Many who have given up on Sunday School were never involved it in or else were never involved in EPIC Sunday School. Some give up because they would rather start something new than to roll up their sleeves to change what is not working in Sunday School. And yet there are still so many in our culture who prefer a Bible study time that is connected (before or after) to worship. Sunday School still works when you work the Sunday School!

But the day of blindly accepting mediocre Sunday School is over. The day of putting up with mediocre lessons is gone. It is time to be revolutionary. It is time to expect, to prepare, and to present EPIC Sunday School lessons.

Now, what do I mean? EPIC is an anagram used by Leonard Sweet in his book, Post-Modern Pilgrims: First Century Passion for the 12st Century World. EPIC stands for Experiential, Participatory, Image-driven, and Connected. Sweet descibes the shift from the modern to the postmodern perspective: from rational to experiential, from representative to participatory, from word-base to image-driven, and from individual to connected.

In this two-part series, I want to apply EPIC to encountering God in Bible study in the Sunday morning time we call Sunday School. In Part 1, we will focus on the first two sections of EPIC: Experiential and Participatory:

• EXPERIENTIAL. The modern way of explaining things has been in a rational, logical, frequently sequential manner. Learning was frequently verbal. Today we live in a postmodern age in which 60% of people are visual learners. They learn more by seeing than by hearing. But many have "been there, done that." They are easily bored with presentation styles and content. Today's learner expects to be immersed in the learning experience. In fact, that is it: they expect learning to be experiences. How can we turn Sunday School into an experience? Consider one experience that happens in churches all across the land: Vacation Bible School. Children, teens, and adults are immersed in a theme. The room and church are decorated. The lessons and activities of the week all relate. Why not meet at Easter in the cemetary and have Mary dressed in biblical costume arrive during the lesson telling about having seen Jesus? Why not bring in roses when you talk about the rose of Sharon? Why not wash feet when talking about the Upper Room? Why not take the group to a soup kitchen to address "in as much as you did it not to the least of these brothers of mine"? During every lesson, you want to make sure that learners have at least this experience: lead them to meet God in Bible study. Lead them to open God's Word. Lead them to listen to Him. Lead them to respond to Him.
• PARTICIPATORY. The modern way of Sunday School was for the teacher to have the experience of preparation on the way to becoming a subject-matter expert. In this post-modern age, there has been a shift to learners wanting to participate more in the learning experience. Learners today don't want to sit back and be told. Instead, they want to want to do it. They want to discover it for themselves. When you consider that retention in 72 hours is at 90% if you led learners to "say and do" something, this approach to Sunday School makes sense. When we get them involved, they remember and learn more. How can we make Sunday School more participatory? Give them written exercises. Ask questions. Get them into smaller groups. Make assignments. Call for reports. Ask them to read the passage in advance. Lead them to act out a scenario. Have them determine how they sho uld live out a truth; tell them you will ask how they did next week; and then ask them at the beginning of the next lesson.

For more information about lessons with impact, check out Sticky Sunday School Lessons and Crafting a Sunday School Lesson to Lead to Learning AND Action. In Part 2, we will look at the last two parts of EPIC:  Image-driven and Connected. Stop now to share about your most memorable Sunday School lesson which was experiential or participatory. Press the Comments button below to let others see how Sunday School is life-impacting. Stop teaching mediocre lessons! Be experiential. Be participatory. Be revolutionary!

At last night's final leg of the Assimilation Tour 2008 in Danville, I had a realization about assimilation efforts in Sunday School. Many of the very efforts needed to greet and make guests feel welcome can help Sunday School classes connect more deeply with members (perhaps preventing them from becoming absentees). A balance of both efforts are needed to open the front door while closing the back door. Allow me to share this balance with you in table form:

The classes who move these actions toward caring for guests AND members are the ones that tend to grow in numbers and in relationships with each other. When members trust one another and are cared for, the time of Bible study tends to be deeper and more satisfying. Attendance tends to be more regular. Spiritual maturity becomes more apparent. And members tend to invite more friends, relatives, associates, and neighbors.

