So much is being written about the "missional church" today. There were over 165,000 results when I did a Google search and over 9,000 when I did a Google blogs search. There are many different ideas and definitions. Back in the spring, I shared some ideas of my friend, Bob Mayfield (Sunday School/Adult Discipleship Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.), from a post by Ed Stetzer entitled Oklahoma and Missional Ministry. My post quoting Bob Mayfield is entitled What Is Missional Sunday School?.

What started me thinking about this subject again so soon was an article by another friend, Bruce Raley who is the Director of Leadership Ministry, Training and Events at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, TN. Raley's article is entitled Realization of a Purpose--The Beginning of a Missional Sunday School. In the article, Raley states:

Three key elements are involved in a missional Sunday School. Will Mancini in his book Church Unique, defines these elements as: the concept of our collective purpose, our culture, and our capacity. A missional Sunday School begins with a realization of purpose....

We know the ultimate purpose of our church and Sunday School has been spelled out clearly in the Word. We are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). We are to “make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We are to “be witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Through all, we are to glorify our God.

When people ask me about the missional Sunday School, I tend to default back to how Sunday School can help the church to carry out the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He commanded us to make disciples of all nations. In many ways, every one of my blog posts is an attempt to share how Sunday School, revolutionary Sunday School, carries out that Co-mission with our Lord. In Part 2, I will share more of my ideas, but I wanted to close with seven questions that Raley poses to help classes struggle with their purpose in that mission:

• What energizes the class?
• What does the class tend to pray for the most?
• What would people say is the strength of your class?
• Who are the heroes of the leadership?
• What would you say you are good at?
• If you knew you couldn’t fail, what one thing would you pursue for God?
• If the class was to cease to exist, how would people remember the class?

Let me close by asking what is your purpose as a class? Why did God place you in your church and your community? What mission does He want you to accomplish in the community? What difference does He want you to make for Him? Again, in Part 2, I will share some of my ideas about what a missional Sunday School does. In the meantime, evaluate your Sunday School. How are you doing at "making disciples of all nations" through your Sunday School. Be revolutionary!

There are many important reasons why you should plan your agenda for Sunday morning. Consider this small list:

• to help you remember all the important items,
• to keep your class balanced in its focus,
• to involve more people,
• to make effective use of the time,
• to help attenders know what they are missing if they are late and thereby encourage being on time for class,
• to keep one person from dominating the time for other agenda items, and
• to make sure that the teacher has time to teach the lesson.

One issue is how much time is allotted for Sunday School. Most classes have between 45 and 75 minutes. If you have more time, you can allot more time to some agenda items. If you have less time, you must naturally shorten or combine some agenda items. Another issue is the class size. With fewer people in attendance, there will often be fewer people involved in the Sunday morning agenda. Another obvious but often overlooked issue is starting class on time. Any class timetable is only as effective as the person who begins the first agenda item.

What started me thinking about this class timetables and agendas was a great article by Topper Reid who is the former Minister of Education at Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The article is entitled How to Develop a Sunday School Class Agenda. In the article, Reid lists several key ingredients that make up the typical adult class agenda:

Here are a few common ingredients: greeter in place, arrival activities, fellowship time, announcements, introduction of guests, prayer time, mission report, outreach report, care group time, statistical report from class secretary, Bible study and closing.

I also loved his five tips for how to keep the class on track:

• Decide on all the ingredients for your Sunday morning adult class agenda.
• Arrange those ingredients in the order you wish for each class to perform those in a class session.
• Assign a time and a typical time this should happen.
• Develop a presentation standard for each person to meet as they perform their part of the agenda and train them to do this well.
• Publish your Sunday morning agenda and then train your leaders to execute it with excellence.

