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.

Like what you are reading? Consider the following: 1. Subscribe to my blog (there is a link for that on this page). 2. "Follow" me on twitter. It's a free account, and a great way to meet like-minded friends. My link is: http://twitter.com/tommccomb. 3. Leave a comment (I love your candid feedback and might use your ideas in future posts) 4. Tell someone else about this blog. Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon.

Where Have You Been?

Life gets crazy sometimes.  Sometimes, you have to break your routine.  So you miss Sunday School a few times.  But no one called.  No one emailed.  Does anyone care that you missed?  Do you really want to go back?

These are the thoughts of too many people who have been enthusiastically invited and welcomed to church, but after coming for awhile, have an interruption.  Do we as Sunday School teachers notice?  Do we do anything about it?

In the near future, I will put a post up about how to show care and respect to others.  One way to drop the ball is to fail to contact someone who misses class.

Here are a few ways to do it:

1. Postcard.  OK, it's a little old-fashioned, but everyone likes to get mail.  There are colorful cards available at Christian bookstores that can be filled out by hand on Sunday afternoon.  If you drop it in the mailbox right away, your student has mail - showing you care and you missed them - on Tuesday.
2. Email. In this digital age, you can send a quick note through email.  Many young people use Facebook instead of email, so get an account and send friend requests to your class members. I hope that someday, the Sunday School attendance book will have room for email and Facebook name.  There are even some free digital cards you can send.
3. Phone call.  I know someone who hated to miss Sunday School, because they know if they missed, they would get a call from someone.  Now guilt is a poor motivator, but sometimes it's the only thing that does the trick.  If you teach a children's class, call the student's parents, let them know why you are calling and ask permission to talk with your student.  I've never had a parent say "no," and many times, it is even more important to communicate to the parent about the absence than the student.  After all, the parent is often your student's only transportation to Sunday School.  Just touch base to see if everything is OK.
4. Home visit.  There are situations that just seem funny, and you suspect that something crazy is happening at your student's home.  If you it would make you feel more comfortable, bring someone else along - maybe the Sunday School teacher from the older sister's class.  Just go to the home, and have a friendly visit.  Let the whole family know they were missed.  Ask if there is something you can pray about.  Then pray and go.  Don't stay forever.  They have things to do, and so do you.  Remember, everyone can make home visits; not just the Corps Officer.

This Sunday, pay attention to your attendance sheet.  Make note of who is missing and how long they have been missing.  There may be students in your class who are ready to fall through the cracks.  Don't wait any longer - contact them and let them know you care that they are missing.

Like what you are reading? Consider the following: 1. Subscribe to my blog (there is a link for that on this page). 2. "Follow" me on twitter. It's a free account, and a great way to meet like-minded friends. My link is: http://twitter.com/tommccomb. 3. Leave a comment (I love your candid feedback and might use your ideas in future posts) 4. Tell someone else about this blog. Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon.

What Did You Forget to Pack?

This is the 2nd installment in a series on how to enliven your Sunday School.

Going on a trip can be frustrating if you haven't prepared.

I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten to pack something. Like the band trip in high school when I forgot to pack black socks. Or the company conference when I forgot to pack my shaver. It creates an embarrassing situation, and has created new habits in me.

I make a list. I check with my wife. I recheck the luggage. I open a suitcase a couple of days early so that I can throw things in as I think of them.

Being properly prepared can also help you revitalize your Sunday School. Here are a few tips that Beth and I shared with the ReFuel conference a few weeks ago:

1. Know how to lead someone to Christ.  Sunday School teachers have a unique relationship with their students, and you have a larger amount of time with your class sharing spiritual truth and challenges than just about anyone else.  When the opportunity comes (and it will come) to lead someone to Christ, you will be ready.  Most quarterly Sunday School lesson guides have a page describing how to lead your students to Christ.  These instructions are also age-appropriate for your class.  Take time to become familiar with it - even to the point of memorizing it or making it your own.  This will certainly increase your joy as a teacher!
2. Arrive early.  Get to the classroom at least 15 minutes before Sunday School opening to get it ready. How many times have you entered your classroom only to find that someone "borrowed" your table for a potluck?  Or the Cub Scouts left their craft projects to dry on every available inch of counter space?  Or that someone made off with your markers?  Getting there early will ensure that your classroom will be ready for your class.  If the first time you walk into your Sunday School class is when the students arrive, you are getting there too late.
3. Read the lesson.  Do this early in the week.  If you only find out at 10:00 on Saturday night that you needed something unusual from the hardware store for tomorrow's class, you are in trouble.  Reading the lesson early will help you get the materials you need on time.  It will also make you more familiar with the lesson.  That way, you don't have to be tied to the lesson book and really interact with your students better.  Don't get me wrong - the lesson book will still be close at hand, but your nose isn't stuck in it.
4. Read the Bible passage.  Read it several times throughout the week.  Make it part of your daily devotional time or make it an extra time that you dedicate to Sunday School preparation daily.  If you make the Bible passage a part of your life during the week, it will seep out of your pores as you present it to your students. 
5. Be ready for visitors.  Few things are more discouraging to a visitor than to walk into a Sunday School room and there is nowhere to sit.  Make sure that your classroom has enough chairs, handouts, Bibles and craft supplies for extra people.  Build a vision among your "regulars" to invite others to the class (I will talk about this in a later installment).  Exercise your faith by praying over the empty chairs.  Maybe you will want to stretch your expectations by putting even more chairs in the room.  And then work to fill them.

It's Thursday, and Sunday is coming.  Are you prepared for your Sunday School class?  It's not too late to start now.

Like what you are reading? Consider the following: 1. Subscribe to my blog (there is a link for that on this page). 2. "Follow" me on twitter. It's a free account, and a great way to meet like-minded friends. My link is: http://twitter.com/tommccomb. 3. Leave a comment (I love your candid feedback and might use your ideas in future posts) 4. Tell someone else about this blog. Thanks for reading, and I hope to see you soon.

Revitalize Your Sunday School – Prayer

Beth and I just finished teaching a seminar on how to revitalize your Sunday School.  This series will address the “Six Keys” that we presented, with a bonus seventh way.

This post talks about praying for your students.  After all, two central purposes of Sunday School are (1) developing a relationship with God and (2) developing a relationship with each other.
While it is important to pray during the class, I believe that a teacher develops a stronger burden for the students by praying for them through the week.  To do that, I suggest a few techniques:

1. Get a Sunday School class roster.  While you probably need to leave the original attendance sheet at the church in order to complete statistics, making a copy for your own records is easy to do.
2. Keep the roster in your Bible.  This means that you will have this list of your students with you when you have your daily devotions.
3. Write prayer requests on the roster.  You can start with this during the Sunday School class, and add to it through the week.
4. Pray 10 minutes a day.  I have always asked my Sunday School teachers to spend at least one hour each week praying for their students.  That means a minimum of 10 minutes a day.  While this requirement is reasonable, anyone who puts it into practice will soon start using more time praying for their students.
5. Follow up with students the following Sunday.  If you have been praying for someone’s grandmother, ask about her the following week.  That follow-up will not only communicate your ongoing concern, but the updates will also allow you to be informed as you pray the following week.  But perhaps the best benefit of revisiting the requests is to inspire your students with demonstrating that God really does answer prayer.

Praying with and for your students is a privilege and a responsibility.  But more than that, it can make your Sunday School class that much more exciting week in and week out.

Maybe you have some Sunday School prayer tips.  If so, please leave a comment below.