A Case for Starting New Childhood Sunday School Units

Essentials for Excellence - Children Leader Downloadable Book

The Need
Consider the following statistics from The Barna Group:

• Children between the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32 percent probability of accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. This drops to 4 percent for teens 14 to 18 and 6 percent of those older than 18.
• 56 percent of teenagers say that they attended church-related activities two or more times per month prior to turning 13.
• Of the teenagers who responded that they attended at least once a month as a child:
  • 89 percent had fun or positive experiences related to religion
  • 87 percent developed meaningful relationships at church
  • 85 percent developed a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ
  • 53 percent developed the ability to make decisions based on biblical principles
• 16 percent of teens listed their church as their greatest influence in their spiritual development

Obviously the childhood years are wide-open doors to the rest of a person’s life. The need to impact children is evident everywhere. Statistics show the needs. The Bible calls for formal biblical teaching (see Deuteronomy 6:7).

The Method
Children learn best in a relationship with an adult. In the church setting, this means small group units where children interact with a spiritually maturing adult.

A New Unit is an intentional, on-going, evangelistic Bible study group. A childhood new unit could begin in:

• Sunday School Class
• New Church Plants
• Home Bible Studies
• Cell Groups
• Multi-Housing Bible Studies
• Back Yard Bible Clubs (that meet all year long)
• TeamKID Clubs

New Units should be formed around the needs of children. Proper square footage and child/teacher ratios should be maximized for the greatest spiritual impact.

Room Specifications

As churches begin to grow, planning new units should begin. As a rule of thumb, for every 100 prospects/new members, 20-25 will be children (babies through 6th grade). This means anticipating what new units will need to be formed as well as realizing the need for more leaders. Churches should immediately begin enlisting new adult leaders and placing them with experienced childhood leaders to be mentored in preparation for these new units.

While many times churches see gaining the attention of children as a means for gaining adults, a childhood new unit should focus on the child as the ends, not a means. Each child should receive spiritual development at his/her abilities. An adult unit should focus on the needs of the adults in a family.

The Results

• Children are more likely to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ than youth or adults. Forming spiritual foundations in the preschool years set up the strong possibility of a child being saved in his childhood years (7-13). Therefore, an evangelical emphasis with children will help achieve the goal of one million baptisms.
• The desire to maximize room sizes and ratios requires churches to form new units in childhood.
• As churches emphasize childhood ministry, more children will become interested in the activities of a church, thus requiring more units to minister appropriately.
• As churches emphasize childhood ministry, more adults will see the need to be more involved as a childhood ministry leaders.
• As churches emphasize childhood ministry, more adult units will need to be formed as a secondary result of ministering directly to children will cause the interest of parents or guardians.
• As a church emphasizes an adult ministry, more childhood units will need to be formed for those adults who bring their children.