Callahan's Fifth Key to an Effective Church: Strong Leadership

(Back in 2011, I started a series of posts based on Kennon Callahan's 1983 volume, Twelve Keys to an Effective Church. My contention then, and now, is that these keys can be directly applied to your Sunday School in beneficial ways. You can see the first four posts in this series by typing the work "Callahan" into the search line above.)

Callahan calls the first six of his twelve keys "relational keys"; these characteristics impact the connections church and Sunday School participants establish with the church and with one another. He also calls them "satisfiers," things that contribute to the learner's sense of well-being and success.

Strong Leadership Resources
The strength of leadership in the Sunday School is demonstrated in three significant ways.

1. The presence of capable volunteers to lead the institution and to teach in its classrooms.
2. The existence of strategic objectives that guide those leaders.
3. Complementary relationships between the volunteer leaders and the pastors and staff.

Capable Volunteers
I've written before in this blog about the enlistment of volunteers. Let me just say here that ideals leaders are (1) able (that is predisposed by temperament, background, and ability to do the job they are enlisted for), (2) trained (no leader or teacher has all the skills and knowledge necessary from day one; training opportunities suited to the individuals interests, needs, and schedule are vital), and (3) supported (that is, given the tools, appreciation, and feedback that will ensure success).

Strategy
Teachers and leaders benefit immensely when they know the specific goals toward which they should strive. Two or three objectives are better than ten. The best objectives are those that are written, owned (constituents have input as they are formed and are offered a chance to "buy into" them), specific and measurable, and realistic (that is, theoretically possible in the time frame allowed). (Check out the first post in this series to hear more.)

Staff Leadership
The pastors and other staff called to or employed by the congregation are vital to every organization that seeks to be effective in carrying out the church's mission. The Sunday School will succeed only to degree to which the efforts of the staff and volunteers are aligned. It is important then that the pastor know and care about the Sunday School, understand and guide its mission, and support its effort . . . and that the Sunday School leaders and volunteers be aligned with and support the pastor.

Strong leadership does not happen accidentally. If you're reading this blog, you have an interest and at least some influence for Sunday School in your congregation. You can identify an area that needs improving and work, through your resources and relationship, to see it happen.

God bless you in those efforts to see that His children are taught His Word.

What is the best way to involve your pastor in your Sunday School?

How does your congregation enlist leaders and teachers for your Sunday School?

Callahan's Fourth Key-Significant, Relational Groups

Working our way down Kennon Callahan's Twelve Keys to an Effective Church, we find the fourth key: significant relational groups. As applied to the whole congregation, Callahan's general point is that most people look the their congregation for more than just worship opportunities, they build relationships. The congregation can be seen as a system of overlapping groups to which people voluntarily associate themselves: a worshiping body (the 8 am service), a choir, a board or committee, or a Bible study. The more relationally connected people are to groups in the congregation, the more regularly they will participate, recommend, and invite others to join.

Relational Sunday School
In the Lutheran Church, Sunday School identifies more closely with children than in other denominations such as the Baptist churches, where Sunday School is seen primarily as a system of classess for adults. And the participation of children in Sunday School is not completely voluntary, given that they do not control their own transportation or Sunday morning schedules.

However, the degree to which children are relationally connected to their Sunday School class, both their teachers and their fellow studnets, the more likely they are to attend regularly and to invite their friends to visit or attend regularly with them. This relational dynamic is a powerful factor in effective Sunday Schools.

How do you build relationships in your Sunday School?

What role will an effective teacher play in making Sunday School a "significant, relational group"?

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

Callahan's Third Key Applied to Sunday School

A few weeks ago, I began reviewing (in between other posts), Kennon Callahan's Twelve Keys to an Effective Church, and applying them to Sunday School. These keys, taken together, provide a great tool for renewed effort toward excellence.

Callahan's Third Key is "corporate, dynamic worship" (his word order and punctuation, not mine). Worship is a primary activity for the Church; it plays a lesser role within the 60 to 75 minutes most congregation's have for Sunday School. And the connection between Sunday School and worship is extremely important as well. Let's look briefly at each.

The Congregation's Worship
The vitality of the congregation's worship affects the health and growth of the congregation and indirectly the health and growth of the Sunday School as well, especially when a worshiping congregation that welcomes and involves children in the Divine Service. You can read more about my thoughts in a previous post by clicking here.

