When Was the Last Time?

When was the last time you heard the pastor say to your congregation (or, Pastor, when was the last time you said to your congregation), "Sunday School is an important tool for teaching your children more about Jesus"? Or "Sunday morning Bible class is an important tool for equipping yourself to live as God's person in the world and an important example to your children about the value of life-long Christian education."

The pastor is your congregation's single most influential advocate for a strong Sunday School. It is worth encouraging him to speak up, regularly, often, about Sunday School.

God bless your congregation as it teaches God's children His Word!

What Do You Assume about the Students You Will Teach This Week?

A customer comment this week makes me wonder. The customer challenges our apparent assumption that every student starts from ground zero in every lesson. "Students are capable of so much more!"

I certainly agree. It is not because we who publish Sunday School material think all students are below average that we make very few assumptions about where students will begin regarding the next lesson. It is because we know that some students will be starting at or near zero.

Some students will not have been present last week, or the last time this Bible account was taught in Sunday School, or many of the lessons in between. Some students may have never opened the Bible before. Some will have only a vague recollection of the account, but be fuzzy on the details. Some students may confuse this event with another from Scripture. Some students may have even learned it all wrong for one reason or another.

Even more challenging, any of these conditions might exist for the person who has been enlisted to teach the lesson.

As a result, the Sunday School lesson you get from Concordia Publishing House will, to the best of our ability, reflect the general developmental characteristics that are expected of children within a year or two of the grade for which it is prepared, But we will assume very little Bible background.

That, of course, is where you, the teachers, come in. God willing, you will know your students, or at least know that you don't know them. You can judge whether some of the material in your lesson can be skipped, reviewed lightly, or expanded in order to meet your students where they are in terms of biblical literacy. You create the final edition of the lesson!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Everyday Faith Family Pages---A Free Resource

Are you looking for ways to help families connect to God's Word? Check out this free weekly resource from CPH: Everyday Faith Family Pages. (Click the title to go find these downloadable PDFs.) Pages for the current unit for Growing in Christ, New Testament 1, are located at the bottom of the page.

Each page is designed to engage parents and families in concepts related to that week's Sunday School lesson. They are organized to match our Concordia Sunday School scope and sequence, but they can be used in any congregation with any family. They don't rely on Sunday School content, and they don't assume Sunday School attendance. You can print and distribute these pages to students as a take-home resource, or you can attach them to a email to every family. Use these pages to . . .

• Inform parents of what their children are learning in Sunday School.
• Stimulate faith discussions in the home.
• Encourage families that don't currently attend Sunday School.

Try this resource today! Your families will be glad you did.

Thanks for teaching God's children His Word!

Time for a Census?

Once every ten years, our nation undertakes a census, a count of citizens and an investigation into who they are, what characteristics they exhibit.

Once a year, your Sunday School should also undertake a census. List by name all the children of Sunday School age who are baptized members of your congregation. Then note, to the best of your ability, what characteristics they exhibit.

• Do they attend Sunday School? How frequently?
• Do their parents attend Bible class?
• What other church connections do they have? Worship? Day School attendance? Participation in choir? Other activities?
• Who are their friends within the congregation?
• What challenging circumstances do they face?

What value is there in such a list?

• It is a prayer list. Pray for each family and child, personally and corporately.
• It may suggest social connections that could encourage more frequent attendance.
• It can be a source of incremental improvement. The Smiths have never been to Sunday School; what entry level event might attract them? The Jones attend only once in a while; what strategy or incentive might help them be more faithful? The Roberts children sometimes come but their parents are never in Bible class; what class might appeal to them?
• It can be a aid to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's a plan that has been used before! "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration . . . ." (Luke 2:1-2 ESV)

God's blessings as you teach His children His Word!