Notice the third tip suggested assigning a length and a start time to each agenda item (ingredient). That is where many classes fail to be effective. Often they lump all the agenda items together with no expected maximum length for each item. That frequently results in the items going long and causing the lesson to have to be shortened. Instead, assign times for each segment and if they go shorter, start the next item sooner. Here is Reid's sample timeline (which assumes 75 minutes for Sunday School):

  9:00 a.m. -  Arrival and Fellowship (coffee, greeters, name tags, all leaders in place)
  9:10 a.m. -  Welcome/Announcements (Person in Charge)
  9:15 a.m. -  Introduction of Guests/Outreach Report (Person in Charge)
  9:18 a.m. -  Mission Moment (Person in Charge)
  9:22 a.m. -  Prayer (Person in Charge)
  9:27 a.m. -  Teaching (Person in Charge)
  9:50 a.m. -  Closing (Person in Charge)
10:00 a.m. -  Exit Room
10:15 a.m. -  Next class starts

Don't hear me saying that Sunday School has to be regimented to be effective. I have just seen too many lessons get the short end of the schedule for the day because there were no expectations in place about the agenda. I do know that if you don't talk about things on Sunday morning, they are not considered by attenders to be important. Keep essential Sunday School class work in front of the class weekly. Set an agenda. Be firm but flexible as needed. Be revolutionary!

Many Sunday Schools don't grow because they don't think ahead. There is no vision to grow. Planning and meetings are merely responses to problems. Enlistment is only necessary when someone quits. New furnishings and equipment are only needed when something breaks. Maintenance is the goal. Status quo is the norm.

This lack of vision in maintenance-oriented Sunday School often extends to budgeting. Frequently the only increase in the Sunday School budget results from a price increase for curriculum for current classes. But in the hands of a revolutionary Sunday School director or pastor, a budget is yet another tool for reaching, teaching, and caring for more people.

I have written about budgets before in these posts: Life-Changing Sunday School Budgets and Is It Sunday School Budget Planning Time Already?. In addition, it is one of the subjects in several other posts like The Many Hats of the Sunday School Director, Sunday School Leader Appreciation Is a Must!, and Top Priorities of a New Sunday School Director. In Life-Changing Sunday School Budgets, I mentioned the following scenario which is common:

A new Sunday School director is presented to the church for a vote in August and begins work in September. The budget is presented in November. The new director without prior experience should work on the budget as soon as he/she starts, but frequently the new director is not even told that this is one of his/her responsibilities.

That often results in a new director without much knowledge or understanding of church or organizational history or future needs having difficulty in preparing a budget. He/she may not be aware of this responsibility and have to put together a request at the last minute. Or he/she may just not know the financial needs of a growing Sunday School.

But let's assume that the director has experience and is working to lead the Sunday School to grow. What are some questions that need to be addressed in preparing a revolutionary Sunday School budget? Consider the following nonexhaustive list:

• By how many people and classes will Sunday School likely increase in the year ahead?
• How much more curriculum for teachers and pupils will be needed?
• Will there be a price increase for curriculum pieces?
• In what ways will you recognize and express appreciation to your teachers and workers?
• Are more furnishings or equipment needed for new classes or to replace worn or broken pieces?
• Do any classrooms need preparation before they can be used, such as paint, markerboards, etc.?
• What is your best estimate of the cost of administrative and teaching forms, supplies, and resources?
• How often and in what ways will Sunday School teachers be trained? What will materials, supplies, and food needed for training events cost?
• What wi ll be costs for regular Sunday School teacher/worker meetings?
• What costs will be associa ted with maintaining a successfully functioning visitation program?
• What other planning and miscellaneous expenses are necessary for Sunday School growth?

What other questions would you add to the list? Press the Comments button below. Pray together. Plan and envision the growth. Prepare a holistic and growth-expecting budget. Present it to your budget committee/team and/or congregation. Budget for a revolution. Carry out His plans this year! Be revolutionary!

Sunday School fellowship activities accomplish many things. First, they are relationship-building times. Members and guests interact. They talk. They share about themselves in spontaneous and occasionally planned ways. They discover affinities--things they have in common with each other. Second, fellowship activities can also be outreach and ministry-oriented. They can allow the group to reach out to the community and meet the needs of individuals or a group. Third, they can just be plain fun! It is important to laugh together. It is valuable just to enjoy each other's company. I like what Leslie Maddox says in a blog post entitled Plan Social Activities: "Fun activities are a great uniter and a way to get to know a side of a person that they may not show all the time."

