The letter asked a simple question. Why do people stop going to church and Sunday School? Then the writer shared his story.
“My wife used to be a member of a Sunday School class at First Baptist Church in ______,” he wrote. “She noticed that some members could be out for a week and a big to-do was made over it, while others were ignored.
“At last, it came home to her. She was sick for several weeks and was in the hospital part of the time. She did not as much as get a phone call from the class. Now she has lost confidence.”
Unfortunately such a story does not reflect an isolated event. It is just one story that illustrates a problem that has resulted in who knows how many people staying at home on Sunday morning and listening to sermons on TV. These people are still religious, but they are no longer active in a church.
The story also illustrates the importance of Sunday School classes and other small groups. People need people. That is one explanation for 53 percent of respondents in one study saying “how much people cared for each other” was a key factor in their participation in church.
God did not make us to live in isolation. He made us for relationships — first to live in a relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ and then to live in relationship with each other. We live in families and the church is our Christian family through which we experience God’s care and the care of God’s people.
A study on assimilating new members into a local congregation points to the importance of relationships. The study found that out of 100 new members, only 16 were active in the church five years later if their only point of contact with the congregation was through the worship service.
On the other hand, 83 out of 100 new members were active after five years if they participated in a Sunday School class or another small group. A further look at these 83 active Sunday School class members would show that most have reoriented their lives toward those with whom they spend time studying God’s Word.
Sunday School class members learn to appreciate one another, as they spend time together. They learn from one another, as class members share life experiences and spiritual insights. Sunday School class members learn to care for one another, as they pray together and pray for one another.
From such relationships grow trust, respect and appreciation. Sunday School class members have opportunity to care for one another in tangible ways. From these experiences, class members even learn to depend on one another. Sunday School classes and other small groups can be places where Christian love is offered and received in obedience to Jesus’ command to “love one another” (John 13:34). The foundation for such relationships is a common faith and commitment to Bible study in a small group setting. Study of the Bible is the focus, but unless the group demonstrates its caring nature, bonds never develop among members.
The most common references to these bonds are “inreach” and “outreach.” Inreach is Christian love in action. It is initiative designed to keep up with what is happening in the lives of members. It is initiative that responds to opportunities to demonstrate care. It is initiative that shows one he or she is important to others. It is initiative that reinforces relationships.
The letter writer lamented that during his wife’s absence of several weeks, “[s]he did not as much as get a phone call from the class.” What kind of message about caring, love, belonging and importance was conveyed by such a lack of attention?
Outreach is the effort to bring new people into the Sunday School class or other small group. It is done in obedience to the Great Commission to go into all the world and make disciples (Matt. 28:19). It is also done for the good of the group. Without new people, a small group — even a Sunday School class — can evolve into a closed, cliquish crowd displaying obnoxious characteristics. Cliques, even church cliques, ignore people. They drive people away, too. They say, “You are not wanted. You do not belong. You are not needed.”
Granted people drop out of Sunday School and change churches for reasons other than lack of caring. Some people leave because of church problems but every church has problems. Some want a certain style of music or different kind of leadership. Some leave because they are committed to a specific program or ministry. Some leave because the church is too big or too small. People leave for all kinds of reasons.
But research demonstrates that people will accept less-than-stellar conditions in other areas of ministry if they know they belong, if they know they are loved.
If one belongs, if one is loved, then he or she would never be absent “for several weeks” without numerous contacts from his or her Sunday School class. Yes there might have been circumstances that were not mentioned in the letter. And yes questions can be raised about people who drop out of church because of hurt feelings. But those are topics for another day. And despite their potential validity, such questions do not detract from the importance of Sunday School classes and other small groups providing opportunities for relationships and Christian family for members new and old.
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