A comment this week by a new Sunday School director reminded me that “drinking from a fire hydrant” can leave you thirsty. What I mean is that too much help can be impossible to wade through. Where does a new director begin? This blog has posts on so many different aspects of revolutionary Sunday School that a new director can literally be overwhelmed.
In consultations, conversation is essential to establish trust and to lay out the ground work for a simple plan to be developed. In many cases, what happens as a result is not that the consultant has all the answers. Instead, he/she is helpful because of questions that are asked and guidance for the person or group toward their own answers. In some ways, this blog can be a bit like a consultant for your Sunday School work. There are many questions asked, evaluation tools offered, and a great search engine which can find key phrases in all of the blog posts.
So when the new Sunday School director asked me to suggest articles or books for a “beginner,” I immediately thought of some blog posts which could be helpful. They were intended to be starting points. I offered these four posts:
The first post lists these top priorities: relationship with God, your pastor, and your Sunday School leadership; communication; focus on growth; training; enlistment of God-called leaders; and anticipation of needs. The second post highlights these leadership actions: growing relationship with God that seeks His leadership; willingness to do what it takes; a trusting relationship with pastor, leaders, and members; understanding about (or willingness to learn) Sunday School and growth principles/practices; honest evaluation; open communication; and movement together.
The third post lists Sunday morning actions by a director and/or leadership team–from prayer to building preparation, from greeting to listening, and much more. The final post lists some free training materials for Sunday School teachers that can help any director to encourage, support, and challenge his/her teachers to stretch to give God and His people their best. When we stop learning, we stop teaching and leading.
I am hearing from several sources that new Sunday School leadership books are being written. I don’t know the dates they will be available, but they are needed. In the meantime, I want to recommend two other resources (beyond the free ones mentioned in the blog post above) for the new Sunday School Director: Ten Best Practices to Make Your Sunday School Work and Six Core Values of Sunday School.
If you are an experienced Sunday School director, what other words of advice would you give to a new director? Press the Comments button below and leave your thoughts. If you are a new director, what questions do you still have? This is a learning community where we can help one another. Your question may lead to help for others with the same question. Pray . Learn. Lead. Be revolutionary!
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