Ten Best Practices To Make Your Sunday School Work – Resource Book
What can we do to make sure we have a Sunday School environment in which everyone feels welcome? For starters, we can look at our ministry through the eyes of a new person.
Here are seven steps to help you determine whether your Sunday School measures up.
A good welcome starts in the guest’s home.
That’s right. Your best welcome begins before the person ever comes to your church or to a Bible study classroom. I recently received a brightly printed postcard from a new church nearby. I thought to myself, "If I were a young family member, I would be drawn to that church because of this publication."
The second aspect of a good welcome comes through a personal contact with the guest.
Has your Bible study group made a call to the prospect or, better yet, a visit into the guest’s home? When a contact is made, many prospects feel as if someone really cares about them and their families.
The next step in providing an environment that welcomes everyone is to greet people when they arrive at your church.
Many churches provide greeters who welcome people in the parking lots or at the entrances to the buildings. Giving special attention to young families with infants and small children is a plus. Make sure everyone is greeted warmly upon entry.
Locating where Bible study groups meet is next on our list of making everyone feel welcome.
Unfortunately, to the first-time guest, many church buildings appear to be a virtual labyrinth of hallways and rooms. Those of us who are familiar with where our group meets for Bible study need to remember a new person often is confused about where to go.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of making everyone feel welcome is what happens once guests enter the Bible study class or department room.
How are guests included in what is happening in your Bible study groups?
The teacher and other members play pivotal roles at this point. Here are some tips for evaluating and sharing with other leaders ways to maximize this stage of welcome:
The next stage of welcome comes at the conclusion of the Sunday morning Bible study experience.
Make sure guests receive another round of greetings as the group departs. Encourage them to join you again next week.
Invite them to enroll in your Bible study. Explain that they can be a class member without being a church member. When asked to enroll, guests feel that you truly want them to be part of your group.
The follow-up contact is perhaps the most critical step in making sure everyone feels welcome.
Make sure guests have a follow-up visit or contact from someone in your class within the first 24 to 48 hours of their attending. It is best for a class member to make this contact, although appropriate for the teacher to do so as well.
If yours is a FAITH church, the appropriate FAITH Team - usually formed by members from the Sunday School class the guest visited - should be assigned to make a home visit the next week.
One day we will be welcomed home by our Heavenly Father. What a welcome that will be!
We experience a little of that richness each time we welcome someone to Bible study where they, too, can learn of Jesus.
Keith Wilkinson is retired State Sunday School Director of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
© 2001-2010
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