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!

What Can You Improve?

Sunday School success is rarely a result of wholesale revision. It is more often achieved through incremental progress.

What change might you consider this year in your Sunday School to make it better?

• Re-stock the supply cabinet?
• Give the Sunday School rooms a face-lift? (refresh faded and torn bulletin board contents, paint the walls, wash windows, remove broken or unused toys and furniture)
• Recruit parents to "just be present" in the classroom, one parent each week? (It gives parents a glimpse of what goes on in Sunday School, supports good student behavior, and may lead to some substitute or full-time teaching.)
• Establish a Sunday School e-mail newsletter?
• Purchase those Teacher Tools packets for your teachers?
• Push for a 10% increase in the Sunday School budget?

What one thing could you do this year?

God bless you as you teach His children His Word.

As the Twig Is Bent, So Grows the Tree

A question for the parents in your congregation: "Where do you want your children to be, spiritually speaking, when they are young adults?"

• Worshiping regularly in an orthodox church?
• Growing in God's Word?
• Having daily devoted time?
• Serving others regularly and joyfully?

The follow-up question is obvious: "What are you doing now to fulfill those dreams for your children?"

• Are you bringing them to worship every Sunday? (This is where they will learn to worship.)
• Are you attending Sunday School as a family? (The parents' example is paramount.)
• Do you lead them in devotions daily?
• Does your family serve together to benefit others in your church, neighborhood, and larger community?

Yes, there is a certain amount of Law here, for God's Word shows us how to live our lives in a way that keeps us free from sin and temptation and close to the Means of Grace, God's Word and Sacraments.

As the twig is bent, so grows the tree! Too many parents begin to show concern for their children in the teenage years, as the child begins to grow more independent (as children must) and the parents' influence wanes. Now is the time to build life-long habits of worship, study, and daily devotion.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Do You Want a Better Sunday School?

There are no shortcuts. Whether you have a large congregation or a small one, having a good Sunday School is hard work. The payoff, of course, is worth it . . . bringing children to Jesus through His Word.

Sunday School is not about

• fun
• entertainment
• the latest material
• going easy on the church budget

Sunday School is about

• seeing Jesus
• teaching Law and Gospel
• building relationships
• partnering with parents

Here are five steps toward a better Sunday School:

1. Talk with your pastor. Invite him to encourage families to participate in Sunday from the pulpit, regularly.
2. Make a list of children who are not attending Sunday School.
3. Get to know those families yourself.
4. Find bridge families, people you know who know some who do not yet attend. Encourage them to support marginal families in their church connections.
5. Send sample Sunday School materials to families who are not attending Sunday School or who attend infrequently. Encourage them to use the materials at home and remind them that there is a place for them in Sunday School each week.

God bless you as you teach His children His word!

Who Is Missing?

You are five weeks into a new quarter of Sunday School. Routines are established. The dust has settled. You know your students pretty well and they know you.

It's time to ask, "Who is missing?"

Are all the students present each week who could be? Who should be? Probably not. Make a short list today, one or two names of students you miss. What would it take to get them to class?

• A personal contact?
• A promise (fulfilled, of course) of an activity they will find interesting?
• Contact from another student?
• An offer of transportation?
• A reminder to parents of the important opportunity that is being missed?
• A nudge from the pastor?

Say a prayer. Choose one thing you can do. Do it today.

God will bless you as you teach His children His Word.

Send It Home!

A recent Sunday School product survey here at CPH has suggested that the family connections built into our student leaflets may be the components of the material least valued by teachers. The response rate on the survey was rather low; the data is not statistically reliable. But the message is troubling.

Are we guilty of paying lip service to the notion that parents are the primary sources of faith nurture for their children? We know that is God's plan. Surely we must do all we can to support and encourage faith formation in the home, throughout the week, even as we also encourage families to avail themselves of Christian education and Sunday School.

On one hand, I can imagine some of the reasoning behind the low scores some teachers give the family connection components. They are not intended for use in class. They take up space in the leaflet that could be devoted to in-class activities. The students often don't even take the leaflet with them when they leave the classroom. It could be perceived as a waste.

Instead, I might suggest that we re-think our strategy. If we value our partnership with the home in faith formation, we might:

• Encourage students to take the leaflets home.
• Point out the activities the student could show their parents or even do with their parents at home.
• Mention the Bible account summaries and family devotion suggestions to the parents in conversation at the classroom door, or in e-mail updates to the parents. Challenge them to look for these things in the leaflet their child brings home.

Finally, I would encourage Sunday School teachers and directors to make full use of two key resources as you partner with parents.

The first are the Explore More Cards feature the biblical art for each lesson along with 4 or 5 activities or discussion questions that families can use in the car or during family devotions to review and explore the Bible account more fully. Some congregations use these cards as incentives to encourage attendance. They are listed in the Cross Explorations section of our Sunday School order form, but are designed for work equally well with Growing in Christ.

The second resource are the weekly "bulletin notes" available on the Director CD (GiC), in the Director Handbook (CE), or in the Tools section of our Sunday School Web site (cph.org/SundaySchool). Many congregations already print these paragraphs in the church bulletin, but they can also e-mailed to parents before each Sunday as a way of encouraging attendance or after each lesson as a reminder to review and discuss the lesson with the students.

God bless you as you equip parents to teach His children His Word!

Have You Seen the NEW 'Happy Times'?

 

CPH's fun magazine for preschoolers and the adults to love them has undergone and thorough, thoughtful revision.

Each issue has a topic, a recipe, an action poem, a coloring page, a craft, one of God's amazing creatures, and the faith talk parents and teachers can use to share the Gospel with their children.

Click here to get more information and see a sample issue online.

Share this great news with Sunday School parents, preschool and daycare families, grandparents . . . anyone who loves preschoolers!

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Building Up Your Sunday School

Who would not love to have more children attending Sunday School each week?

One powerful tool is a strong adult Bible study program, one that addresses the needs and matches the learning styles of parents with children. It will have three immediate benefits.

In the first place, if the parents are in Bible class, so will the children be in Sunday School.

Second, the example of the parents in valuing lifelong Christian education will impact the children in very positive ways.

Third, if parents join their children in study during the Sunday School hour, the children will then join the parents for worship, which, sad to say, is not always the case in our churches these days.

Good things happen when children learn to value weekly opportunities for worship and Christian education. God promises this will be so!

God bless you as you teach His children, and their parents, His Word!

Thanks!

Thank You, God, for . . .

• Thousands of volunteers who teach Sunday School each week.
• Parents who bring their children to church each Sunday for worship and Bible study.
• Parents who teach the Christian faith to their children as part of their daily family routine.
• Dorothy and Carl Felten, neighbors who reached out to my brother and me during our childhood to make sure we had the opportunity to attend Sunday School. Dorothy taught my Sunday School class for at least five years in a row; Carl provided transportation and regular incentives to keep us coming back (yea for Dairy Queen!).

Thanks, God, for the blessing of teaching Your children Your Word.