Using CPH Sunday School Material in a Small Sunday School

So your Sunday School has just a few students and, most weeks, just one teacher. How can you use CPH's material, which is created for use in congregations with multiple age-grouped classes?

Here's the approach I would take.

If your group does not include young children (aged 3 through first grade) it is tailor-made for Cross Explorations Explore Level 2 ; you can supplement that 20 minute lesson with and opening from Church Year Connections and a couple of the Express resources (your choice of crafts, skits, music, or activities) and you would have enough for an hour and resources that suit a range of ages.

If you want to use Growing in Christ, what I usually suggest is:

•           Buy the age-appropriate student pack for each student expected, even if they are different. Keep them to review each week before class, don’t distribute them all at once.

•           Buy the teacher guide and teacher tools for the biggest cluster of students. Make notes in the Teacher Guide about activities that don’t apply to all student leaflets (“Shelly won’t have this puzzle; she has a craft activity instead.”)

•           As needed during the lesson give the students time to work individually or in age-level groups to complete leaflet activities.

With just a little bit of adaptation, each child can participate in age-appropriate ways.

God bless you as you teach His 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!

Three Simple Things

I'm a pretty old-fashioned guy. I like calling Sunday School "Sunday School." I think it's not a bad idea for students to gather once a week for age-appropriate Bible study with their same-aged peers. I like Sunday School material with realistic biblical art, not cartoons. And I'm okay with lessons that are fairly traditional. I think every lesson should teach about Jesus with clear Law and Gospel.

But as I look at Sunday School lessons these days, I find myself looking for three simple things (in addition to great Lutheran theology).

• an activity that gets the students up out of their seats.
• an activity that gets the students talking to one another.
• an activity that lets the students express their faith in words or actions.

It's not rocket science. Activities like these will improve student attitudes and behavior. They will grow as God's children.

What do you look for in the lessons you teach?

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Is There Value in Sunday School?

Suppose your congregation was a perfect congregation.

• Your members attend church every Sunday.
• Your pastor preaches excellent sermons that reach old and young people equally well.
• Your congregation supports a day school in which all eligible children are enrolled.
• Your parents are comfortable in their roles as the primary influencers of their children's spiritual life and growth and engage in daily family devotions and faith conversations with their children.
• Young and old members alike are avid readers of the Bible and do so daily.

Would there be any point in having a Sunday School?

I would argue that even in that amazing congregation, Sunday School would be a valuable opportunity for all families. It would provide:

• age-appropriate interaction and instruction for each child
• comprehensive coverage of the entire scope of the salvation narrative
• a place to build relationships with Christian peers
• outreach opportunities for friends and others from the community
• another chance to hear the blessed Gospel

Of course, your congregation and my congregation fall woefully short of that perfect standard. Sunday School then helps fill the gaps. It is surely worth every moment, and every penny, we invest in it.

God bless you as you provide opportunities for His children to study His Word!