Our church is currently looking at how we can improve our Christian education ministry. Like many churches we've seen a decline in Sunday school attendance over the past few years. It is not unusual for the attendance in Sunday school to be about half the attendance of the worship service in many churches. If we are to take seriously the call to make disciples that is not acceptable.
One of the things I'm focused on is starting new classes. Our church currently does not have a class for two important age groups so it's not surprising that we have few from those groups involved in Christian education. Besides, we know that new classes reach new people. In his excellent book What Every Pastor Should Know: 101 Indispensable Rules of Thumb for Leading Your Church Gary McIntosh writes that one of every five adult education classes should have been started within the last two years. That is certainly not the situation in our church nor is it for many churches.
It's very difficult for new people to enter an existing class. Some of the people in these classes have been together for years, even decades. They've watched each other's kids, taken trips together, and experienced life together. Trying to enter that world is like stopping by a stranger's house for Thanksgiving dinner. You might be invited in, but you'll never feel comfortable.
Unfortunately, it's not easy to start new classes. Some churches do not have the space. Some struggle to find teachers for their existing classes. A new class will often start very small which can be uncomfortable for people. Still, it's imperative to start new classes if we want to grow our Sunday schools.
Of course, in today's environment some people would be more interested in attending a small group than a Sunday school class. We just completed a 10 week term of small groups that featured a number of different groups that addressed various topics. Our attendance was strong in many of these groups, and one of them has now developed into a new Sunday school class. We plan to offer more small groups throughout the year as a way of improving our Christian education ministry.
Having specific starting and ending dates can encourage people to attend a class or small group. They know they are not signing up for a life sentence! The one group that has developed into a new class did so upon the request of the people who were attending the group. They asked for it to continue.
It also helps to offer different class structures and topics. In our small group format I encouraged each leader to select a topic they were interested in leading. Our staff gave final approval for each topic, but we found each one presented to us to be acceptable. You will limit the people who will attend your classes if you simply present material found in denominational quarterlies. We've found that people will come when the topics address real life situations they are facing.
We live in a time when Christian education programs in churches are struggling, but these struggles can be overcome. We simply need to begin thinking outside the box and provide such education in ways that will be attractive to those we want to reach.
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