How Can Your Sunday School Improve?

I heard again last week an interesting correlation: what we look at, what we measure, what we give attention to tends to improve.

Do I mean that looking closely at your Sunday School will actually bring about improvement? Well, yes! When you look, your mind will raise questions. When you seek answers to those questions, you will raise questions in the minds of others. When people ask questions, they tend to seek answers and solutions.

Imagine then the impact of looking at these questions about your Sunday School.

• How many families attend every week? What are those families like?
• How many parents of Sunday School children attend adult Bible class? How does that affect their children's attendance?
• How many families in your church never attend Sunday School? Why not?
• When was the last time your pastor mentioned Sunday School in his sermon, announcements, or prayers? What might be information he could share?
• How attractive are your Sunday School classroom? How could they be improved?
• How well-trained are the teachers? How do they improve their teaching?
• Which teacher in your Sunday School seems to have great teaching ideas each week? Where do those ideas come from? How could they be shared?
• What part of Sunday School do the children most enjoy? Why?

There are lots of ways to focus more attention on (and thus improve) your Sunday School. Too often the only way too many Sunday School leaders think of is to change to a different curriculum. (Many congregations actually make such a decision every year!) And it can work! Changing your curriculum focuses lots of attention on Sunday School, which could be a good thing, provided you are not sacrificing a core value for your Sunday School (such as teaching the Gospel clearly each week, teaching children about the Means of Grace) and not introducing heresy. But remember that the improvement in your Sunday School comes as much from the focused attention as from the new curriculum.

So, I invite you to look closely at your Sunday School. Think about what you wish were different. Then imagine what could help it to happen. Wishing might actually contribute to making it so!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!