Fall Preparation Checklist

It's the middle of June. It's time to be thinking about "rallying" your Sunday School troops. Here are some points to consider.

• Set your "Rally Day" or "Christian Education Sunday." Plan with your pastor to emphasize Sunday School, recognize and commission teachers for their service, and (if you have not already done so) advance students to the next grade. Resources for Rally Day can be found at cph.org/sundayschool under "Sunday School Tools."
• Choose your curriculum (Cross Explorations or Growing in Christ, check them out at cph.org/sundayschool) and verify your order. The fall material is available on July 1.
• Choose your "path." New CPH customers can choose either a "Recommended Path" (Old Testament in the fall, followed by two New Testament units in the winter and spring) or a "Chronological Path" (starts in the fall with Old Testament 1 and continues straight through the Bible). Continuing customers should be aware that the Old Testament 2 unit was recently offering in fall 2016; if you choose the chronological path, these lessons may be overly familiar to your students.
• Enlist teachers for the fall. Work to have two adults in each classroom; it's easier than you think.
• Contact every eligible family by phone, mail, or email to encourage enrollment in Sunday School.
• Tour your Sunday School classrooms and list physical improvements: painting walls, new flooring, cleaning the windows, repair/repaint/replace tables and chairs, remove faded/torn posters, etc.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Are You Ready for Spring?

Imagine a beautiful spring day! There are lots of them coming! Why will parents and children spend their time with you each Sunday in the weeks ahead in Sunday School? What will you provide that soccer, tee-ball, weekends at the lake, or sleeping in cannot provide? The opportunity to see Jesus, to hear more about forgiveness of sins and new life in His name!

The lessons you’ll teach from Concordia’s two Sunday School options---Growing in Christ and Cross Explorations---will reveal the power, authority, mercy, and love of our Savior. Your students will watch Him defend the sanctity of the temple, commend the generosity of a widow, die and rise again, be preached throughout the known world, and take His rightful place again on the throne of heaven. These are faith experiences that the world cannot provide. You have an exciting season ahead!

It is not always easy for families to see it that way, though. As you teach in the weeks ahead . . .

• persistently invite every eligible student to join you in Sunday School.
• diligently prepare each lesson to be an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
• warmly welcome each student each week by name and thank them for coming.
• earnestly pray that God will bless each student.  

Thanks for teaching God’s children His Word!