Demographics? Or Something Else?

I have heard recently that research shows a direct correspondence between birthrates and Sunday School attendance across the United States, as if to say, "The reason our Sunday School is declining is that our members are having fewer children."

I don't buy it. That sounds to me like an excuse.

Arnold C. Mueller, synod's editor of Sunday School materials from 1933 to 1966, prepared a document titled "The Sunday School Standard" that suggested five characteristics of a strong Sunday School:

1. A sound educational program (classes for all ages, doctrinally sound materials, each teacher receives all desired materials, classes weekly all year round for at least an hour a week)
2. Adequate and trained leadership (teachers are carefully selected, well trained, well prepared, and publicly recognized; teachers meetings are held twice a month; training courses held each year)
3. A planned mission endeavor (mission work is stressed, students and teachers are trained to be personal missionaries, mission offerings are gathered regularly, at least 80% of eligible students are enrolled, all members are contacted annually to enroll, absentees are contacted by phone or visited, plans are made to improve enrollment and attendance each year)
4. Good administration and equipment (Sunday School is administered by a board of the congregation, adequate space and furnishings are provided, sufficient funds to operate the Sunday School are budgeted annually by the congregation)
5. Vital home and church relationships (Sunday School students also attend church with their families, parents are frequently contacted by teachers and administrators, parents are encouraged to discuss lessons at home)

Where the characteristics Rev. Mueller describes are evident in a congregation and its Sunday School, the Sunday School will thrive because God's Word will be shared in and through it. God promises to bless our efforts to spread His Word (Isaiah 55:11).

The truth is that Sunday School is now, and always has been, hard work. Are we truly making an effort?

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Ashes, Dust, and the Gospel

We started Lent Wednesday evening with the Divine Service preceded by imposition of ashes and the solemn reminder, "Remember you are dust and to dust you will return." It is a helpful reminder of our mortality and our sinful nature. It is Law.

The essence of excellent Lutheran education is a right teaching of Law and Gospel. At times, I suspect we may fail to get the right balance (letting the Gospel predominate) or the right order (Law followed always by Gospel). It is a failing from which humorist Garrison Keillor has often drawn his material, such as this verse from his poem Habañera.

Well, if you’re shy and from the Midwest

And grow up Lutheran, it’s always Lent

He wanted music, laughter and music

But guilt was his mother’s favorite instrument

I would desire that we make the Gospel, rather than the Law, our ultimate goal even during Lent. Let each lesson we teach in this solemn season "show us our sin," yes (Law), but also "show us our Savior" (Gospel).

May God bless you this Lent as you teach His children His Word!

 

Help! CPH Changed My Sunday School Material!

"The lessons no longer align with the Church Year!"
"They forgot the Easter lesson!"
"No wonder! They forgot to put dates on the lessons."

Yep. CPH changed things up in September 2015, and our customers are beginning to notice. Lessons are now organized into 9 themed units, four Old Testament and for New Testament, and the 13 lessons in each unit are organized chronologically. There are no dates to be found. And each unit as it is published will be stocked in the warehouse for purchase in any quarter of the year.

Would you like to teach the Bible in your Sunday School chronologically from Genesis to Revelation? Starting with fall 2016 that becomes a possibility.

Why? It turns out that the most expensive way to publish Sunday School material is by pegging it to the liturgical calendar, which then requires that every quarter of material be re-edited every year to accommodate the shifting calendar. As most Sunday Schools decline and congregational budgets get tighter, it was getting harder and harder to provide material without large increases in prices.

There are some major positives that result from this change.

• Congregations have greater flexibility to start the fall quarter on a date other than the first Sunday in September.
• They can choose the order in which to teach the nine units.
• They can save teaching material and unused student material to use in two or three years when that unit comes up again. The material will not change, so everything will still work together.
• They can stretch out each quarter if there is no Sunday School due to weather, or holidays, or other special occasions.

A couple of things become a little harder:

• It is harder to keep all teachers on the same page. (We have provided several tools for noting when lessons are scheduled by your congregation to be taught, but someone needs to decide those dates and publish them to all the teachers.)
• It is harder to teach children about the Church Year. Church Year Connections is a new annual resource that provides material for opening worship (either with the entire Sunday School or in your classroom) that is focused on the current Sunday of the Church Year. A feature of this resource is a complete set of "Teaching Points for Children" that can be woven into your lessons.
• Each winter and spring, CPH will provide free lessons for Christmas and Easter (more savings!) to supplement the material you purchased.

CPH understands that after 30 years of dated Sunday School material, this change will take some getting used to. We apologize for your frustration. Please know that some things have NOT changed.

• The Gospel of Jesus Christ is still central to every single lesson.
• Law and Gospel are correctly taught at all levels.
• The Small Catechism and hymnal are integrated into our curricula.
• The Bible is accurately taught through the text and images in every lesson.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

When Was the Last Time?

When was the last time you heard the pastor say to your congregation (or, Pastor, when was the last time you said to your congregation), "Sunday School is an important tool for teaching your children more about Jesus"? Or "Sunday morning Bible class is an important tool for equipping yourself to live as God's person in the world and an important example to your children about the value of life-long Christian education."

The pastor is your congregation's single most influential advocate for a strong Sunday School. It is worth encouraging him to speak up, regularly, often, about Sunday School.

God bless your congregation as it teaches God's 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!

Everyday Faith Family Pages---A Free Resource

Are you looking for ways to help families connect to God's Word? Check out this free weekly resource from CPH: Everyday Faith Family Pages. (Click the title to go find these downloadable PDFs.) Pages for the current unit for Growing in Christ, New Testament 1, are located at the bottom of the page.

Each page is designed to engage parents and families in concepts related to that week's Sunday School lesson. They are organized to match our Concordia Sunday School scope and sequence, but they can be used in any congregation with any family. They don't rely on Sunday School content, and they don't assume Sunday School attendance. You can print and distribute these pages to students as a take-home resource, or you can attach them to a email to every family. Use these pages to . . .

• Inform parents of what their children are learning in Sunday School.
• Stimulate faith discussions in the home.
• Encourage families that don't currently attend Sunday School.

Try this resource today! Your families will be glad you did.

Thanks for teaching God's children His Word!

Time for a Census?

Once every ten years, our nation undertakes a census, a count of citizens and an investigation into who they are, what characteristics they exhibit.

Once a year, your Sunday School should also undertake a census. List by name all the children of Sunday School age who are baptized members of your congregation. Then note, to the best of your ability, what characteristics they exhibit.

• Do they attend Sunday School? How frequently?
• Do their parents attend Bible class?
• What other church connections do they have? Worship? Day School attendance? Participation in choir? Other activities?
• Who are their friends within the congregation?
• What challenging circumstances do they face?

What value is there in such a list?

• It is a prayer list. Pray for each family and child, personally and corporately.
• It may suggest social connections that could encourage more frequent attendance.
• It can be a source of incremental improvement. The Smiths have never been to Sunday School; what entry level event might attract them? The Jones attend only once in a while; what strategy or incentive might help them be more faithful? The Roberts children sometimes come but their parents are never in Bible class; what class might appeal to them?
• It can be a aid to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It's a plan that has been used before! "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration . . . ." (Luke 2:1-2 ESV)

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