But fellowships don't just plan themselves. Someone has to give leadership. This is often the work side to fellowships that leads some classes to move toward fewer and fewer fellowships. In the same blog post mentioned above, Maddox answers the question about who plans fellowship with this response, "In a perfect world, every class would have a social committee that plans fun times for all.  Realistically, this responsibility may bounce from person to person." I have seen a list passed around the class with attenders signing up for a month. Then the teacher or other class leader only needs to check with the person for that month to see what has been planned, when, and where. I agree with Maddox, though, that the ideal would be a person or group that helps the class plan these fun times.

Planning regular fellowship activities is important. What frequency is best? It depends on the group, but usually it should not be less than once per month. Why? Allow me to let Josh Hunt answer, "Invite every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month." Did you see it? In order to give our guests and prospects an opportunity to interact with the class in a different way from Sunday morning, fellowships need to be planned monthly. Otherwise our guests and prospects have to wait too long for us to capitalize upon their openness and interest.

In addition to listing several different fellowship activities in her blog post, Maddox also closed her blog post with some helpful planning suggestions. Her suggestions are in all capitals followed by my commentary:

• DECIDE UP FRONT IF THIS WILL BE AN ACTIVITY WITH OR WITHOUT CHILDREN. This is important unless the class is designed for people without children. If the group has children, you may want some activities with children and some without. You may want to arrange for children during some activities so the children can have fun at the same time but separately from the adults.
• BEWARE OF COMPETITIVE ATTITUDES. Fellowship activities should develop relationships and be fun. In the words of Maddox, "Any event that involves competition is an opportunity to see someone's ugly side." This is bad enough among members, but this should be definitely be avoided with guests present. If you know a member has this tendency, you can coach him/her in advance to avoid a negative experience but how do you coach guests? She doesn't say to avoid competitive activities--just to beware competitive attitudes.
• DO SOCIAL ACTIVITIES WITH OTHER CLASSES. Wow, what a great suggestion! Want to plan half as many activities for the year ahead? Plan your fellowships with another class who will plan half while your class plans half. Interacting with each other can be fun. Variety of ideas is added when even more are involved in planning. Some larger activities are possible that smaller class es may not be able to do on their own.
• LEARN WHAT THE CLASS LIKES TO DO. Input and ownership are helpful in increasing involvement in fellowship activities. Ask the class. Give them a survey. Find out what they like and don't like. Make sure you learn from trial and error as well. But remember that just because something did or didn't work one time is not a sure-fire way to know whether it will work the second time. It may be the class has changed in the intervening time.

For more ideas about fellowships, check out these blog posts: Sunday School Fellowship: More Than Food and Fun, Reach and Assimilate People into the Kingdom Through Sunday School Fellowships, Ten Values of Monthly Sunday School Fellowships, Sunday School Class Lunch, Sunday School Outreach: Giving Sunday Night to Jesus, and Ideas for Making Friends Through the Adult Sunday School Class. Want to leave an idea that has worked for your class? Press the comments button below. Regular fellowships are an essential part of revolutionary classes. Get input. Seek involvement in planning. Invite guests and prospects. Make them great. Be revolutionary!

In a recent newsletter from Josh Hunt, entitled Three Great New Ideas!, Josh shared about one church's experience of moving worship attenders into Sunday School classes or small groups. That was my topic in my post last year entitled Moving Worshippers into Sunday School/Small Groups. Let me share what Josh said in his newsletter:

Here is an idea from New Vision Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, TN. They have a good number of people attending worship who are not yet in groups.

One way they address this is to feature one group a week (I don't think they do it every week) in the worship service. They get the group to stand in front of everyone, introduce the group to the people, talk about the teacher just a bit, talk about what they are studying, and anything else that is interesting of unusual about that group. The whole thing takes a minute or two.

