become, for all practical purposes, a mall and space is rented to cafes, recording studios, volunteer centers, and various other businesses. One church is now Maxim’s Casino…a casino!…another one is a theater, and yet another another one houses a SubWay sandwich shop for hungry business professionals to visit during their lunch hours.

Could This Happen to My Sunday School Class?

1. Churches in Scotland are one thing – they are an ocean away, after all. Is there a possibility their stories of lost legacies could become the story of my Sunday School class? Could my class one day no longer be vibrant, healthy, and relevant? Would there ever come a day when no one showed up in sufficient numbers to keep the class going? The answer is unfortunately, yes. The possibility exists that classes might lose their legacy and have their doors closed for good. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Leaving The Right Legacy
Think about the Sunday School class in which you are involved today. Were you there for its beginning years ago? Do you remember its vibrancy, energy, and effectiveness in reaching people for Christ and for Bible study? Are those things still going on, or has it become a shadow of its former self? Do you find yourselves reminiscing about the “good ol’ days” rather than focusing on future things? Can you foresee a day coming when there won’t be enough people to continue the work of the class? Or can you see the class thriving and growing, becoming more alive than ever before? It’s my hope you see and want the latter.

Vibrant, Healthy, & Relevant Classes Focus on 3 Things

For a class to remain vibrant, healthy, and relevant, the teacher and class members must all focus on three essential things. Do these things and you’ll be certain to leave the right kind of legacy.
1) Sunday School classes must remain OPEN GROUPS –Open groups are open because they expect new people every week. Vibrant, healthy classes always have the mindset that someone new might show up any given Sunday. Is that the mindset of your class? Do you expect new people each week? If you did, you’d do a few things like having plenty of extra chairs, class greeters to make guests feel welcome, extra learner books to give to them, an aggressive follow-up and outreach visitation to the guests, and nametags! Don’t forget the nametags. They help people learn names and start friendships quickly.

2) Sunday School classes must practice OPEN ENROLLMENT– Guests should not have to visit three time Restaurants like Subway now fill this once-vibrant church…see the banner to the right in the photo before they are placed on your class role! Open enrollment means they can join on their first visit, being placed on your class role (I like the term ministry role) so that you are accountable to look after them like a shepherd. Open enrollment means practically that people can “belong before they believe.”

3) Sunday School classes must START NEW GROUPS – If you want to make sure your class has a legacy that lasts, and that it’s around in 5, 10, and 15 years, it must start new groups! This is an irreducible law that is in effect at all times. Your goal as a class is not to have great Bible study, fun fellowships, and solid ministry to one another. Those are functions of a healthy, vibrant class, no doubt! But the main goal of any Sunday School class in any age group is to reproduce itself and start “legacy classes” – sometimes called daughter or granddaughter classes. It’s a proven fact that new classes reach more people and are more evangelistic than older, established, long-tenured classes. How many groups has your class started in the past two years? A healthy, vibrant class would have already started at least one new group. Don’t end up like the churches my friend visited overseas. Remain a vibrant, healthy class, or if you aren’t that today, reverse the hands of time and make adjustments today so that your class still exists for years to come, reaching new people, welcoming them into the class family, seeing them grow spiritually as they develop relationships and find ways to serve. Start new groups, leave legacies, and never let it be said your class lost its way. Practice the three things above, and you’ll leave the right kind of legacy for those who come behind you.”

To read Ken’s blog see … http://sundayschoolguy.wordpress.com/

When I was in college I was a Music Education major and I was involved in my student teaching experience in the Elementary school. One day, the class was very wired and involved in the process. To be honest, it was fun, or so I thought. However, when we walked out in the hall my college professor looked at me and asked, “did they learn anything?”

I learned a very valuable lesson that day. What you do when you teach is just not to vow to take up time but to lead to a conclusion that brings people to the point the point of learning. What happens in the presentation is important, but learning takes place when it is put into practice in daily life.

When a teacher, no matter what they teach, they must know what they are going. What do you want the learner to know and experience because of the time spent learning? Have a stated objective. For Sunday School leaders it is printed in your curriculum. As you teach state this objective, so those you can lead see the outcome.

John Gregory wrote in his classic work, The Seven Laws of Teaching, “The true function of the teacher is to create the most favorable conditions for self-learning…True teaching is not that which gives knowledge, but that which stimulates pupils to gain it. One might say that he teaches best who teaches least.”

