How Adult Classes Can Honor Associate Members

Written by David Francis

Late summer is the time of year when children are back in school, and most churches begin a new Sunday School year with something like "Promotion Day" or "Advancement Day." On this Sunday, many children move "up" to a new class and meet new teachers. Many of those teachers are new to this ministry, too. But whether they are rookies or veterans, many choose to teach kids rather than to attend their adult classes.

Connect3 Booklet

Unfortunately, many adult classes soon forget about those who would be members of their class were they not serving as teachers with preschoolers, children, or students. Here are a few ideas your class can use to make sure you honor these important "associate" members.

Visually celebrate your class's "Missionaries to Kids!" Use a wall, bulletin board, a poster, or even one of those tri-fold displays used for science projects as a visual reminder of your associate members who are teaching kids. Put "Our Missionaries to Kids" across the top. Have someone go to the "mission field" - the room where they are teaching - and take a digital photograph. Print it out and add it to the display.

Call attention to the display every week and pray for one of your Missionaries to Kids. Here's how that might sound: "We're glad you guests have joined us today for Bible study. You can see that we have a nice group of people in our class. But this is not all of us! Some of our class members serve as our missionaries to kids during Sunday School. Their names, photos, and places of service are on the display. This morning, we are going to pray for them." Ask Jim and Linda's care group leaders to share specific prayer requests on their behalf. Make sure your class members pray for them by name, also mentioning the names of any children of their own.

Assign associate members to great care group leaders. Here's a brief job description for a care group leader: Contact every member every week. That means whether they were present or absent! I recommend creating single-gender care groups, even in coed classes. Male and female group leaders should each contact no more than seven members. The gender separation is necessary because it ensures that every member receives a contact every week. You can understand why care group leaders may feel uncomfortable contacting those of the opposite sex. Consider dividing associate members among care group leaders, or assign one or more group leaders as associate member specialists.

Invite associate members to all class parties and functions. This is one of the most significant - but often overlooked - ways to keep your associate members connected with the class. Maybe even say something during the function, like, "We are so happy to have several of our missionaries to kids with us tonight." Remember that some new members may have joined since your missionaries departed for service. So be sure to provide everyone with name tags!

No Sunday School ministry can enjoy sustained growth without dedicated preschool, children and student workers. Nearly all these leaders come out of adult classes, and they need to stay connected. The real measurement of an adult class' strength is not just the number in attendance but also the number of those serving outside the class. Challenge your adult members to celebrate the "missionaries" they produce.

David Francis is LifeWay's director of Sunday School. His latest book is Connect3 - The Power of One Sunday School Class. This is the fourth installment in the 3D Sunday School series following I-6 Invite: A Six-Lane Strategy toward an Inviting Sunday School and The Discover Triad: Three Facets of a Dynamic Sunday School Class. David has previously served as Minister of Education at First Baptist Church, Garland Texas, and currently teaches a preschool class on Sunday mornings.

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