This puts a face on the group. People can see the group members and make a judgment as to whether they would fit in that group. Someone is going to see those group members and say, "I can relate to those folks; I think they are my people." They had one group go from 15 to 50 in one week. That is what I call doubling!

This is the very thing that has been happening about once per month at my church. My pastor hold the microphone and asks about 3-5 questions of the teacher(s) and closes by inviting worship attenders to try out the class. This happens about once per month. One or two groups are featured at the end of the service. Frequently these are new groups that are featured. And Sunday School has really been growing over the last five years.

Here are some quick suggestions about how to implement this feature into your worship service:

• determine how often you want to do this with monthly as your minimum (might want to do it more often in a larger church)
• determine when in the service you will do this (I suggest at the end, especially if you have a time for Sunday School after the service)
• enlist leaders to be featured for specific dates (but leave some dates open so you can feature new groups throughout the year)
• develop a list of basic questions (who the class is for, what the group is studying, where they meet, fellowship/ministries planned, etc.) and share it with the enlisted leaders in advance
• enlist and place someone at a welcome station from the featured group to help interested attenders to be able to find the new group (two people are better so one can escort the guests while the other greets more people)

Have you used this idea in your church? How is it working? Have you seen the groups experience increases? What other suggestions would you share? If you have not tried it, make plans now to implement it as soon as possible. When we fail to promote our groups, we are making them appear to be unimportant. We need to move worship attenders into our group where they will be even more likely to experience salvation and life change. Be revolutionary!

Practical Training for Kentucky Baptists

Designed to equip Kentucky Baptists for a variety of ministries, Super Saturdays are among the KBC's most comprehensive and highest attended training events. Practical training is available in over 20 focus areas, and participants from churches of all sizes will benefit from courses taught at each event. Make plans now to join us for a Super Saturday lcoation near you!

Focus Areas: Assimilation, Baptist Men, Church Architecture, Deacon Ministry, Discipleship, Evangelism, Finance, Hispanic Ministry, Leadership, Ministers’ Wives, Pastors/Staff/DOMs, Prayer, Preschool/Children, Secretaries, Single Adult Ministry, Small Groups, Stewardship, Students (Teen Track), Sunday School, Women’s Ministry, Worship & Music, WMU Directors, and Youth Ministry

New This Year: Comeback Churches Track and Safe Church Initiative Courses

Registration

$30 per person or $20 Early Bird Special.

Early Bird registrations for the August 16 & 23 and September 13 events are due by the Monday before each event to qualify for the discount. Early Bird registrations for the September 6 events are due by Tuesday, September 2, to qualify for the discount.

Click your desired date/location below to register:

• August 16 at Immanuel Baptist Church, Lexington
• August 23 at St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville
• September 6 at First Baptist Church, Somerset
• September 6 at Lone Oak First Baptist Church, Paducah
• September 13 at First Bapt ist Church, Pikeville
• September 13 at First Baptist Church, Bowling Green

For more information contact: 502.489.3572 or 866.489.3 572 (toll free in KY) or e-mail supersaturday@kybaptist.org.

Please note: This rate covers only a portion of the cost of this training; additional funding provided by the Cooperative Program.

Extended Teaching Care
Childcare is available for children ages 6 weeks – upcoming 5th graders. We regret that we are unable to provide care for special needs children.  ETC Cost: $10 per child, $25 family maximum. Advance registration is required. For more information, call 502-489-3575 or 866-489-3575 (toll free in KY).

Promotional Materials:  Click here to download a customizable PowerPoint slide. (For best results, right-click the link and choose "Save Target As."

Conference Descriptions

For a full listing of conferences in other program areas, go to www.kybaptist.org/supersaturday. Select one 9:45 am conference, one 1:00 pm conference, and one 2:00 pm conference. Courses are offered at all six locations unle ss noted by specific location codes: Lx = Lexington; Lo = Louisville; S = Somerset; Pa = Paducah; B = Bowling Green; Pi = Pikeville

PRESCHOOL/CHILDREN
9:45 am-12:15 pm  Creative Ways to Reach Children and Families
Pray and plan to reach children (grades 1 – 6) and families for Christ.