Being an effective leader or teacher, knowing and having a your plan plus having skill is a must. However, knowing and caring about those who you are teaching and leading is a must.

You can’t be interested in just sharing information but in changing (transforming) lives! So the way people learn demands the way you teach or lead!

Our role as leaders (teachers) in our Sunday Schools is to lead those that God has given us to lead to have a life changing experience through the study of God’s Word!

At our next Sunday School Leaders meeting I am going to continue looking at our Sunday School theme (God’s Word…Transforming Lives) as well as our strategy statement, which reads…

“Sunday School is the foundational strategy in our church for leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for building Great Commission Christians through open Bible study groups that engage people in evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry and worship.”

This coming session as we are going to be dealing with the words in the statement … “that engage people…,” or what I am calling the “Principle of Engagement.”

As leader’s (teachers) lead their class each Sunday Morning we must remember… “The effective leader (teacher) always leads (teaches) from the overflow of a full life.”

Howard Hendrix says in the Seven Laws of the Teacher, “simply put…if you stop growing today, you stop leading (teaching) tomorrow.” We tend to forget that as leaders we have not made it, but we are still in process.

The questions always becomes, how do we continue to grow? Some simple points suggested by Hendrix are…

∙ Maintain a consistent study and reading program.
∙ Attend Continuing Education (Discipleship) classes.
∙ Get to know your students

Simple suggestions, but great points!

Source for quotes:

The Seven Laws of the Teacher; Dr. Howard Hendrix; Multoma Press; 1987

As a part of my responsibility as a Minister of Education I have always taught a Sunday School class “IF” I could not find a teacher for the class. And this is not always practical. However, every class deserves a teacher. Another reason is, I have always done this is…it keeps filling the position front and center. If I am in there every Sunday, I don’t forget about the vacancy and especially to pray about filling the position.

Recently I had to add to my list of responsibilities, teaching the young married adults known as Adult 7 to my agenda. Since I have been teaching I have been reminded that the effective teacher always teaches from the overflow of their lives. You are not as effective if there is not … overflow in your life. If not you dig like crazy each and every week!

Jesus said… “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me” (John 15:5).

Howard Hendrix states “that the Law of the Teacher simply put is this: If you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow.”

It doesn’t matter who we are, or how good we are neither our personality or methodology can overcome the lack of overflow.

In looking for teachers as I seek to fill teaching positions, I am always looking for “F.A.T.” people … those who are Faithful, Available and Teachable. Individuals who have these qualities make wonderful and committed Sunday School teachers!

As a young Minister of Education back in the dark ages, I was given the following advice… “if you want to be a teacher of the word, then you need to be a student of the word.” That advice is good advice for anyone. Some suggestions for growing as a “F.A.T.” leaders…

∙ Maintain a consistent study and reading program of God’s Word and other leadership (teaching) material. Understand that leaders are readers, and readers are leaders.
∙ Enroll in continuing education courses. The classes offered in your church can be an excellent place to start. If you don’t have those…start some.
∙ Get to know your students! There is no excuse for not understanding the group you teach.

Never become so content in your leadership or teaching that you believe you can improve.

Now it is time to get ready for Sunday morning!

No, I haven’t forgotten that I felt led and set about to create a Sunday School Training blog. It comes up every week on my “Outlook” task… “Have you worked on your blog this week?” Usually it becomes red for a couple of days and then I get rid of it. The saying about writing a blog has become very true this fall. Fun eventually can become work!

After surgery, rehab and starting back to work, I have been limited as to what I could get done. After all being in a wheel chair, walker and walking canes can impede progress. So with slowed movement, not feeling well and the fall being the busiest time of the year for a Minister of Education and Administration a lot has been accomplished for church, but I have not been able to work on my blog. Though slow I was able to over see committed workers who helped as…

∙ We finished our Sunday School building renovation program, Vision 700. Now the real work begins; building our attendance to 700 EVERY Sunday morning.
∙ Moved everyone from four year olds to most of our Senior Adults to new Sunday School space.
∙ Re-Aged Graded our Sunday School.
∙ New brochures …. building maps … everything else that goes with a new church year.
∙ A office computer crash. And why did I decide to go to “Windows 7?”
∙ Started a new Sunday School year, with more enlistment than in previous years.
∙ Nominating Committee – which was the smoothest year I think I have ever had in administration. Thanks to a praying, committed committee!
∙ Sunday School leadership meetings, leadership notebooks and the best training event I can remember, with 76 leaders in 6 conferences in attendance!
∙ Associational Sunday School Double Digit Conference and Associational Wide High Attendance Day.
∙ New Mission Statement…logo…and redesigned website (talk about stress and an old man’s learning curve).
∙ 2012 Budget preparation.
∙ Started Weight Watchers … have lost 15 pounds and I do feel better.

