Sunday School that Really Works, Lesson #4



Sunday School That Really Works, Lesson #4

A Discussion Guide to Steve Parr’s Book.

Good Questions Have Groups Talking



Email your group and invite them to read some stories of growing Sunday Schools at

Chapters 7 & 8

OPEN

Let’s each share your name and one thing you have learned during this study so far.

DIG

1. Steve begins this chapter with a letter he received about a man named Greg that came to faith in Christ. Who can tell a positive testimony of what Sunday School has meant to you, or of how you have seen Sunday School change someone else?

Many U1s will accept Christ as soon as they hear the gospel. Others will ponder the issues with care and conviction. But not all the U1s will respond on the spot. Unfortunately, some of the programmatic evangelism approaches do not consider that those who are not responding today just need a little more time. We should not abandon our efforts to reach them.

Margie H. of Vermont is a new Christian who heard the gospel from her coworker at the bank. “I guess I took the first step with Wanda,” Margie told us. “It was obvious that she was a Christian. She read her Bible at work and always seemed to have a cheerful disposition. And that’s not easy with the tyrant we have for a boss.

“God had been working in my life. I had never attended church, but I started thinking about it. First, my fiancé and I broke up. Then I couldn’t stop watching Billy Graham on television. It was like everywhere I turned something about Jesus was being mentioned.

“I finally got up the courage to talk to Wanda. I basically asked her why she read the Bible. Deep inside I was hoping she would give me more information than I was asking. Boy did she!

“I guess she knew right away that I was a lost person seeking Jesus. She not only answered all my questions, she asked to take me to lunch the next day. And she was buying. I couldn’t refuse.

“At lunch the next day, she shared with me in a real nice way how Jesus had saved her. I was hanging on to every word. Then she asked me if I would like to accept Christ. Right there in the restaurant! I tell you, I was so nervous that I had to leave the table. I thought I was going to be sick. I told her I had to leave.

“I couldn’t sleep much that week. I was under conviction but scared to make a decision. I was also afraid that Wanda wouldn’t talk to me anymore about Jesus. I mean, I did run out of the restaurant!”

Wanda patiently, lovingly, and persistently deepened the relationship with Margie. Three months later Margie accepted Christ. “What if she had given up on me?” Margie pondered. She did not, and Wanda is a lesson for us today in loving persistence in sharing our faith. — Rainer, Thom S. (2009). The Unchurched Next Door: Understanding Faith Stages as Keys to Sharing Your Faith (Kindle Locations 2750-2768). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

2. P. 145. How can enrollment be used as a tool for evangelism?

It doesn’t matter what you call it—enrollment list, prospect list, or whatever. What matters is that you keep up with people who could come to your class and are not doing so. Call them and invite them to do so. Program their names into your cell phone. Have them over for dinner. Strengthen your relationship with them. The gospel normally spread on relational lines.

3. Steve mentions four things that happen when someone is enrolled. Can you find all four?

First, he or she receives intercession.

Second, a person who is enrolled receives invitations.

Third, a person enrolled in Sunday school experiences involvement. He

Fourth, those enrolled in Sunday school have inclination.

— Steve Parr. Sunday School That Really Works: A Strategy for Connecting Congregations and Communities. Kindle Edition.

4. True confession time. How often do you pray for the people in your class?

Many years ago, evangelist S. D. Gordon said, "The greatest thing anyone can do for God and man is to pray." After 25 years of leading small groups and coaching small group leaders, I have come to one clear conviction: prayer is the most important activity of the small group leader. If a small group leader could do only one thing to make the group more effective, that one thing would be to pray.

Prayer is a fascinating tool for the person with a heart to minister to others. It is one of the simplest things we can do. All we need to do is sit down and lift someone tip to the attention of God. Yet most of its will admit that it is one of the hardest things to do for others. We get busy. We get distracted. We get discouraged, and we just don't pray enough.

Highly effective small group leaders view prayer as a non-negotiable aid in their ministry to others. They use it often and well. They build it into their daily schedules and make it a high priority. They don't just pray a little; they pray a lot. — Dave Earley. The 8 Habits of Effective Small Group Leaders (Kindle Locations 189-195). Kindle Edition.

5. Let’s pause and pray right now for members and prospects of our groups.

You ought to do this from time to time—pray in the middle of class. We are prone to get in a routine. We pray at the beginning of class; we pray at the end of class. Every now and then just bust up in the middle and pray.

6. When would you take someone off the role?

When they move away, become active in another church, ask to be removed, or die.

7. When should you add someone to the enrollment list?

Steve may disagree with me on this. It doesn’t matter to much whether they are on a prospect list of an enrollment list. The important thing is that they are contacted. One way to do that is to have a party once a month and see that every member and every prospect is invited.

