Effective Ministry to Sunday School Members

Good organization within a Sunday School class or Bible study group is directly related to the effectiveness of a class or group in care ministry. The old truism says, "Everybody's business becomes nobody's business." Through a sound organization, every Sunday School member and prospect becomes the responsibility of a specific person in a class or department group. This way, every person's hurt becomes someone's responsibility and no one is overlooked. There are typically three ways that a Sunday School class can organize its ministry efforts to help build relationships.

A Trusted Friend: When It Matters Most

Use the record system for ministry. Records are more than numbers. A good records system reflects the life and health of classes by revealing information about members and prospects. Individual records should be compiled by each Sunday School class, department, or other Bible study group.

A good record system begins in an up-to-date member roll and an up-to-date prospect file. Every person in this file needs to be ministered to regularly, not just when absent.
This record system helps identify people and their needs, their participation, and give some indication of spiritual growth.
When a ministry need is identified, that need should be recorded and assigned for follow-up to a ministry leader, ministry team, or FAITH team as a ministry visit.
When a member has been visited, a record of that ministry should be communicated to the Sunday School leaders/class so that the class can take actions to help meet the needs discovered.

Use the organizational design for ministry. Here every Sunday School class has a ministry class leader who is responsible for creating an atmosphere in which members and prospects are engaged in providing care and concern for needs within the class and leading out in intercessory prayer efforts.

Use ministry teams/groups for ministry. Here a ministry group leader cares for the needs of those assigned to his or her group (normally, no more than six members and prospects). The ministry group leader telephones, emails, and send notes to all group members each week to maintain contact and discover prayer concern and needs. The goal here is simply to minister. When a visit in needed, the ministry team leader and another group member make the visit. The ministry group leader then reports to the teacher, outreach-evangelism leader and other appropriate class leaders with the results.