In my office is a bronze eagle. It is more than a decoration. I inherited it from my predecessor, Chip Miller. This eagle is a reminder of days when churches were recognized for meeting or exceeding the standards for the Growth Spiral Eagle Award for at least a year.
Rewards can be affirming of good work, but they can also be motivating toward the good work. I worked toward Eagle Awards in a couple of my churches prior to coming to the Kentucky Baptist Convention. The standards were challenging but each contributed toward Sunday School growth.
In the post, Sunday School Growth Spiral, I explained the elements of the Growth Spiral: enrollment, prospects, teaching units, workers meeting attendance, training, space, contacts, outreachers, attendance, worship attendance, offerings, and baptisms. The Spiral is a system for setting and working toward goals divided into quarters or months. It helps you see the connection and importance of all the elements. It helps you to see where more work is needed or adjustment is necessary. To see a flattened version of the Growth Spiral, check out the PDF, Sunday School Growth Evaluation Plan Sheet.
The point of this post is rewards. If you want to see more contacts, how are you rewarding contacts? If you want more people enrolled, how are you rewarding classes for adding new members? If you want more people attending your training events, how are you rewarding them for participating?
Some people are self-motivated. They work toward what is best and right without needing encouragement or accountability. But many of us benefit from rewards. The bronze eagle was a small motivating factor for me to encourage the classes in my churches to do quality Sunday School work. The bigger motivation for me was seeing the Sunday School and church make progress.
What rewards have motivated you? Or what rewards have you used to encourage and motivate good Sunday School work? Leave a reply to share your experiences. Grow. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!
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