8. Page 152. How would you feel if you missed several weeks and no one noticed that you were absent? How would you want people to treat you if you were absent for several weeks?

This is one of the reasons why I love the “invite every member and every prospect to every fellowship every month” plan. You don’t have to nag people about being absent. You have a built in excuse to call and invite every month. The tricky balance is about showing that you care without being a nag or making them feel guilty. As your relationship with them strengthens, you may can be a little more confrontational.

9. How often do you contact the members of your group?

Once someone gets added to the roster, usually after the first visit, the highly effective leader will contact the person. This usually involves a short phone call thanking them for coming, asking how they liked the group, and inviting them to return. As these new ones come back and get connected to the group, the group grows.

We found the power of the principle of contacting when we started our church. We began with eleven people meeting in my basement, and the church grew to 100 in 6 months and 200 in 18 months. I called almost every family every week. I spend a few evenings a week and Saturday afternoon making these five-minute phone calls until the church got to an average attendance over 200. Then the five members of our leadership team divided the calling up between us. We found that the principle of contacting made the difference.

My two oldest sons started an evangelistic Bible study at their public school. They meet 45 minutes before school begins, every Wednesday morning. They gathered and grew the group to over 25 kids in a couple of months. Most of these kids are unchurched.

How did they do it? Every Tuesday, they talked to kids at school and every Tuesday night they got on the phone and made short phone calls. They found that the principle of contacting works. If they contacted their friends, they came, and if they did not contact them, they did not come. — Dave Earley. The 8 Habits of Effective Small Group Leaders (Kindle Locations 397-405). Kindle Edition.

10. Page 157. How can fellowships be used effectively for evangelism?

Did you mean to say fellowships or socials? No, I mean parties! There may not be a better tactic for creating opportunities for invitation than department or class or group parties. Parties should be scheduled regularly. It requires discipline and a committed leader who will take the responsibility for planning such events, typically called the Activities Leader, Fellowship Leader, or Connect Leader. I’ve never heard one of these leaders referred to as a Party Planner, but that is the essence of the job. And it is a very important role in a group serious about creating a culture of invitation.

In a church I served as Minister with Adults, we asked Sunday School groups to plan 10 parties a year, one per month except in June—when Vacation Bible School Family Night was the major Friday night event—and November—because of Thanksgiving. Christmas parties were scheduled early in December—and were some of the biggest events of our church year. Departments and classes that included parents had their parties on the third Friday, with childcare provided for a small fee at the church. Because all the kids were there together, they had something planned for them as well, and they liked Party Night as much as their parents. We mailed out only one large postcard which listed the theme and location of each department’s party, and contact information. The card was mailed to every adult on the roll, every prospect, and every associate member serving in preschool, children, and youth classes. Most often, parties included the entire department. Sometimes, each class had its own party. Twice a year, groups could opt to use the night as a “Parents Night Out,” with couples or smaller groups enjoying a more intimate dinner or other activity. This provided a great opportunity to invite a prospective couple to get to know them better or have a spiritual conversation in a relaxed atmosphere. Most of the time, the parties were the typical fare of food, fun, and fellowship—with the food usually providing the theme. A favorite menu that made its way among our groups (who often stole the good ideas of other groups they saw on the card!) was Mexican Stack Up. People signed up for the various ingredients: chips, ground beef, beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, onions, sour cream, cheese—even pecans and coconut. Guests were asked to bring something such as a 2-liter soft drink or a bag of tortilla chips, so they could feel a part of the gathering. When the weather was nice, outdoor activities might be included.

The Party Night principle can apply to other special events as well. If your church is taking a group to a ballgame, use the event to invite a FRAN in a non-threatening environment. Most unbelievers not only need to hear the gospel of Christ, but they also need to see that Christ followers are real people. Becoming a Christian is almost always the result of socialization as well as evangelization. — David Francis.

11. Page 163. How do you manage parties if the group gets quite large?

First, it is time to create a new group.

Second, you can have big parties at the church or at a public place like a bowling alley or putt putt.

Third, you can have multiple parties on the same night.

12. How do you imagine your group feels about starting a new group?

I taught for several years that if we are going to see a doubling group movement in our country, the groups themselves must embrace the vision of growing and dividing. After all, a group of 10 that doubles every 18 months can reach 1,000 people in 10 years, and a group of 10 that doubles every 18 months would reach the whole world in approximately 43 years. What an incredible opportunity!

So, why isn't it happening? My reasoning was: We don't want it to happen. The group has to first embrace the vision.

I had good reason to think this. I have had lots of people over the years say to me, “But we don’t want to double our class. Our class is comfortable the way we are.” I assumed that groups that were growing were made up of a different breed of people—people who were fired up about the vision. With these race horses, we could grow using any method or no method. I reasoned that groups that were growing must comprise the kinds of people who really embraced the vision of doubling groups.

