What gets measured, gets done. If you want member care to happen, think about a way to measure and reward it. It you want guests to attend, think about ways to measure and reward invitations.
In Sunday School: Connecting for Him, I shared about what happened when Parkland Baptist Church focused on member care and invitations over a four-week period. As a result of member and prospect contacts, care and invitations increased as did attendance and enrollment. In Benefits of High Attendance Sunday, I shared a similar result from when Eastwood Baptist Church focused on member care and invitations during a six-week high emphasis.
How do I begin?
Consider these steps:
- gather your Sunday School planning team;
- pray together about growing, reaching, and caring through Sunday School;
- determine what Sunday School work needs attention;
- brainstorm ways you could reward and measure that work;
- consider ways to get everyone involved;
- stretch out the preparation and work for 4-6 weeks to reinforce good habits;
- calendar the event and preparation so there are no major conflicts;
- communicate, communicate, communicate;
- train leaders in any way which will help;
- launch the emphasis;
- report and celebrate the results (reward good work)!
Continue the work
Give God thanks and praise. Affirm the work of the people. Encourage the work to continue. Follow up with guests. Strengthen connections with absentees who returned and with new members. Enlist and train key leaders to help lead classes to continue the good work that was practiced: member care leader, outreach leader, greeters, etc.
Challenge
I want to challenge you to consider ways to pursue new members and to reward those efforts. New members, new leaders, and new classes are three keys to Sunday School growth. Go through the steps above to give attention to new members. Invite. Enroll. Celebrate. Make disciples. Be revolutionary!
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