10 Excuses for new Sunday School Classes

This is not my stuff, but I’m putting it here with a link to the original author.

Monty Grover (mcagrover@hotmail.com) writes:
New Sunday School class ideas!!!!!

By: David Francis

Original article can be found here, http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?Id=27404.NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–At a conference held last year at LifeWay, Rich Smith, minister of discipleship at First Baptist Church in Ellisville, Mo., asked for input on starting classes that match teaching and learning styles. As I thought about it, it occurred to me that just about any excuse to start a new Sunday School class is probably worth trying.

Following are a few ideas:

1. A life stage class. How about a class for Nearlyweds & Newlyweds? Parents of Preschoolers? Parents of Children? Parents of Teens? Empty Nesters? LifeWay’s Bible Studies for Life (BSFL) series includes resources aimed specifically at such classes: Life Matters for younger adults; Life Truths for parents; and Life Values for empty-nesters. LifeWay magazines BabyLife, ParentLife and Living with Teenagers are perfect supplements for classes for parents as well.

2. A “Couples without Kids” class. One of the negative responses we have received about the life-stage approach with the BSFL series is that adults -– notably median-age adults -– who don’t have children feel left out of classes designated for parents or empty-nesters. That’s a good excuse to start a new class specifically for such folks! They could even study the same Scripture passages as other classes using BSFL by using Life Lessons or Life Words. Both of these titles are designed for adults of all ages and life stages.

3. A KJV class. Some people have a strong preference for the King James translation of the Bible. The Life Words title mentioned above utilizes the KJV exclusively and is a complete family of resources, including learner guides, leader guides, a leader pack and even audio CDs.

4. A “Through the Bible” class. LifeWay’s Explore the Bible series is perfect for such a class, covering all 66 books of the Bible every eight years. The series balances studies from the Old and New Testaments and also provides a balanced approach to the various types of biblical literature in each two-year “mini-cycle.”

5. An affinity group class. These classes might include such groups as teachers, medical professionals, peace officers, bikers, etc. Use your imagination! Just about any curriculum choice would work.

6. A “No Teacher” class. What? How would you do that? By using a curriculum resource like LifeWay’s MasterWorks. This Bible study series, based on books by popular Christian authors, includes only one book that is used by learners and leaders. Ideas for guiding the discussion are found at the end of each lesson, so the leadership could rotate among members. In such a class, it would be wise to designate one person as the “shepherd” of the class –- functioning like a teacher in all regards except actually “teaching.”

7. A college class. Recently while dialoging with a group of pastors in Princeton, Ky., a pastor shared that he had started a college class. In a small town. In a church with an attendance of about 70. In jest, I said, “You can’t start a college class in that kind of setting!” But he did and now has about 10-12 collegians each week. LifeWay’s Collegiate Bible study materials are perfect for starting such a class.

8. A special needs class. Churches are rediscovering the joy of serving the needs of adults and children with special physical and developmental challenges. For many years, LifeWay has published Access, a Bible study resource for teaching special needs adults. Now we also publish a resource for special needs children in grades 1-6, Special Buddies. Leaders and parents also benefit from the LifeWay magazine, SET (Special Education Today). Beginning in 2008, LifeWay’s VBS materials will include materials for special needs kids: Outrigger Island: Special Friends. One of the big surprises reported by churches that begin such a ministry is how many people are willing to help. They don’t want to teach a big class. But they are eager to help out in a special needs class.

9. A “transition year” class. Kindergarten and sixth grade are two of the toughest years for kids to navigate. Even churches struggle with where to put these kids. In some churches, kindergarten is in the preschool division; in others, it is in the children’s division. In some churches, especially in communities where the schools operate middle schools, sixth-graders are in the youth division and often grouped with seventh- and eighth-graders; in other churches, they are in the children’s division and often grouped with fourth- and/or fifth-graders. The solution is to start a class just for them. LifeWay has curriculum choices specifically for both of these transition years: Bible Teaching for Kids: Kindergarten and Everything You Need to Know to Be a Teenager.

10. An off-campus, not-on-Sunday class. You mean you can have a Sunday School class that doesn’t meet on Sunday? Of course you can! Funny thing is, the term Sunday School has such a strong “brand identity” that you can even call it a Sunday School class. Wayne Poling, lead Sunday School leadership specialist at LifeWay, recently led training in Guam along with Clyde Kakiuchi, who directs Sunday School work in the Hawaii-Pacific Baptist Convention. Clyde was headed on to Saipan, where one pastor holds Bible study classes every night for different groups of factory workers after they end their nighttime shifts. A perfect opportunity for gathering for fellowship and study.