Not so. There was almost no difference (2%) in the likelihood of growth between those in the top and those in the bottom of this scale. I was shocked. People who really embraced the vision were only slightly more likely to be doubling, when compared with those who didn’t embrace the vision.

How can we explain this? Here’s my attempt:

Imagine you’re rocking along, facilitating a group, but not overtly pushing it to grow and multiply. How aware are you of your group’s feelings about growing and multiplying? How likely would you be to report that your group is strongly opposed to the idea? Not so much, right?

Now, suppose you get bitten by the group multiplication bug. You start actively talking to your group about growing and multiplying. What kind of response do you expect to get?

In case you’re not sure, trust me—it’s highly unlikely that your group will openly embrace it. You start ranting about growing and dividing, they start resisting. How aware are you now of your group's feelings about the vision? How likely are you to report that your group is strongly opposed to growing and multiplying? Very likely.

The more the leader embraces the vision of growing and multiplying, the more likely he or she is to be aware of the group's resistance. Eventually, as the leader succeeds in growing and multiplying the group more people get on board with the vision. But it takes time.

In short, I still believe that if a group has embraced the vision it is more likely to be growing. Conversely, though, the more the vision is cast, the more aware the leader is of resistance. These factors offset each other, I think. But the facts remain the facts.

The lesson we can take away is this: if you want to grow your group and birth new ones, you don't have to wait for your group to get the vision. Sometimes they’ve already embraced the vision and sometimes they haven’t. Either way, groups usually only embrace the vision after they‘ve seen it work a couple times.

I had a man come up to me after a conference in the Houston area with this testimony. “I bought your book [You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less], read it, and put it into practice. Our group grew. I presented the idea of multiplying. They hated it! They hated me! They hated you, Josh! But we did it anyway. Attendance actually dropped for a while. But, we rocked along. We kept doing the things that had caused us to grow—having parties and inviting every member and every potential member. We had the group well-organized and lots of people involved. A year went by. I looked up and noticed we had as many as we had had before we divided. The other group was doing just about as well. I realized we would have never gotten that many to come to our small group. So, we divided again. People were grumpy, but not as badly as before because they had seen some positive results. We grew again, and recently divided again. I’m starting to think I can do this!”

Most people catch vision after they see the results. It’s much the same way in other areas of life. You don’t have to be excited about grilled chicken, broccoli, and exercise to lose weight; you just have to eat broccoli and grilled chicken—and, of course, exercise.

Lesson: Don’t wait for your group to embrace the vision of growing and multiplying; just work the plan. — Make Your Group Grow, Josh Hunt

13. Chapter 8. Page 173. How do you use class time to keep your group organized?

Here’s what I suggest: Have a Vision Day once a quarter. Every three months, re-cast your group’s vision. Talk about the progress your group has made, and your goals and plans for the next quarter. (If you use materials that run on a quarterly basis, do this at the beginning of each quarter.) If there’s a “numbers guy” in your group who can statistically illustrate your progress, all the better. Talk about what parties went well and why. Brainstorm ideas for future parties. Talk about who might be drifting and who needs some love and attention in the group— whether that’s a one-on-one lunch or a group visit.

Then, talk about who’d like to serve during the next quarter. Ask: Who’d like to plan the fellowships? Who’d like to invite every member? Who’d would like to invite every prospect?

This quarterly evaluation is key to making your group grow. It provides an ongoing point of mid-course corrections to keep your group on track.

It’s been said that an airplane is technically off course about 99% of the time. That is, 99% of the time it’s not heading straight toward its destination. Winds constantly blow it off course. Through a series of mid-course corrections—not too unlike what we do when we drive—the plane is able to arrive at its destination. Vision Days insure that you’ll have regular mid-course corrections to stay on track. — Make Your Group Grow, Josh Hunt

14. Page 173. How can Sunday lunch be used to grow your group? Can anyone share a testimony? How have you used Sunday lunch for ministry?

In addition to using Sunday lunch for organization, you might also use it for ministry. Call someone who has been absent and invite them to lunch after church. I bet they come to church as well. Invite a recent visitor to your church. They just might come to Sunday School as well.

15. Page 173. Why is it important to start your preparation early in the week?

There has been a lot of research on creativity. Creativity works best when you study, relax, study, do something else, study, go to work, study, take a nap and so forth. Rarely does a Saturday night special create the best lesson. Key point: you don’t have to spend a lot of time early in the week; just get the big idea in your brain and let it start percolating.

16. Page 173. How have you used technology to strengthen your group?

Tell me you have a Facebook Group! Tell me you have every member and prospect’s phone number in your cell phone. Make life easy on yourself. Use technology to stay in touch.