Sometimes we don't have to work harder--just smarter. Sometimes we don't have to create more structure--just utilize more effectively the structure we already have. Be intentional in your efforts at first impression and connection. Grow your class through these efforts to open the front door AND close the back door. For more ideas on assimilation and discipleship, check out Dr. Steve Rice's blog, 28Nineteen. Be revolutionary.

Teachers are keys in a revolutionary Sunday School. When there is teacher resistance to change, potential impact is lost. It is difficult to work around teachers who don't understand or favor change. In a blog post entitled Revolutionary Teachers Are FAT, I emphasized that the church needs teachers who are faithful, available, and teachable. I believe a second important word beginning with "F" would also be appropriate:  flexible.

Revolutionary teachers must be flexible. They have to adjust their lessons to the Spirit's leadership. They need to be flexible in the presence of member crises and needs. They must change plans when class fellowship plans conflict with a church activity. Every lesson requires adjustments to someone talking too much (either the teacher or the class).

Revolutionary Sunday School works to accomplish change. Ultimately, change is desired in the life of every person--that those far from God would become fully devoted disciplers for our Lord. This seldom happens without leadership. Teachers are vital to the process. How do we prepare teachers to be on the cutting edge of change? Training.

Last summer/fall, I wrote two posts about training: Responding to Sunday School Teachers Who Don’t Want to Train and Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers. I want to encourage you to read both of these blog entries. Recently, David Francis, Sunday School Director for LifeWay Christian Resources, wrote an article entitled Encourage Training Through a Point System. He makes several good points before he explains one suggestion of a point system. After acknowledging that people learn best in different ways, he encourages flexibility in the training delivery system to accommodate these differences.

David prefers higher numbers so "there can be a lot of points attached ot any particular training module, and so that different training opportunities can have relative values." What he means there is that some training has more impact than others. That is reflected in the way he illustrated assigning training points. Here are his four categories without their accompanying explanations (read the article for more information):

• 100 Points: Listening, Watching, Reading,
• 200 Points: Attending a Training Session at the Church,
• 500 Points: Attending Training Provided by the Association or State Convention (like Super Saturday), and
• 1,000 Points: Sunday School Week at Glorieta or Ridgecrest Conference Centers.

You could add 10 points for every weekly workers' meeting they attend. If you meet monthly, you could make those 50 points. Or if you meet quarterly, you could make those 100 points. But each of these meetings would need to offer training segments in order to qualify for training points. There are many more training delivery methods. Check out Creative Ways to Train Sunday School Teachers for more information.

Expect your teachers to train. Put the expectation in their job description. Hold them accountable to do so. Make training fun and available at times and in ways that are convenient fo r them. Help them to know how they are doing in meeting expectations to train. David's system is one method for doing so. What else have you done to encourage teachers to train? Press the Comments button below to share your experiences. Train them for change. Be revolutionary!

Who are the people in your community? What are they like? What do they like? Are most of them married or single? Are most of them younger or older? Have they completed high school or college? Are they higher or lower socioeconomic level? What would be the best way to reach them?

Sometimes a church will have a perception about their community that it is a reflection of the church. The reality is that there are often differences. And it is important to note the differences in order to be effective in reaching the people surrounding the church. Some churches stopped reaching out to young adults years ago and now have no young or middle adults and therefore no preschoolers, children, or teens.

How can you find out about your community? I want to suggest checking out the North American Mission Board's article entitled Demographic Reports. The article is clear: "Your community is changing every day as the people that live within it also change." On that web page, you will find information about a report that any Southern Baptist Convention church can request from NAMB. If you are a part of a Southern Baptist church, you can log in here to access the Request Form. The form you will complete to request the report has four sections:

• Section 1: contact and location information needed to generate the report and send it to you
• Sections 2-3: choose and enter data for only one section about the areas of the demographics
• Section 4: additional comments

An even fuller report is available with even more data and a consultant provided by phone at no cost to help you understand the report. In response to your request, you will receive by e-mail a link to a PDF file with data about your community. It can take one to three days to proces your requqest. When you receive the PDF document, you may choose to print it out to share it with others. The web page warns that you may need to be patient in opening the report due to internet speeds and the amount of maps, etc.

