While I am not an expert in the field of science, I am aware of one law of science that is relevant to Sunday School ministry. It is Newton’s Laws of Motion. The first law, the Law of Inertia, states, “In the absence of any outside force, a body at rest stays in a state of rest and a body in motion continues to move in a straight line at constant velocity.” As an equation, it would be represented as follows:
Frequently I find Sunday Schools that are happy the way they are. They prefer to be “a body at rest.” They see no need for change. No new leaders are needed. No new classes or spaces are needed. No new people need to be reached or assimilated.
I believe this attitude is contrary to God’s purpose for the church and for the Sunday School. God did not send Jesus into the world so it would stay the same. Jesus came to change the world. Jesus’ words to us in the Great Commission are “Go and make disciples of all nations….”
What does this have to do with Sunday School and starting new classes and small group Bible study groups? Consider this: one of the best ways to add motion (momentum) to Sunday School is to start new classes/Bible study groups. The enlistment of one or more new leaders adds energy. The pursuit of new people for the new classes adds energy. Think about the following statistics and their relevance for starting your next new class:
- On average, a new class will grow to 10 in attendance and 20 in enrollment in 12-18 months.
- On average only 1 out of 342 lost people will accept Jesus as Savior in 12 months if they attend worship only while 1 out of 3 will accept Jesus as Savior in 12 months if they attend Sunday School (according to Andy Anderson).
- After 5 years, we will only find 16% of church members who don’t join Sunday School while we will be able to find 83% of those who are active in Sunday School (according to Thom Rainer).
Wow, it sounds like we need to get more people involved in Sunday School in order to help them to meet our Savior, to keep them growing as Christians and leaders, and to keep them involved in the church and Kingdom! I want to challenge you to evaluate your class, small group, or Sunday School to see if it is time to start a new class/group. You don’t have to split your class. Just send out a leader and a seed group of one to five others to help the leader. Let’s be revolutionaries by getting the body of the Sunday School in motion with new classes/groups. Which one will you start? Make disciples. Be revolutionary!
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