Worship in the Sunday School
Worship plays two important roles within the context of the Sunday School itself. It is a worship opportunity, and it is an educational opportunity.

Opening and closing devotions, whether done as an individual class or larger segment of the Sunday School provide unique opportunities for children to experience worship that is tailored to their specific levels of development, reading ability, and interest. Child-friendly hymns and songs, opportunity for individual prayer concerns to be addressed, and even object lessons or devotional thoughts targeted for children are all possible in a much greater degree than in the Divine Service.

What resources do you find most helpful in classroom devotions or department-wide worship? What resources should your publishing house be providing?

These opening and closing devotions are also an important, even vital, opportunity to teach the elements of corporate worship to children. We can explain the vocabulary used in the parts of the liturgy. We can teach the refrains, such as the Alleluia and Verse, that come and go so quickly in the service that some children are "left in the dust." We can help children memorize the creed and the Lord's Prayer so that their participation in the worship can be more meaningful. We can teach them how to follow the hymn texts from one staff of music to the next in the hymnal. In these ways and more, we can ensure that children grow into full participation in the congregation's worship.

How well does your curriculum integrate the elements of the Divine Service (hymns and liturgy) into classroom/Sunday School worship? What more would you like to see?

Time spend in Sunday School preparing children for and leading them in worship is not wasted. It is excellent Christian education!

God bless you as you teach God's Word (in liturgy and song) to His children.

Callahan's Second Key

I started last week running through Kennon Callahan's Twelve Keys to an Effective Church and will continue the list this week. (But I can't promise to do them order; who knows what other topics may intrude.)

Callahan's second key is Pastor and Lay Visitation. He includes here visits to the unchurched, newcomers, constituents, and members and proposes they be done weekly.

If we tranlate this key to the Sunday School level, we need to consider a few issues.

Is visitation a "lost art"? That's how Callahan describes it in his book (which, you will remember, was published in 1983). And what constitutes a "visit"? To be sure, there is a very different dynamic in a phone call or e-mail contact than a face-to-face contact, and I would suggest that face to face is always better, if it is possible. Yes, it requires time and effort, but when teachers and Sunday School leaders take time to connect with those who attend, or who could attend or used to attend, Sunday School, they can expect fruit. Every ounce of effort expended by your church will be noticed, and almost certainly appreciated, that the people you visit.

You're not ready yet to commit to personal visits. Then commit to phone calls, or personal e-mails (not group posts, please), and strive to make the consistently under some or all of the following circumstances:

• first-time visitors and attenders (those who have attended your Sunday School for the first time, whether they are visitors from the community or families who are considering church membership.


• new enrollees (those who have expressed a commitment to your Sunday School, filled out the registration form, signed on the dotted line, should be welcomed and a concerted effort made to get to know them better, figure out who they might be hooked up with for support, and determine what other resource they might benefit from in the congregation)


• absentees (Set a bench-mark here: absent one week, absent two weeks in a row, absent three weeks. Don't be shy! Say "We noticed you [your child] have [has] not been in Sunday School and wanted to see if there was anything amiss, anything we could do to get you back." You may get an excuse; you may get an earful; you may be able to provide significant support and assistance; you may just prod the lazy sinful nature to come again to God's house to hear about His grace and love.

These visits, whether in person or on the phone, can make a huge difference. They should be made by someone with a natural interest; the teacher is a logical candidate.

Commit to it. See if it makes a difference in your ability to teach God's children His Word.

Keys to an Effective Sunday School

More than twenty-five years ago Kennon Callahan authored a wonderful book that shaped much of my thinking about how a congregation works. It is titled Twelve Keys to an Effective Church and it is still available in limited quantities. It is worth reading.

His "twelve keys" are also worth looking at in terms of Sunday School.

The first key in his list of twelve is one of six relational keys "Specific, Concrete Missional Objectives." Simply put, if you don't know where you are going, any road is as good (or bad) as another; you have a great chance of wandering endlessly.

Specific, because until you can state your objective(s) briefly and clearly, you have little hope of meeting them.

Concrete, because if you can't actually envision the end result, describing it in tangible ways, you cannot really plan to go there.

Missional, which I always thought was an odd word, pushes your objectives out of the selfish and maintenance oriented realm into the world of Christian service.


How would you describe the objectives for your Sunday School? Are they written down? Are they specific, concrete, and missional?


I would love to hear about them! As the weeks unfold, I'll strive to unpack the other eleven "keys" as they related to Sunday School.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!