Leaders
The following suggestions are provided for the person who has overall responsibility for the Sunday school program in your church. This might be the Christian education director, the Sunday school superintendent, or volunteer coordinators.
Teacher Recruitment
Sunday school teachers offer many gifts to the ministry of your congregation. They foster the faith development of children and youth, promote intergenerational friendships, and support other teachers in this ministry. Use these suggestions to plan for recruitment of Sunday school teachers in your congregation.
Finding enough people to fill the Sunday school needs in your program may be a challenge. It is very helpful to begin early. As you recruit teachers for the upcoming year, remind them that they are doing much more than filling your teacher roster — they are helping children and youth learn from the Bible to live the good news.
- Pray for your Sunday school ministry. Ask your pastor(s), education committee members, teachers, and congregation members to pray for the Sunday school program at your church during their personal prayer time and worship. Praying about the needs and celebrations of your teaching ministry keeps the focus on asking God for direction and discernment.
- Plan for next year. To set recruitment for next year in motion, contact teachers from the current year. After thanking them for their gifts and service, let them know how much you would appreciate their participation in next year's Sunday school program. Ask current teachers for recommendations of others who might be interested in teaching Sunday school. Before the current year ends, hold a Sunday School Teacher Day when prospective teachers can visit a classroom. Announce the need for teachers during worship and in the bulletin, newsletter, and Web site.
- Offer options for participation in the Sunday school program. Some teachers may be interested in less than full responsibility for a Sunday school class. To lighten the teaching load, consider using the team-teaching approach or provide other opportunities to participate that do not require the weekly commitment of planning and teaching. Try offering some of these additional ways that adults may support your education ministry — with limited time.
- Organize teacher and learner materials at the beginning of each semester.
- Make encouragement calls to kids and teachers during the week.
- Fill in periodically as a substitute.
- Bring snacks a few times a semester.
- Gather materials, help cut papers, and assist with other before-class tasks.
- Serve as an extra pair of hands in a classroom or for a field trip.
- Send birthday and baptism cards to learners.
- Help kids learn and review Bible verses and the Ten Commandments, Lord's Prayer, and Apostles' Creed before or after Sunday school.
- Be the kids' source for suggestions on books in the children's section of your church library.
Teacher Training
Planning to Train Teachers
Teachers may view a training session as another commitment on their already-busy schedules. Emphasize that these sessions can help save time. Consider offering one or more training sessions during the Sunday school year because of the many benefits that will actually save teachers' time!
- Make training relevant to teachers' needs. Training sessions gives teachers a chance to meet other teachers, share ideas, see other Sunday school rooms, and ask questions. They can also address issues like features of new curriculum, strategies for learners with reading problems, behavior-management challenges, and activity ideas for the last few minutes of a session. You can also ask teachers for topic suggestions.
- Plan teacher training at the beginning of the year. Schedule the initial teacher-training session at two different times to offer flexibility, or videotape the session so teachers can view it if they cannot attend. Choose from Saturday mornings, Sunday afternoons, and weekday evenings, and get the word out early so teachers can plan to attend. Guidelines for planning the first teacher-training session of the year are provided below. Later in the year, schedule training during Sunday school time. Plan to have a storyteller, video, service, or other group event for all kids to enjoy. Invite parents and guardians, education committee members, and other adults to supervise the kids while teachers attend the training.
- Schedule a meal before any teacher training. Serving a meal before training encourages fellowship. (Be clear in the invitation when the actual training session begins so people can attend the training even if they can't make it to the meal.) To lighten the load on teachers, bypass the potluck approach and ask education committee members to prepare the meal. After eating together, invite teachers to share joys and challenges of the Sunday school year, and then discuss the training topic. Be sure to provide childcare.
Tips for Teacher Training
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Teacher Affirmation
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