After receiving a report like this, it is often good to take stock of the church body. What is the percentage of males versus females? What is the age distribution of the Sunday School? What is your best guess of the distribution of income and education levels of the congregation? What is the percentage of married, divorced, single persons in the congregation? How do these congregational demographics compare to those in the community?

Then, it is important to pray through how to respond to what you discover. What does God expect? What does He want? Evaluate. Identify needs. Choose first and/or most important steps. Pray for and target real people! Set goals. Make action plans and assignments. Do it. Go after them with the love of Christ! Check on progress. Adjust. Don't give up! Be revolutionary!

The human body must consume food, digest food, and eliminate waste. Each of those activities has a place in the body of Christ as well. We must feed on the Word of God. But we must do more than that. We must digest what we have eaten. The Christian must meditate on God's Word. We must seek to understand it better. We must apply it and live it out daily. But we must also get rid of unproductive habits and thoughts.

But what can we do to get more people started feeding on the Word? What can we do to get them involved in reading and studying the Bible? I read a blog post by Lawrence Wilson (no relation) that started me thinking along this path. Wilson's post was entitled How to Generate Spiritual Growth. In the article, he mentions four ways to help people get involved in studying the Bible. I have listed Wilson's four ways in all capitals followed by my commentary:

• CREATE SPACE. Wow, he makes some great points here. We need to help people make space in their lives for doing Bible study. People are so busy! They plan too much. They rush from one thing to the next. And in rushing they miss the relationship with God that they need and that He desires. (Leaders also need to set the example here!) Challenge people here. Ask them to invest more time in prayer and His Word. Help people to take honest looks at their calendars to clear some space that works. Sunday School and small groups can be positive accountability groups here!
• CREATE GROUPS. Wilson is right when he says, "People seldon have success studying Scripture alone." Invite someone to study with you. Get people in groups of two, three, or more. Make the time convenient. Make the relationships important. Wilson's suggestion was good: "The more groups you start, the more likely it is that people will join one." Form different kinds of groups. Form groups at different places and times. Encourage others to invite people into their groups. Again, Sunday School and off-campus small groups can be great places from which these new groups can spring!
• CREATE TEACHERS. Multiply yourself and your interest in studying God's Word. Help new people to risk trying to facilitate a group small steps at a time. You might not even call them teachers since many people think of teachers as subject matter experts. Call them group facilitators, but help these leaders to be serious about spending time with God and about leading others to meet Him in Bible study. Sunday School and small groups are great places for this to happen naturally!
• CREATE APPLICATION. How can you help yourself focus more on doing it? What can you do to encourage more application? How about making people accountable to another person, group, or a spiritual journal? What if you asked the group to report what they did about it next week? What if you told them you were going to call them during the week to see how they are doing at applying it? I like Wilson's question, "How will this truth change our lives if we choose to apply it?" But I agree that it is more than questions and words. You have to do it! Send them e-mail reminders. Do whatever it takes to be an example and to lead others to apply God's Word. Again, Sunday School and small groups can be great encouragers of application and accountability!

There are lots more ways to encourage others to get involved studying God's Word. What are other suggestions you have thought about? Stop thinking about it, and do it! What are more suggestions you have tried? Share them to encourage others to take a step toward studying and challenging others to do the same! Be revolutiona ry!

I could spend days and lots of blog posts highlighting great materials you can purchase and conferences you can attend. But we live in a great day of technology. So much information is available to us for free. Some of it is very helpful and comes with a variety of tools for utilizing it.