9:45 am-12:15 pm  Creative Ways to Reach Preschool Families
Pray and plan to reach preschoolers and families for Christ.

1:00-2:50 pm  Drop-in Missions Education
Include missions education in fun ways in all you do with preschoolers and children.

1:00-2:50 pm  Leading Children to Christ
Join God in the spiritual formation of preschoolers and children.

1:00-2:50 pm  Teaching the Bible in 2008
Transform preschool/children’s learning experiences at church.

SINGLE ADULT MINISTRY
9:45 am-12:15 pm  Meaningful Singles’ Sunday School (Lx, Lo)
Bridge the differences in your class using care groups, fellowship, ministry and curriculum.

1:00-1:50 pm  Reaching and Keeping Younger Single
Adults (Lx, Lo)
Take actions to involve, connect and reach out to singles ages 18-35.

2:00-2:50 pm  Support for the Newly Single (Lx, Lo)
Partner with recovering singles using helpful resources and ideas.

SMALL GROUPS
9:45 am-12:15 pm  Using Small Groups to Reach and Disciple (Lx, Lo)
Take steps to launch and grow your small group ministry through intentional reaching and discipling actions.

1:00-1:50 pm  The 3 C’s of Small Groups (Lx, Lo)
Empower your group through covenants, commitment and community.

2:00-2:50 pm  Characteristics of Healthy Small Groups (Lx, Lo)
Move your small group toward meaningful relationships and life change.

SUNDAY SCHOOL
9:45 am-12:15 pm  Discover Dynamic Adult Classes
Lead attenders to discover His story, share their story, and shepherd His sheep.

9:45 am-12:15 pm  Discover Dynamic Sunday School
(for directors and general leaders) Lead your Sunday School to discover His story, share their story, and shepherd His sheep.

9:45 am-12:15 pm  Next Level FAITH Sunday School Evangelism (Lx, Lo)
Implement revisions to the FAITH strategy to improve the effectiveness of your FAITH ministry.

1:00-1:50 pm  Effective Discussion (Lx)
Increase involvement through stimu lating discussions.

1:00-1:50 pm  Engage Learners in Adult Classes
Move learners toward life change by involving them mentally, emotionally and physically.

1:00-1:50 pm  Help, I’m a New Director (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Start well as a director through your leadership on Sunday and throughout the week.

1:00-1:50 pm  Lead Your Class to Invite New People (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Prepare your class to take six key steps toward becoming an "inviting" class.

1:00-1:50 pm  New Classes Matter
Engage more workers, reach new people, and grow disciples through new classes.

1:00-2:50 pm Starting FAITH Sunday School Evangelism (Lx, Lo)
Prepare for a successful first semester of FAITH as you disciple, minister and reach out through this Sunday School strategy.

1:00-1:50 pm  Teaching the Teacher (Lx, Lo, B)
Implement proven practices for making your teaching come alive.

2:00-2:50 pm  Capture and Keep Attention
Use hooks and icebreakers to focus learners’ attention on the lesson.

2:00-2:50 pm  Class Growth Made Easy
Grow your class this year in 10 easy ways.

2:00-2:50 pm  Explosive Sunday School Growth
Launch 10 actions to grow your Sunday School this year.

2:00-2:50 pm  Lesson Planning Tips (Lx)
Save time and be more effective in planning great lessons.

2:00-2:50 pm  Moving Worship Attenders into Adult Classes (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Invite worship attenders to join your class in fellowship, life and lesson.

2:00-2:50 pm  Successful High Attendance Day (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Plan and conduct an emphasis that unites in prayer, focuses on caring, and reaches out to new people.

YOUTH MINISTRY
9:45 am-12:15 pm  Reaching Beyond the Church Kid (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Evaluate your community and develop strategies to reach students outside your church.

