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

 

SS Update – 3/14/2008

Team,

 

Mark Mylcraine called me Monday and said he was having second thoughts on the Adult Director position and was going to back out for now. If you’d like more info you can talk to him or me, but it looks like now is just not the right time for him. So we keep going.

 

I will be following up with the people I spoke to last Sunday about the Outreach Leadership team tonight. We have some other ideas we’re working on to fit into this as well involving other SS related ministries in the church.

 

There is a VBS leadership team meeting next Tuesday at 6:30 PM.

 

I have been working and working and working to see about changing our meeting time for this week, but there is just nothing that’s really any better than our scheduled Sunday meeting. I know several of you are in FPU but we will deal with that this month and figure something better out for the next few months, but this time it’s just not going to work. So our meeting will remain at on Sunday; I am, however, going to change it to 5:00 PM and am going to cancel the all-teacher meeting this month because of FPU; we may pick a different day for that as well over the next few months. I will hang out between the meeting and church and after church if any of you who can’t make the meeting want to talk.

 

If any of you can’t make the meeting on Sunday but need to talk about something with me or one of our other team members, I encourage you to not wait a month to get it done. Make a phone call, write an email, or sit down and talk. We are on the verge of some great things right now – each of us – and I thank you for staying on top of each of your areas. (even when it doesn’t feel like you’re staying on top of your area)

 

Chet

Outreach Leadership Notes

Cliff,

It was (is) a bit hard for me to give this up. Being “the director” sometimes makes me feel there are certain things that I “have” to do – that are “my” job. While that may be true, I also think there are things like this, making these personal phone calls and contacts, that maybe I’m not the best guy to be doing all the work. I appreciate your willingness to get in touch with these people about this ministry, and hope this will continue to be a good way to use you in our SS Leadership Team, even as we get you out of a few of the other jobs that require more meetings and hands-on planning. You are excellent at this, it comes naturally to you, and people really appreciate you. I again thank you for your willingness to help me with this. I hope the information below will give you an idea of what we are doing and help you with these contacts.

Adult Director Note

Cliff,

You know the ins and out of the Adult Director position, and I appreciate your willingness to contact these people about the SS Leadership interest meeting we will have next Sunday (3/9) following the morning worship service for about 20-30 minuts. We’ll be discussing this position, the SS outreach ministry, and possibly some teaching and other leadership positions.

Today’s Links

I found the following links interesting today. I need to do some more reading on them myself so thought I’d put them here to keep them in front of me.

Reaching Lost/Unchurched Sheep Through the Sunday School

Pursuing Sunday School Dropouts

Advantages of Keeping up with Attendance in Sunday School

Helping to Keep Up with the Joneses: The Job of the Class Secretary

Ice Breakers

SS Leader Job Descriptions

Youth Group Page

Sunday School Leadership Brochure

Sunday School / VBS Update: February 18, 2008

Hi Team,

Here is a review of the things we discussed yesterday and some things I may be calling for your assistance on between now and our next SS Leader Meeting, which is scheduled for March 16 @ 4:00 PM.

Leadership Changes & Needs

• Cliff needs to step down as our Adult Division Director for health reasons. I will work with Pastor Mike to get a replacement for him lined up. He plans to continue his role as Adult-4 Teacher. We will also keep him on as part of our SS Team, just for council & stuff like that, if he is willing. No meeting requirements, but I am sure he would love to continue to be used by us for all the wisdom, insight, and encouragement he has to offer.
• Deanna Bledsoe is our VBS Director for 2008. Our VBS Leadership Team is comprised of her, Katrina Owens, Mark Layton, and Gordon Peel, Jr.
• We are looking / praying for a SS Outreach Director and/or Secretary. We definitely need the secretary position filled; depending on how we make the program work, we may need two people to head this up.

A Group Effort

Yea!! We officially have a VBS leadership team & a VBS director. The members of the team right now are Deanna Bledsoe (Director), Katrina Owens, Mark Layton, and Gordon Peel, Jr. There’s still a couple people very interested and willing to help serve in some leadership positions that we may bring alongside in the near future or just use “off the books” as well

I hope you guys don’t mind me telling Deanna that we will have her back through all of this. The time will come when she will need it; you know that because you’ve been there yourself.

One thing I know I used to ask myself as I started this Sunday School Director spot was “what if?” What if I fail? What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t respond to things I ask them to do? The thing is, it’s not just me. It’s not just you. I told Deanna this the other day on the phone, and it applies to each and every one of us. If we fail at VBS, or if we fail at Sunday School, or if we fail at Reach/Teach/Minister, it is going to be one big group effort, not the result of one person’s weakness or inability.

Thanks to you guys, though… I don’t ask those “what if” questions much anymore. They still linger, of course… but I am convinced we have the resources, the abilities, and the people to get this job done. What’s better than that is we have the authority, the promise, and the help of Christ in what we are doing as we keep on track with Him.

Go Team!

Chet

P.S. Pray for me today if you get the chance – I am leading the youth tonight at church. Not my normal cup of tea but something I love.

Sunday School & VBS Update – November 11

Hi TeamS! This is the first email I’ve had a chance to write to both our Sunday School team and our up-and-coming VBS team! I’m absolutely THRILLED about how people are coming together into a new VBS leadership team, which we should have established here in the next couple days. In the meantime… if you’re getting this email, you’re part of this, officially or not.

We have a number of things going on during the next week or so. Here’s a brief rundown of important dates & times related to Sunday School and VBS:

Saturday	9:30 AM – 12:00 PM	VBS Preview for VBS Leadership Teams
Sunday	9:00 AM	Sunday School !!
Sunday	4:00 PM	Sunday School & VBS Leadership Team Meeting (both teams at once)
Sunday	5:00 PM	Sunday School Teachers Meeting

If you’re part of this VBS team, officially or not, Saturday will be a great day for you to learn about preparing for and running VBS. I know a few of our leaders already won’t be able to make it, so if you can make it, please do so, and then we can share together what we get from it.

We have two meetings on Sunday. First is our leader meeting at 4:00 PM. This is for anybody getting this email. We will be doing our “normal” monthly stuff – the behind-the-scenes planning and administrative work of doing Sunday School right. Reach… Teach… Minister… Remember that? We are going to focus on evangelism and outreach this month, so come with your brain in gear.

At 5:00 we will open it up to all of our Sunday School team – teachers, helpers, and workers in general. During this time we’ll watch (I hope) a short video by Allan Taylor, completely different from what we did a few weeks ago, but still very relevant to what we’re doing here. We’ll also discuss any problems, maybe some teacher aids & stuff like that, and basically get everybody on the same page…

I will be emailing and writing all our teachers about the 5:00 meeting. If you can add your personal touch, go for it. This is brand new, so I don’t know what to expect, but judging by the way my expectations have been surpassed by you guys and our team in recent times, it’s going to be more than we plan for… let’s make it happen!

Go team! Email or call me if you need anything at all.

Chet

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Sunday School on Tuesdays?

This is an excellent article on the concept of starting something new. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Tuesday night Sunday School class, an evangelistic event, or a new meeting format… Changes demand a need for change. They need planning, consideration, prayer, committment, and passion. I think this is a great article about this.

What Might Happen If You Offered Sunday School on Tuesdays
By Darrell Wilson, The Sunday School Revolutionary, found here.

I have several objectives for my blog posts. I want to create an awareness of what effective Sunday School and small group work looks like. I want to raise the level of expectation. I want to raise the level of effectiveness. And I want to encourage creative thinking about how we can utitilze Sunday School/small groups to carry out the Great Commission.