Teaching God's Children

The task of teaching God's children His Word is shared. Certainly parents bear the primary responsibility for providing for this Christian education of their children through their personal instruction at home and by bringing their children to the Divine Service, participating in Sunday School, and enrolling their children in a Lutheran school if one is available to them.

And of course, the Lutheran congregation shares this responsibility as it administers the Sacraments, especially Baptism, operates a Sunday School for all ages, and institutes a Lutheran school for the education of the children of the congregation and community.

It is a partnership. It involves mutual accountability. The congregation may at time need to remind parents of their responsibility to take advantage of the Christian education opportunities. And at times, the parents may need to remind the congregation of its responsibility to maintain high standards of instruction and curriculum in the Sunday School and other Christian education agencies.

At the end of the day, at the end of time, I doubt that excuses will serve. We didn't have enough money. I was too busy to volunteer. The material they used in Sunday School was boring. God commands that His children be instructed in His Word (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). And He promises to use such instruction to bless His children (Isaiah 55:10-11).

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Why Have a Sunday School?

I really wanted to title this blog post "Get Rid of Your Sunday School, if . . . !" And as you see from the rest of this post, the "if" is really important and I certainly did not want the casual reader to take away the wrong message. Because, while I can imagine a congregation that would not need a Sunday School to assist in its mission, I have never "met" one.

But, if in your congregation . . .

• children are fully integrated into the worship service,
• families faithfully and frequently attend worship and receive the Lord's Supper,
• students attend a Lutheran Day School,
• parents have placed the Holy Scriptures into the hands of their children and provide daily family devoted time,
• children have a ready understanding of the salvation narrative, the basic accounts of the Bible, Luther's Small Catechism, and spend time each day in increasing that knowledge,
• parents regularly and comfortably discuss God's Word and its impact on their faith and daily life,

. . . then perhaps a Sunday School is not crucial.

On the other hand, what could it hurt?

God bless you for providing weekly opportunities for God's children to study His Word!

Building a Sunday School Expectation

Is there a Sunday School teacher or director, pastor, or director of Christian education who believes that their Sunday School attendance is good enough? A survey conducted earlier this year by Concordia Publishing House indicates that "low or sporadic attendance" is the number one challenge for Sunday School leaders. The number two challenge? Lack of family engagement.

So, how do you motivate families, parents and children, to avail themselves of the Sunday School opportunity you provide each week? Let me suggest three actions that will make a difference.

1. Your pastor's expressed expectation for Sunday School involvement. Encourage your pastor to talk about the value of Sunday School participation for all ages as often as possible. From the pulpit, during worship announcements, as he meets with families before a Baptism, when he reports to the voters assembly. I recall the words of a mission-minded pastor who preceded me in a congregation: "Stay close to the spout where the glory comes out." When the pastor says it is important for adults and children to be in Sunday School, they will listen. If he does not make this recommendation frequently and publicly, they may feel excused.
2. Frequent public information about your Sunday School. Certainly the accurate weekly schedule, information about locations of classrooms, and a general invitation should be printed in your church's publications. In addition, profiles of faithful teachers, stories about special classroom activities, and curriculum information can be shared. Involve Sunday School classes in the worship services through singing, dramatic interpretation of the Scripture readings, or puppet shows.
3. An effective nursery roll program. Starting with the birth of a child, many congregations begin a ministry of visits and mailings to share information about a child's physical and spiritual development. This information culminates with an invitation to enroll the child in their first Sunday School class as soon as possible after their third birthday.

The goal is to create an expectation that children and adults in your congregation will attend Sunday School. It becomes what the members of [Zion or St. Paul's or you name it] Lutheran Church do. Your congregation's leaders can be reminded of the example they set in this regard. Integrate into this expectation the reason for the behavior: hear more about our Savior Jesus and to grow closer to Him and stronger in the faith.

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