17. Page 174. Who is on your team? Who is helping you grow your group? How is your group organized?

If your class has fewer than six, you don’t need to worry about a team. You can do all the contacting, organizing and arranging that needs to be done. This is how new classes often begin. The nice thing about doing it yourself is that you can be sure that everything is getting done. But if you do well, the job will soon grow, and you will need to give part of it away. This is, after all, the point. We grow classes by teaching them and giving people a piece of the action.

Seven member team.

As the group grows, you may want to develop a seven member team. This is the most sensible arrangement for a mid-sized class (10 - 20). Team members are:

We grow people by teaching them and giving them a piece of the action.

• Teacher

• Inreach leader

• Outreach leader

• Fellowship leader

• Hospitality leader

• Prayer leader

• Class president

The teacher’s job is to present a half-way decent lesson each and every week; nothing less will do.

The inreach leader takes care of everyone whose name appears on the roll. This person loves them, keep up with their lives, invite them to every fellowship every month, and helps shepherd them toward spiritual maturity. If you use this arrangement, I suggest that the inreach leader also take roll. That way, you stay in touch with whether people are present and absent. By the way, it you take roll at all, you ought to contact people who are absent in some way. The inreach leader can do this.

The inreach leader should see that cards are written to everyone who is absent. I suggest writing cards to absentees right there in class. At our church, we furnished the cards and paid the postage. Groups could leave the cards in a designated place for mailing on Monday. I worked with one group that circulated a sheet that had “We missed you” written at the top. The inreach leader would write the names of people that were absent on the sheet and then pass it around. The whole group had an opportunity to write a personal note to the people who were absent. This proved to be very effective. Not only is it quick and easy, you can rest assured that it will be done because it happens during the Bible Study hour.

The Outreach Leader is responsible for everyone whose name is not on the roll.The outreach leader is responsible for everyone whose name is not on the roll. Sometimes there is confusion—this person has attended three times—is she the inreach leader’s or the outreach leader’s responsibility? Answer: if the person’s name appears on the roll, she is the inreach leader’s responsibility, if not, they are the outreach leader’s.

Give your outreach leader the freedom to discover creative ways to involve people in outreach and to assimilating new people into the life of the group. The two most effective ways are: (1) inviting every prospect to every fellowship every month; and (2) giving Friday nights to Jesus. Encourage outreach leader to be friendly, real, and personal with the outsiders.

Teachers should remain personally active in outreach themselves. Just as a pastor has a unique role in leading a church in outreach, so the teacher has a unique role in attracting new members. You can delegate, but stay involved. Open your own home from time to time. Do some of the inviting yourself.

The fellowship leader plans fellowships as often as the group wants fellowships. If you have never planned a fellowship, you probably do not have an adequate appreciation for how much work it is. Someone has to set up the baby sitting, buy the streamers, arrange the meeting place and so on. As I said earlier, all good ideas degenerate into work. The fellowship leader may not plan the details of every fellowship, but they are responsible for making everything happen. One way to lighten the load is to assign a different person to help plan the fellowship every month. —You Can Double Your Class in Two Years or Less, Josh Hunt

18. Let’s talk about training. How can the church serve you in getting you the best equipping possible? How can we further train you to do your job effectively?

Research clearly shows that trained leaders are better leaders. In fact, quality training turns a worker into a leader! The more knowledge and skills people acquire, the more empowered they feel. A worker with little knowledge and little skill does not feel confident to lead others. As workers grow, they are now ready to lead others. Hence, they have grown from workers doing tasks to leaders empowered to take others on the journey. — Taylor, Allan (2009). Sunday School in HD: Sharpening the Focus on What Makes Your Church Healthy (p. 36). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

19. What skills do you feel you most need to develop? What areas of training do you need help in?

Here is a suggested list: leadership, basic Sunday School, spiritual formation, people skills, evangelism and church growth, and biblical knowledge.

20. What format would you like to see training take? Week by week class? Saturday morning?

Once creative idea is to have training on Sunday morning from time to time. Another is to put information on CD or in podcasts. We have a multitude of delivery systems.

21. How would you say you have grown as a leader in the last year or two? What have you learned about following God and leading others to follow God in recent years?

22. Let’s talk about preparation for the lesson. How do you normally go about your weekly preparation?

23. Summary. What have you learned during this study that you want to remember?

Note: If you enjoyed this lesson format, I would invite you to try Good Questions Have Groups Talking. I write 4 new lessons each week that correspond with Lifeway’s lessons, as well as the International Standard Series. They can be used supplementally or stand-alone. Each lesson is similar that this one, with 20 or so ready-to-use questions and answers from leading experts on the subject. Good Questions are available on a sliding scale basis that is affordable for any size church. See for more information.

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