Such is the case with The Discover Triad: Three Facets of a Dynamic Sunday School Class, by David Francis, Sunday School Director for LifeWay Christian Resources. On page 5, David says, "There are three important and interrelated aspects of Sunday School work that contribute to a consistently excellent Bible study experience: Scripture, stories, and shepherding." That is the triad of the resource. There are lots of great training materials that go along with this resource:

• Free download of the book: The Discover Triad: Three Facets of a Dynamic Sunday School Class
• Purchase a copy of the book ($1.00): The Discover Triad: Three Facets of a Dynamic Sunday School Class
• Free download of the book in Spanish: La Triada Descubre: Las Tres Facetas de Una Clase Dinamica de la Escuela Dominical
• Free view of the Webcourse: Discover Triad Webcourse
• Pastor/Sunday School Leader Training Materials: General Leaders Teaching Plan (PDF); All-in-One Handouts (PDF); and General Leaders and Smaller Church Presentation (PPT)
• Adult Teacher/Worker Training Materials: Adult Teaching Plan (PDF); Adult Presentation (PPT); PDF Handouts: 1 - Discover Someone, 2 - Purpose of Discovery, 3 - Preparing for Discovery, 4 - Priorities of Discovery, 5 - ReDiscover Stories, and 6 - Job Descriptions; PDF Reading Assignments: 1 - Shepherds Know Their Flock, 2 - The Shepherd's Staff, and 3 - Shepherd's Secret Weapon
• Student (Youth) Teacher/Worker Training Materials: Students' Teaching Plan (PDF); Students' Presentation (PPT); PDF Handouts: 1 - Triad - A Unit of Three, 2 - Three Circles, 3 - Student Ministry, 4 - Approach to Learning Assessment, and 5 - Approach to Learning Assessment - Key for Instructors
• Children's (Grades 1-6) Teacher/Worker Training Materials: Children's Teaching Plan (PDF); Children's Presentation (PPT); PDF Handouts: 1 - Reading Music, 2 - Harmonious Sunday School, 3 - Three-Part Harmony, and 4 - Raising the Bar
• Preschool (birth-Kindergarten) Teacher/Worker Training Materials: Preschool Teaching Plan (PDF); Preschool Presentation (PPT); PDF Handouts: 1 - Discover, 2 - Discover the Bible, 3 - I Love to Tell the Story, and 4 - Discover Your Story

In additional to all of this helpful teaching material to go along with The Discover Triad, here are some other helpful LifeWay Sunday School links:

• Sunday School
• Free Training Resources for I-6 Invite: A Six-Lane Strategy Toward an Inviting Sunday School
• Free Training Resources for The 3D Sunday School: A Three Dimensional Strategy to Help Members and Leaders Fulfill the Great Commission
• Free Training Resources for The Five Step Formula for Sunday School Growth

This list could go on and on. I want to include one more resource that those using LifeWay's literature, Bible Studies for Life, may find helpful. It is a set of support materials developed by Dr. Steve Armstrong who is a professor at LaTourneau University and a senior adult teacher at Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview, Texas.

Need to provide teacher training? Don't have much money? Now you don't have an excuse. You can train your teachers with these high-quality, free materials for months and years to come. Start planning now. Raise your expectations. Increase your training. Release workers into the harvest. Be revolutionary!

There is much help available today for small group ministry leadership in print and electronic form. We can learn from each other's experiences. We can benefit from each other's creativity. We don't have to recreate the wheel every time we do something new to us.

I want to share a list of frequently asked questions about small groups. They can be found on Saddleback's website in an article by the same name, Frequently Asked Questions about Small Groups. I have included most of the questions, only leaving out a few which uniquely apply to Saddleback small groups. Some are specific to Saddleback but are included as food for thought. Don't feel you have to read every question below, but know that this resource is available.  Check out these questions:

