Build Your Sunday School - Visit!

This post is related to the one about Sunday School last week, when I talked about contacting people who haven't been there in a while.

This week, I am talking about keeping in touch - outside class - with students who are your tried-and-true regular attenders.

Contacting them outside class helps you do a few things:

• It allows them to talk privately about sensitive issues.  There may be prayer requests or relationship concerns that they wouldn't bring up in class.
• It gives an opportunity for specific feedback.  Sometimes your quietest students have the best ideas or suggestions as to how to make things better.  Get with them one on one and listen to what they have to say.
• It shows that you care about them.  If you only see them in class, you may give the impression that you take them for granted or that you on care about the fact that they come to Sunday School.
• It deepens relationships.  By extending yourself outside class, you are opening yourself as well.
• It extends the reach of your pastor.  Some people wait a long time to get a visit from the CO.  You can help these soldiers feel more a part of the congregation.

Ideas to make contact:

• Find a way that works for both of you.  For some, it's the phone.  For others, it's Facebook.  Some people like email, while in certain situations, a home visit is the best.  Find out the best way to make contact.
• Contact your students regularly.  With a smaller class, you can make a contact once every month or two.  Obviously, there will be people that you naturally connect better with, and you will want to contact them more frequently.  Just make sure that you get to all of them eventually.
• Listen.  You have an agenda, yes, but make sure that your student gets to say what's on their minds.
• Bring someone else along.  Sometimes, you know in advance that a visit might be awkward.  For instance, if you are visiting someone of the opposite sex who lives alone, it is best to bring someone with you.
• Keep it short.  Yes, some people will want to visit for a long time.  But keeping it short will ensure that future visits will be welcomed, not dreaded.
• Share with your pastor.  There might be a situation that you are really concerned about, maybe an issue that is beyond your expertise.  Keeping the Captain informed will help develop a team approach to meeting needs.

Will you commit to making contact with a few students this weekend?  It will help enliven your Sunday School class.

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