Simple Steps to Combining Classes

Occasionally, low attendance or absent teachers make it necessary to teach a broad range of children in a single group.

 

Since Growing in Christ and Cross Explorations are unified curricula, you can successfully teach a broadly-graded group of children when attendance is low. Here's what I would suggest to accomplish this.

 

Give each student the lesson leaflet appropriate for his or her grade/age.

• Teach from the teacher guide that matches the leaflet used by the majority of the students, or the guide that hits the middle of your age-range.
• Prepare your lesson ahead of time using this guide, but have the guides for the other levels handy to switch out or adapt activities to best suit your students' needs.
• Accommodate varying reading ability by assigning reading only to volunteers; be alert for words that need to be defined for younger children.
• When the guide directs students to do activities in the leaflet, have the students work in groups that share a common leaflet, or adapt the activity so that it can be done without the leaflet.
• If you have extra time in class, allow the students to complete any leaflet activities that they did not get to do during the lesson. Or, encourage them to do these at home.

God bless you as you teach His children is Word.

Seeds of Faith Podcasts

Many teachers are using Seeds of Faith podcasts as part of their lesson preparation each week. The podcasts are usually recorded in the week prior to the lesson's “normal” use. So congregation who are running ahead of that schedule won’t be able to access the latest podcast. In addition, only the “Recommended” quarter is getting new podcasts.

However, you can access archived versions from previous years. Here’s how:

•             Click on “Tools” on the cph.org/sundayschool website.
•             Scroll down to display the “Seeds of Faith Podcast” link and click on it.
•             Click on any podcast in the list on the right half of the page; it does not matter which one.
•             When that podcast’s page displays, there will be a “Search for” box under the Growing in Christ logo. Type the title of the lesson or the Bible passage you are teaching in that box and search.
•             The podcasts related to that title or passage may be “stacked” in the resulting page. If the lesson you are teaching is not the first one, you can probably scroll down a ways to find it.

 If you have difficulty, one of the editors will be delighted to assist; just send a note to sundayschool@cph.org and we’ll send you a link.

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

Sunday School on Labor Day Weekend?

Did you have Sunday School this past Labor Day weekend? If you did . . .

• You shared God's life-giving Word with some children.
• You demonstrated a commitment to life-long Christian education.
• You showed visitors your church's commitment to children's ministry.

You didn't have Sunday School? Plan on it for next year, and on other holiday weekends, for all the reasons above. Sure, you can . . .

• Combine classes as needed.
• Rotate teaching responsibilities so that some teachers always get a break.
• Organize something special, like strawberries and ice cream after class. 

But don't miss an opportunity to teach God's 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.

Who Is My Neighbor?

Luke 10:25-37 is one of the most compelling of Jesus' parables, and one of the most difficult it seems for Sunday School teachers and Christian educators to "get right." At the heart of the difficulty lies one of the central doctrines of Lutheranism, the correct distinction between Law and Gospel.

In its biblical context, this account is all Law.  A "lawyer," that is a Jew who was well-versed in the Jewish religious regulations, wants to test Jesus, and asks a law-based question: "What shall I do to inherit eternal life?" We are quick to condemn the priest and the Levite for their failure to do what is right for the beaten man. And we marvel at the loving actions of the despised foreigner who is willing to do the right thing. Then, God forbid, we are tempted to teach our Sunday Schools students to go and do likewise.

Dividing Law and Gospel is all about who is doing the work. We see clearly that the lawyer is looking to the Law for his salvation. "What shall I do"---and later, "desiring to justify himself"---these are Law questions. And Jesus' responds to the lawyer with Law answers: "Do this, and you will live"; "Go, and do likewise."

But Jesus is not teaching salvation by works here. He is making it clear that those who seek to justify themselves by their works are setting themselves up for failure. If salvation is a matter of loving one's neighbor as much you love yourself, and if everyone is your neighbor, you're sunk.

Jesus also gives us the opportunity to see a beautiful Gospel truth in this passage. The lawyer asks, in essence, "Who must I be a neighbor to? Who must I love? Who must I show mercy to?" After telling the familiar story, Jesus asks a very different question: "Who proved to be a neighbor? Who is your neighbor? Who loves you? Who has shown mercy to you?"

There is the Gospel! It's not about what we do! It is about what Jesus has done! He was despised by men in our place; He paid the price for our healing and care.

Go and do likewise? Yes! But before we can be the good Samaritan, we must see ourselves as the man who fell among robbers, the one who needs and receives mercy that we do not deserve, cannot earn or repay. Before we are neighbors to those around us, we are neighbors with Jesus.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

"I Have Decided to Follow Jesus"?

I would think that even the most novice pastor, teacher, or DCE in the LCMS, and---by God's grace---our Christian education teachers and leaders as well, would know there is something wrong with this song, something fundamentally un-Lutheran and therefore spiritually dangerous about using it in Sunday School or VBS to instruct children. Lutherans understand that before our conversion by the Gospel, through the proclamation of the Word and administration of Baptism. The Bible describes this in two ways. We are dead in sin (Ephesians 2), unable to love or "decide" for God. We are "enemies of God" (Romans 5), unwilling to love or choose Him. But God is love chose us. Our salvation is completely God's work.

And make no mistake, the songs we sing, the materials we send home to parents, and the signs we post in our buildings teach theology just as much as the words the teachers say.

Christian education material that fails to teach the Gospel clearly is not appropriate for use in a Lutheran congregation.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!

Two Things Times Three

Two things I heard today on the radio:

1. Adult obesity is formed through simple, early habits like preschoolers going to bed early (a habit that reduces late night snacking).
2. Retirement plans require retirement planning.

Two things every parent wants for their children:

1. To live a happy, healthy life.
2. To exhibit lifelong faith and have eternal life.

Two things every congregation should build into their vision statement and the fabric of their ministry:

1. Strong faith in youth and adults is formed through lifelong---cradle to grave---participation in worship, study of God's Word, and service to my neighbor.
2. Sunday School is a tool---yes, only one tool among many, but a strong tool---to assist families and individuals grow in faith.

God bless you as you teach His children His Word!