9:45 am-12:15 pm  Successful Small Church Youth Ministry
Follow the example of one church that has embraced its "smallness" and reached its community.

9:45 am-12:15 pm  Youth Ministry Forum (Lx, Lo)
Share coffee and conversation with veteran youth workers.

1:00-2:50 pm  Don’t Be Stupid
Protect yourself and your ministry with important safeguards.

1:00-1:50 pm  Know, Own, Known
Find out if LifeWay’s new youth Sunday School curriculum is right for your students.

1:00-1:50 pm  MySpace and Facebook (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Tips on how to use social networks to reach students.

2:00-2:50 pm  Positive Parent Ministry
Minister to – and with – the parents of your students.

2:00-2:50 pm  Youth Ministry in a Comeback Church (Lx, Lo, Pa, B)
Position your youth ministry as an integral part of the Comeback process.

I mentioned in Part 1 that too often "warm bodies" are enlisted as Sunday School teachers. People are enlisted who have not prayed and feels pressured (or worse, guilted) into accepting. Or the candidate's gifts, passions, personality, or experience don't match. And most of all, they may sense no call from God to serve in that capacity.

What qualifications should a Sunday School teacher possess? What qualifications should a nominating committee, team, or individual seek in a teacher? In Part 1, I shared a list that was put together by Elmer Towns in a free online resource called How to Grow an Effective Sunday School. In Part 1, I shared the first nine qualifications. In Part 2, I will share the last five qualifications and five duties listed in all capitals followed by my brief commentary:

• A CHEERFUL, RADIANT PERSONALITY. A teacher should be positive and encouraging. His/her expectancy should be infectious.
A teacher should be positive and encouraging. His/her expectancy should be infectious.
• A MANIFESTED LOVE FOR [THE ASSIGNED AGE GROUP]. Ideally, this was seen prior to enlistment. Interactions were noted: people enjoyed hearing him/her share as a fellow class member or substitute prior to serving as a teacher and he/she relates well to others during fellowships and projects.
• PATIENCE. Impatience may be a sign of immaturity and can be challenged when working with a group.
• THE ABILITY AND DESIRE TO COUNSEL. A teacher cares about people and wants to help them individually. This comes through teaching time and through person encounters with attenders.
• ORIGINALITY, THE ABILITY TO CREATE AN INTERESTING AND DIVERSIFIED CLASS SESSION. A teacher does more than teach the lesson in the teacher's book. Instead, the teacher crafts a lesson based upon the truth of a passage of scripture that is needed by individuals in the class. Check out Crafting a Sunday School Lesson to Lead to Learning AND Action.

Towns ends his list of Sunday School teacher qualifications with a simple list of duties:

• REGULARLITY IN TEACHING THE CLASS. Regularity are essential for trust, relationships, and effective communication.
Regularity are essential for trust, relationships, and effective communication.
• VISITATION IN PUPILS' HOMES. This is essential in order to build trust, meet needs, and to get to know the learners more personally in order to teach more effectively.
• PUNCUTALITY: BE IN CLASS 15 MINUTES AHEAD OF TIME. When a teacher is late, someone else is in charge. Also, opportunities for creativity and relationship-building are missed. Check out First Impressions: Start Sunday School on Time!, Benefits of Starting Sunday School on Time, and When Does Sunday School Begin?.
• ATTENDANCE AT SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS MEETINGS. The meetings are essential for accomplishing Sunday School work together and for growing as a teacher.
• ACQUAINTANCE WITH PUPILS THORUGH SOCIAL AND OTHER OUT-OF-CLASS GATHERINGS. Monthly fellowships and class projects should be planned to grow the class together and to mobilize them into service. Teachers should join these gatherings.

Go back and check the list in Part 1, I will share the last five of Town's teacher qualifications along wtih five teacher duties. As a teacher, how do you measure up? Not all the way there? Pray and ask God to help you work on your qualifications this year. Give yourself to Him. Give yourself to them. Give your best. Make teaching a priority. Be revolutionary!