So…I am back. Hopefully more consistent than this fall.

No matter how much I write about it, my commitment is still growing God’s Kingdom at the First Baptist Church of Douglas through the Sunday School!

“Sunday School is the foundational strategy in our church for leading people to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and for building Great Commission Christians through open Bible study groups that engage people in evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry and worship.”

New Sunday School Articles on our Website. Check them out (www.fbcdouglas.com).

∙ Why Be A Part of Our Sunday School…It’s not your grandmother’s Sunday School!

http://storage.cloversites.com/firstbaptistchurch75/documents/Why%20Come%20to%20Sunday%20school_2.pdf

∙ Finding your Sunday School Class…Building Location Guide.

http://storage.cloversites.com/firstbaptistchurch75/documents/Building%20Location%20Guide%2011-12%20%20WEB%20EDITION.pdf

It’s Saturday morning. I have written and posted my blog. Now I’m ready for one of the best traditions of fall…College Football. Till I write again.

A friend in his blog on Sunday School gave some helpful insights and I wanted to share them with you….

“We’re not in Kansas anymore,” said Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. She looked up and realized her surroundings had changed. I’ve had a similar moment in recent days with what I perceive is the decline of training in our churches…especially training provided for Sunday School teachers. I don’t want to live in the past, but “back in the day” (just a few short years ago, it seems) this was a primary focus of my ministry in the local church…and it worked…and it payed big dividends for the teachers and those they taught. What’s happened?! I can think of several reasons why training isn’t being provided in many churches today:

•  Lost vision – church staff must have a conviction that training and equipping people for ministry is one of their primary roles.
• Lost time – we’ve let too many other things crowd out the time we should be spending reading and learning so that we can impart wisdom to those we lead.
• Lost work ethic – ouch…that one may hit too close to home for some of you. Training teachers is hard work. It’s thankless work. It’s difficult work. But it’s some of the very best work you’ll do if you lead the education ministry in your church.

Now, as the blog title stated, there are some stats that should convince you to reboot your teacher training! Dr. Steve Parr in his book Sunday School That Really Works, reports that in a state-wide survey conducted in Georgia, churches that provided quarterly or monthly training for teachers grew almost 14% in the past three years (p.98). What happened in churches that had not provided ANY training in the past year? Glad you asked! The same survey revealed that those churches tended to be in decline, and actually experienced a negative cumulative growth of -2.1%. Training does matter! On a final sad note, in the survey conducted in Georgia, 40% of the churches did not provide any training for their Sunday School leaders…and we wonder why the church is in trouble these days. It’s not rocket science, folks.
3 quick suggestions to get you and your church back on track in the area of teacher training:

1) Attend a local training conference this fall.

2) Read a book on Sunday School and teach it to your Sunday School teachers.

3) Set an appointment with a local church staff member who’s doing training and learn from them.

No, we’re not in Kansas anymore. We’re not going back to Kansas, either…(oops, spoiler alert!). Times have changed, but the need for training teachers hasn’t.

For additional information read the entire original blog at: http://sundayschoolguy.wordpress.com

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” Mark 10:45 (HCSB).

Throughout scripture Jesus points out that leadership is about Service. During the last supper, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. As we serve as leadership in our churches through our Sunday Schools if we are to be effective we are to be servants.

In Tony Dungy’s book; The Mentor Leader, he writes … “For me, leadership has always been about service. Much has been said and written about service or servant leadership, based on the model that Jesus provided during his ministry.

The principal focus of service-directed must be other directed and other inspired. Mentor leadership must be grounded in and springing from an emphasis on service as it primary focus. Mentor leader desire to help those they are privileged to lead to be better in whatever roles and responsibilities they have. Truly serving others requires putting ourselves and our desires aside while looking for ways and opportunities to do what is best for others.”

As we serve as a Sunday School leaders whether it’s in Preschool or Senior Adults we are leaders and servants!

The Mentor Leader; Tony Dungy; Tyndale House Publishers; 2010