Every church has unique needs. I hope these ideas have started to generate some ideas that will need some of those needs.
–30–
David Francis serves as director of Sunday School for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Copyright (c) 2008 Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist Press. Visit www.bpnews.net. BP News — witness the difference! Covering the critical issues that shape your life, work and ministry. BP News is a ministry of Baptist Press, the daily news service of Southern Baptists.

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Public Confrontations

FYI, we have support from both of our pastors on this. I think my original statement was a little long and drawn out. I will shorten it here. This is not officially written down anywhere, but you have the full support of our pastors, the SS director, and the VBS director on this. You are empowered to stand up and speak for us along these lines any time this type of issue arises.

The church staff, along with the Sunday School and VBS Leadership teams, stand in agreement that we will not publically discuss or evaluate the “qualifications” or “lifestyle” of any individual Sunday School or VBS teacher / worker. If a person or group has a concern with one of our leaders or their character, they may address their concern to one of our leaders privately or in our regular meetings and we will respond to it as a group, with respect to all parties’ privacy and personal worth.

Hopefully this is a little clearer. I will post it online as well, should you ever want to refer back to it.

Chet

Sunday School Update – March 26

Team,

 

To me, it seems like it’s been a while since I wrote you all a note. While you may welcome that, I miss it. I missed seeing you guys this past Sunday while we were in Pennsylvania, even though it was good to be around family we haven’t seen in a while. You all are my comrades, my compatriots, my brothers ( & sisters, I guess) in arms. I hope today finds you well. If not, I hope you can find the relief you need. And if you need a night off (guys), let me know… I am planning a short camping trip this weekend and would love to have you join me.

 

Ok, down to business. We have a lot of irons in the fire… and I do mean “we,” not just “me” – and I’m thankful for that. Here are some highlights; I won’t give you too much detail for now; feel free to follow up with me or the relevant person if you want more info:

 

·         We are still searching for an adult director. We’ve focused on a couple people so far but haven’t found the right person. I still believe that person is out there, and am waiting for God to bring us and that person together.

·         The story with our SS Outreach ministry is a little different. We have several interested individuals / couples, and I will be setting up some time with them, hopefully as a group, here in the next few weeks. I am hoping that at that time we can find some leadership roles to partake in and get things rolling. April is going to be a big month for this as we organize it, and I hope to start the ball really rolling in May. We are all part of this plan, and it has been on the drawing board for a long, long time, so I welcome your support as we switch from planning to executing.

·         VBS enlistment is coming along well. I’m not sure of the percentage of spots we have filled right now, and frankly, I don’t care. We have two very willing and capable women (Deanna & Katrina) who are excited about this ministry and talking to people like crazy. I have unofficially crowned Katrina the “Queen of VBS Enlistment.” I hope you’ll join me in showing our appreciation to these hard-working teammates.

·         We are looking to start a joint venture in outreach through our SS ministry & Van Ministry. This is another one that’s been on the drawing board for a while between myself and Monty, and we are going to be talking to Mike & Mark about it in the very near future (like 2 ½ hours from now) to get their input & support. This is kind of cool, and I will fill you in on it more in the future.

·         I am THRILLED about the response we are getting by our SS classes/teachers for this SS promotion / highlight time in the worship service once a month. I will be talking with Mike and Mark about that more today as well, to make sure we have their backing and to get things in place. We launch this the 2^nd Sunday in April with the Womens 1 and Childrens 2 class being the classes we will highlight. I will have a full schedule for you at our next meeting. We have some neat things lined up for the next several months!

·         I encourage you to ALWAYS keep your eyes and ears open for willing teachers / leaders / workers and either get with them or get with a teammate who can get with them. We have openings in several spots, from kids to adults.

·         I’m opening up my long-range-vision to you here for a sec to tell you that we may well be anticipating starting a brand new Sunday School class in the next 6-9 months. More details as this develops, but I’d appreciate your prayers on this venture. We may also be multiplying 1 or 2 of our adult classes as they continue to grow. Pray for this and THANK GOD for it as well.

·         I have a “top secret” project that I need a helper for. This will be a fun project that I would like the help of one or two people on and will be worked on through the next 3-4 months. If you’re interested in making someone’s day and giving our teachers a huge “pat on the back,” let me know of your interest and I’ll fill you in.

·         We have some cool hi-tech stuff in the works as well. Not very far along but I think it’s going to be extremely useful for the outreach ministry as well as general Sunday School communication. Stay tuned…

 

Ok, I’m out of breath… and I am thrilled to be working on these ventures with you. Be courageous, build your strength, and let’s DO THIS!

 

Chet

 

Upcoming Dates

Next SS Emphasis Sunday: April 13

Next SS Leader Meeting: April 20, 5:00 PM