A Sunday School Crisis

It strikes me that we have a crisis. Sunday School ministry in The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has decreased nearly every year for the past twenty, from nearly 650,000 students and teachers in 1993 to fewer than 350,000 in 2013. In 1993, 93 percent of our LCMS congregations conducted Sunday School; in 2013 only 83% did so. We are not trending well!

Such a crisis merits attention at every level of our synod: national, district, and, of course, congregational. I suspect that most of my readers tend to Sunday Schools at the congregational level, so let me suggest three facets of our Sunday School crisis that might deserve attention.

• We have a "Crisis of Mission": How do we connect Sunday School to the mission statement, the basic purpose, of the congregation? How can it become known as integral to that mission?
• We have a "Crisis of Action": How do we get the child or adult who does not attend to attend once? How do we get the first-time attender to return? How do we get the occasional attender to attend more frequently?
• We have a "Crisis of Focus": How can Sunday School be elevated in the eyes of the congregation's leaders and people? What voices in the congregation will be most readily heard when they speak in support of more family focus in Christian education?

The answers to these questions will be unique to your congregation, but your answers might also assist others. Feel free to share the questions and answers in your congregation. I also invite you to share your suggestions here.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!