Sunday School

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DAD'S SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS By Stanley L. Derickson

I've recently learned of a new Sunday school class concept that may be of interest to many in the Christian Education field.

It is a system that takes very little work. It is a system that takes very little planning. It is a system that takes no teacher.

I suspect that some are interested in this concept already.

While visiting in Washington, my wife overheard someone mention that he was going to attend his dad's Sunday school class.

She asked what class the father went to. The person grinned and explained that their church has elective Sunday school classes for the adults. Many of the adults are, for one reason or another, not totally interested in the classes offered. Many of the adults have started taking their Sunday school hour at the nearby restaurant. Indeed, the number of church people has become so consistent that the restaurant now reserves tables for them every Sunday.

Humorous? Yes! In truth, SAD!

This illustration is given only to bring our thought to what might be going on in our own churches. Indeed, in other churches it has been observed that about as many leave after Sunday school as arrive for church between Sunday school and church.

What might we learn from these observations? At the very least we should be considering the why of people not being interested in Sunday school and/or church. The church leadership after all is to lead and feed the sheep. If the sheep are straying, it is the responsibility of the shepherd to not only draw them back to the flock, but to determine what is enticing them away from the flock, or on the other hand what may be causing them to feel they want to leave the flock.

There are two suggestions to help in this problem, or possible problem, within our churches. We need to evaluate our present programs, and if necessary reorient them to adequately feed and nurture the believers.

EVALUATION

It would be surprising if more than a few of our churches ever evaluate the effectiveness of their ministries.

The obvious is that we need to assure ourselves that our elective programs, and other programs, are as effective, and as fruit-producing, as we assume they are.

There are a number of reasons why this situation could occur - even in your church.

1. Elective classes that are ineffective in capturing the interest and attention of people. When teaching audio-visuals class I enjoy taking great efforts to emphasize that using audiotapes in classes is not the best method for the entire hour. The boring and lack of attention aspects are usually promoted at the end of the class period. The following time that the class meets, an audiotape is used. The students usually enjoy the humor, but are soon involved in the practical understanding of how boring audiotapes can be.

Churches often use classes and materials that seem on the surface to be good, yet consider the class very little. How will the class react to this material? Or might it be asked if they will find it practical.

For example using a series on raising children with a class of believers that have all of their children in High school or college may not be the wisest option for you to take.

2. Inefficient teaching staff. This is not meant as a question as to the teaching staff's intentions or devotion. It is to point out that the most devoted, and best intentioned person cannot teach efficiently if they are not properly trained in at least some of the basics.

I recently came across a quote that is memorable. I do not remember where I saw it, but share it for your consideration. "Sanctified incompetence is still incompetence."

3. Lack of spiritual depth of individual believers. We all too often place new converts in classes where they are not even able to tread water. The instituting of new convert classes should prepare the new believer for the classes that they need to continue to grow.

One of the main premises of education is to build upon that which is known. You haven't seen too many grade schools starting students on square root. They begin by teaching the student the concept of numbers then move to the most basic of mathematics functions.

4. Uninteresting topics. It has been observed by some that an adult over twenty years in a Sunday school may have studied Ezra and Nehemiah four times and the doctrine of the Holy Spirit at least that many times.

Yes, Ezra, Nehemiah and the Holy Spirit are important studies for the believer, however we tend to overdo some studies to the boredom of the students.

5. Lack of challenge. Sitting for 60 minutes in a not-so-interesting class, with no involvement, can be hard on more than the physical posterior, indeed, spiritual posteriors may be numbed as well. This may give us a clue to the lack of involvement of some adults in some of our well-planned programs.

Evaluation may even mean going to your people to find out what they need to help them in their spiritual walk and education. A number of years ago a large church Christian Education committee called for a meeting of delegates from each adult class to gather input as to what the classes needed and felt they would like in their classes. The meeting was set and the delegates gave idea after idea to the committee. The committee chairman took the remainder of the meeting to tell the delegates what the committee was going to do in the coming months. The plans of the committee resembled little the ideas and needs of the class delegates.

The necessity of our day is to listen and respond to the needs of the people rather than go forward with OUR plan and goal.

REORIENTATION

The evaluation may find all of your programs in fine shape, however if you find problems you most certainly need to begin to make some changes.

It might move some to consider more informal learning situations where people can interact and share problems and solutions for their troubles (that they have found) in the Word.

In a Sunday School class a number of years ago a lady that had been in the church for years stood and declared that she really had a struggle understanding a certain doctrine that had been mentioned in class. The teacher promptly moved on with his next point. If needs aren't being met as they are shared, we are in essence stating that, "We aren't interested in your needs."

Part of the problem in churches using elective systems for their adults is that they have no curriculum. They simply view what is on the market, and pick and choose what they think might work.

The term curriculum comes from a term that refers to the racetrack. It simply means that a curriculum is a track, or course, which is laid out to guide the student to some end.

Indeed, when you watch the Daytona 500, or the Olympic runners running around the track you are watching the drivers and runners follow their curriculum. Might we observe the obvious comparison to some Sunday school curriculums - they lead people in circles.

It is not the point of this article to sell publishers' curriculums, but it might bring some to realize that a course is of prime importance in getting our believers from one point to another in their spiritual education.

There are many possible solutions to the Sunday school situation that was cited, including erecting your church building fifteen miles from the nearest restaurant. However it would seem through evaluation and reorientation such a situation might be corrected, or even better, avoided.

Too often we pay little attention to the success of our adult programs and assume all is well. May we be sure to feed the flock while we begin to observe the straying sheep, and seek to lead them back into the flock of our Master.