Ministry Blackboard

25Oct/120

Some thoughts on Sunday School from Orange Tour in DC

I apologize for the format and structure but I typed these standing up the whole session...standing room only.

Sunday school was started when there was no public education and illiteracy rates were so high. So Sunday School was started to help combat that.

But times have changed since that start.

Switch from Sunday school to spiritual formation:
- partner with parents
- instead of thinking from teaching week to week, what would it look like if we had a strategic plan for children from preschool all the way to college
- repetition and variety...big stories and big truths...be intentional about repeating those
- strategically place volunteers...put the right people in the right place.
- think about your audience. Is the content in your message helpful for each age group you are speaking to?
- want the kids to follow in love with God, not just know the story...make sure you are hitting the core stories. You may not be able to teach the whole Bible so make sure you are hitting the core stories and repeating those
- help them understand God's story and my story (what do we want them to know and do)
- don't just spend time on content but also in how you share it. What is the environment you are creating? Be intentional about it
- is the setting geared towards your target audience

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Share them so we can all benefit.

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24May/120

An Alternative to Traditional Sunday School

A few weeks ago I posted about New Life's KidZone option to do a sports and recreation centered Sunday school service.

So, after a few weeks, here is what I can report:

  • kids are excited
  • parents are excited
  • the church is excited

And here is why I think are numbers have increased and so many people are excited about this...because it is not-traditional.  Traditional Sunday School means classrooms, lectures, lessons, object activities and so forth.  What this alternative is gives children the freedom to run around, exercise and learn something new about a sport.  Not every child is "athletic" but every child can participate and can play.  This provides them that opportunity.  Then, after they have burned off a lot of energy, we teach them a lesson, centered around the sport or activity they just participated in.

Does this require extra work?  You bet.  Cindy our Children's Director is basically creating this curriculum on her own from various resources.  But the reward of seeing all these children running around, having fun...all the while setting them up to hear about Christ maybe for the first time is well worth the extra time.  Because this is drawing new children in.  Because this is something new and different.  Because God is at work.

So what about you?  What can you do differently to reach the countless children in your neighborhoods that aren't quite up for going to "traditional" Sunday School?  TAKE A MINUTE right now and brainstorm some ideas.  Then, start putting the pieces together to begin something new and fresh so that more children and families can hear about Christ...maybe for the 1st time.

If you have an alternate Sunday School that you are doing at your church, post it here so we can all be encouraged by your stories.  Even if you don't have one yet, but have questions, thoughts or comments, post them and hopefully a discussion that has begun here will inspire you and others to think of something outside the box that can further the kingdom.

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