Assign Players to Their Positions: Grading the Sunday School

Written by Tim Smith

When a little boy wears a baseball uniform, it won't be long until someone asks, "What position do you play?" All team sports require that players and coaches are assigned to positions. The same is true in Sunday School. Effective Sunday Schools ministries have long embraced the philosophy of setting and grading classes according to age as their method of assigning positions.

Many churches balk at the idea of age-grading. But some criteria must be used to assign members to classes. If age is not the criteria, what will be? What process will you use to determine the proper class for a first-time guest? How will you assign responsibilities for prospects? Let's consider some options.

"Assign the enrollment based on affinity and need."

This seems like a logical approach; many Sunday School ministries operate this way. In some settings affinity groups are worthwhile and needful. There is a place for these ministries within the local church. But if the Sunday School is going to reach its ultimate potential it cannot be organized around affinity and needs alone.

"Just let people register for their favorite class!"

This ineffective approach will almost invariably result in a poor use of space. One gifted teacher has a class that fills the entire fellowship hall. Students can barely find a seat. Meanwhile, other rooms sit empty. Those classes died a long time ago because everyone wanted to be in the class with the "great teacher". Age-grading can help avoid the pitfalls of teacher-worship that was so prevalent in the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 1:10-12).

What Are the Benefits of Age-Grading the Sunday School?

People are more easily assimilated - By assigning the classes based on age the teacher will have a much easier time teaching and applying the lesson. Fellowships and socials are more easily planned with people of the same age group. Visitation, ministry, and outreach through Sunday School are also much more successful when they occurs within age divisions. Grading and promoting classes annually places members in a position to develop new friendships. This can help avoid cliques as well as aid in assimilating people into church life.

Prospects are more easily assigned - A Sunday School organized by age can more easily assign prospects. This approach beautifully marries Sunday School and outreach because a teacher or member will visit a prospect for the class that they would be in. Accountability for a prospect is much more easily tracked using this system.

Pastoring is more easily accomplished - Age-graded classes make ministry much simpler to track. Classes created by age divisions will naturally place ministry responsibility on a specific group.

Planning is more easily achieved - The age-graded Sunday School requires a hard look at the church's space needs. Many churches never consider building additional space until it is almost too late. When churches wait until they are totally out of room before they build, they have usually waited too long. During the time if takes to construct new space momentum can die.

Organizing the Sunday School by age and by grade can help leaders properly deploy the Lord's people. If the classes are not graded there is no way leaders can determine the number of teachers that will be needed. Grading the Sunday School will reveal the number of classes - and therefore the number of teachers - that will be needed to maximize the church's outreach potential.

What Barriers Will the Age-Graded Sunday School Face?

Routine - It is so easy for the people of God to fall into a rut. When a church member has gone to the same classroom with the same teacher and the same classmates for years, a wise pastor will acknowledge the personal difficulty this can create. Rather than brow-beating the people and assuming they have no love for Christ, acknowledge the resistance that everyone feels about change. Point out to the congregation the benefits of age-grading the Sunday School.

Try encouraging the people on an individual basis. If you know that a church member is struggling with this strategy, meet privately with that person and share your vision for Sunday School. Ask that person to pray and seek the Lord's direction regarding their participation in the plan.

Relationships - The beauty of open-group Bible studies can also become one of its barriers. People develop very close friendships with the other members. Though this happens by design, these friendships can create resistance to future reassignments. But if these "friends" are unwilling to reorganize to meet and make other "friends," then they are not "friends" - they are a clique.

Rebellion - When leaders have embraced age-grading, the pastor should not close his eyes to the spirit of rebellion that can manifest in a lack of cooperation. Churches will often reverse course if an influential member or class does not wish to submit. The organizational structure of the Sunday School must not be built upon a anyone who refuses to submit to church leadership.

Does This Really Work?

The next time you are at a high school, college, or professional ball game, take a look at the program. You will notice that each player has some information beside his name. The program lists his jersey number, his weight, height, and position. Each player has been recruited, trained, and deployed to fill a specific post. There are no at-large positions.

The winning Sunday-School pastor will understand and embrace the philosophy of age-grading. Every member needs a specific task and a place to serve. The age-graded Sunday School can help make that goal become reality.

Dr. Tim S. Smith serves as the Team Leader and Consultant for the Sunday School/Open Group Ministries of the Georgia Baptist Convention. He served for 15 years as a minister of education in churches in Georgia and North Carolina. Tim earned his Doctorate of Ministry degree from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and his Master of Divinity with Christian Education from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. He and his family live in White, Georgia.

 

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