Having a growing Sunday School class does not require a complex formula. It’s really quite simple, at least according to state missionary Daniel Edmonds.
Edmonds, director of the office of Sunday School and discipleship for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, has identified three essential factors for attracting people to and keeping them in Sunday School. He calls these factors the three R’s of assimilation: reception, relationships and responsibilities. And several Alabama Baptist churches are working out these factors.
First Baptist Church, Fairhope, is actively seeking out and welcoming new members of its community.
“Every other Tuesday night is Connections Outreach night,” said Brent Shaw, minister of education and administration for the Baldwin Baptist Association church. “We obtain a list from the city of the newest people to the area and deliver information about our church, along with cookies. We continue to get a good response from this visitation.”
At Decatur Baptist Church in Morgan Baptist Association, Education Pastor Dwight Moss recently encouraged the leadership and congregation to adopt a broader approach to Sunday School — open enrollment.
This allows anyone who wants to be included in a Sunday School class to be enrolled anywhere, anytime. Moss explained that the key to open enrollment is teaching the congregation how to approach unchurched people.
He said the approach may sound something like this: “Do you have a group of people who pray for you regularly, minister to you and encourage you? Would you give me the privilege of writing your information down and adding you to our Sunday School list? We would like to pray for you and minister to you.”
At this point, the appropriate Sunday School class is contacted about the new prospect and follows up weekly through phone calls, cards and visitation. “The hope is that the unchurched person will be connected to a small group that ministers to them,” Moss said. “We want our Sunday School filled with lost people because they are more likely to become a Christian in Sunday School than just sitting in the worship service.
“The churches I’ve observed who consistently practice open enrollment are the churches who continue to grow,” he added.
NorthPark Baptist Church, Trussville, in Birmingham Baptist Association has seen its greatest growth in classes that cater to those with similar interests. Why?
“They are relational,” said Yvonne Looney, minister to adults at NorthPark Baptist. “We even have a Sunday School class for bikers, who go out and ride their motorbikes, meet people and then invite them to Sunday School.”
Connecting people in similar situations also has proven effective for First Baptist Church, Montgomery.
Eight years ago, the Montgomery Baptist Association church added a “nearly and newly married” class. It is offered twice a year for six weeks to couples who are considering marriage, are engaged or married in the last year. Six adult Sunday School classes have formed as a result of the class.
And in every class, the members need to hold some type of responsibility, Sunday School leaders said.
“People come to church because they like the church. They stay because they feel needed and utilized,” said Chuck Ashley, minister to adults at First, Montgomery. “It’s important for people in a class to feel ownership of it. That’s where the Sunday School teacher is vitally important to delegate jobs to as many people as he or she can.”
It is also important for a class to evangelize and fellowship together, Edmonds pointed out.
“Doing life, ministry and missions together strengthens the bonds of any healthy group,” he said.
This past August, NorthPark Baptist changed its Sunday evening routine to create more time for evangelism and fellowship. Instead of meeting for corporate worship every Sunday night, church members gather only once a month. That leaves the other Sunday evenings open for Sunday School classes to get out into the community, and members get to know each other better in the process.
One class ministers at The Lovelady Center, a home in Birmingham that addresses particular needs of women such as abuse and addiction, and conducts a worship service there the third Sunday night of each month.
For more information about growing a church’s Sunday School attendance, call Edmonds at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 285.
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