• Do I need to be a "Bible Expert" to become a Small Group Host?
• What are the requirements to Host a small group at Saddleback?
• What small group studies are recommended and where can I get materials?
• Are all of the groups required to study the same material?
• Is curriculum dictated by the church leadership?
• What if my group wants to continue and I can't continue to lead?
• How can I get more people for our group?
• What do we do when we finish a study?
• How should our group handle childcare?
• How do I raise up leaders?
• Do we use husband and wife leadership teams?
• Do you have women leading groups with men in them?
• Do you suggest Small Groups meet once per week?
• What are effective ways to get small groups involved in bringing seekers on a continual basis?
• Are the five purposes carried out over the life of the group, and, not necessarily on a week ly basis?
• Where do you find your study material for your Small Group leaders?
• I'm an experienced small group leader, why do I need to go to Saddleback's Basic Leader Training – 1?
• How do I get my established group to want to grow and multiply?
• My group is dying, what do I do?
• How do I find curriculum for my groups?
• How many groups or ministries should I be involved in?
• How do people move from one group to another, or do they?
• When should my group meet?
• How do we prevent small groups from breaking up family unity?
• How long should the average small group meeting last?
• How should time be divided in the group?
• Should Hosts invite people only from Saddleback or can we invite seeker friends?
• I'd like to be a Host, but should I wait until I have more experience?
• How can I form a group with people who are similar to me?
• I live out of the immediate area of Saddleback. Should we still consider being a Host home?
• We have a small house or condo, can we still host a group?
• What is the format for small groups?
• On which day of the week does the study take place?
• How do I get into a group?
• What if I am involv ed in another ministry?
• Can I invite people who don't attend our church?
• What is the definition of a small group?

For additional blog posts about small group ministry, check out the following:

• Small Groups in Small Churches
• Improve Your Small Group by Listening Better, Part 1
• Improve Your Small Group by Listening Better, Part 2
• Ingredients of an Effective Small Group
• Essentials for Sunday School/Small Group Bible Study Sessions
• Measures of Small Group Effectiveness
• Small Group Leadership Training
• Nine Reasons to Use Icebreakers in Sunday School/Small Groups
• What Does Your Church Need Small Groups to Do?
• Transitioning from Sunday School ONLY to Sunday School WITH Small Groups, Part 1
• Transitioning from Sunday School ONLY to Sunday School WITH Small Groups, Part 2
• Small Group Leader as Sightseeing Guide
• Launching a Small Group or a Small Group Ministry
• How BIG Is God’s Vision for Your Sunday School/Small Groups?
• Small Groups: Practicing the "One Anothers"
• Life-Changing Small Group Leadership, Tips 1-7
• Life-Changing Small Group Leadership, Tips 8-14
• Life-Changing Small Group Leadership, Tips 15-20

Do you have a set of frequently asked questions and their answers? Share them. Share ones you see missing. Post a link to your document. Do you handle one of the issues differently than Saddleback? Then share the question and your answer. Let's be iron sharpening iron for one another. Let's work together to strengthen our efforts for the Kingdom! Press the Comments button below and share. Be revolutionary!

Had a bad week or a busy one? Has it gotten late in the week, and you don't know where to start? Are you in shock that it is already Saturday night and getting later by the second?

Then, turn your panic into action! Stop your head from spinning by taking some quick steps toward basic preparation. Rather than calling in sick, prepare a solid lesson plan in a short amount of time (but try not to make it a habit!). Consider these suggestions and take action immediately:

• CALM YOURSELF AND PRAY. Center yourself in a great God and seek His leadership in understanding His Word and truth personally and how to communicate it. Even though time is short, don't rush through prayer. Commit yourself to Him to do your best. Remember to close your preparation in a time of prayer.
• READ THE PASSAGE THREE TIMES. Yes, I know you said it was late. But rather than jumping into a commentary or a teaching plan or a teacher's book, spend time with God in His Word. Most lessons only incorporate 8-12 verses. Reading them three times should take less than five minutes. Consider whether you need to read more of the context before or after the focal passage.
• WRITE DOWN THE MAIN BIBLICAL TRUTH. What is the main truth God is speaking to you and learners in your class through this passage? Get it into a statement. Writing it helps to clarify it for communicating it. Many teacher's books will share this, but it is best to start with God's Word than the teacher's book to determine the truth from the passage for your group.
• DEVELOP A SET OF QUESTIONS. Are there some questions (perhaps 4-6) that pop into your mind that learners need to answer before they can fully understand the truth of the passage? Are there questions about the passage or application questions which should be answered? Many teacher's books and pupils books contain great questions (which may help you when you are in a hurry).
• PLAN AN ICEBREAKER/OPENING ACTIVITY. What question(s) could you ask at the beginning of the lesson to capture the truth and motivate interest in the lesson? What story could you tell? Many teacher and pupil books will offer an illustration or story which may be helpful. LifeWay offers Extra with additional great ideas for lessons to capture interest and apply the truth. They are usually current event stories which relate to the lesson/truth for the day.
• PLAN A TIME/METHOD TO LEAD LEARNERS TO APPLY THE TRUTH. If you don't plan this, it probably won't happen. What do you believe God will want them to do as a result of the lesson? How could you lead them to consider applying the truth? This could be combined with the final suggestion.
• PLAN ONE TEACHING METHOD BESIDES LECTURE OR QUESTION & ANSWER. If there is an extra five minutes of time, brainstorm a way to communicate one idea or answer one question in a way besides lecture and Q&A. How could you divide the group into smaller groups to consider two issues? How could you lead them to write out what they will do as a result of the lesson? Again, many teacher's books and pupil's books have activities for learners which could strengthen your plan.

If each of these suggestions were done and took 5-10 minutes each, your preparation for your rushed, panicked lesson could be completed in 35-70 minutes. If you are down to less time, the first four suggestions are the critical ones (as long as you don't make this a habit--if you do, your lessons will tend to become flat and boring). Try not to rush your preparation. Start early. Listen to God speak throughout the week. Prepare well. Be creative. Be revolutionary!

Is it possible to begin and build a small group ministry in a small church? While every church is unique, there are some common actions that can lead to success in many situations. Consider the five steps offered by Mark Howell, founder of SmallGroupResources.net, in an article entitled Five Keys to Building a Small Groups Ministry in a Small to Medium Sized Church. Howell's five steps are in all capitals followed by my commentary:

• GET CLEAR ON YOUR MISSION. What are you called to do as a church? What does God want you to accomplish for Him? How do small groups fit into that mission, vision, and strategy? Where are you headed? How can small groups help you get there? You will have difficulty "selling" your vision about the mission, if you don't know what it is.
• GET CLARITY ON YOUR REAL CUSTOMER. Who are you pursuing? What are people like in your community? Howell used the phrase, "unconnected," to describe people you are trying to reach. I like Howell's suggestion of talking to those already attending worship. Attempting to reach everyone is like trying to shoot a turkey with a shotgun at 300 yards. You need a rifle to focus from that distance. For instance, reaching a Nascar fan, automotive technician could be significantly different than reaching a opera fan, psychologist. Do demographics studies. Survey your community. Get in touch with real people in your community and their needs.
• GET SPECIFIC ABOUT WHAT YOU CALL SUCCESS. How will you know that you have been successful in your small groups ministry? What are key measurements of progress? Success likely will be more than simply numbers. It may include leadership and ministry involvement and much more. Without a target, you may continue to move without a sense of accomplishment or stopping to celebrate what God has done.
• GET THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT SEATS (ON THE BUS). This picture is from Jim Collins' book, Good to Great. The idea is getting the right team headed in the same direction together. Enlist and train quality people. Invest carefully in this process early. Follow our Lord's leadership in choosing His disciples. Make sure people are in the right positions, places of service in which they are fulfilled and fulfilling. And then help them to work effectively to the best of their abilities.
• EMBRACE A 'CROWD TO CORE' STRATEGY AND PHILOSOPHY FOR YOUR SMALL GROUPS MINISTRY. Help them take steps toward greater commitment, learning, and relationships. Help the crowd to take growth steps that lead to success and growth. I like Howell's emphasis on "movement...in the direction of greater commitment and service." His example is the following, "Your next growth step may be to open your home, serve a few refreshments, and tell a few of your friends. If you can do that, you can be a host of a small group."

Begin in prayer. Seek God's leadership throughout the process. Seek participation and ownership of the process. Start small and do it right! Build on successes. Give God the glory. Be revolutionary!