Sunday School Blog

Plan Social Activities

There's only so much you can learn about a person in class or over lunch.  Conversation is great, but sometimes we just need to have FUN.  Fun activities are a great uniter and a way to get to know a side of a person that they may not show all the time.  Honestly, sometimes you may not like what you find, but usually people will like each other even more after smiling and laughing together.

Who's responsible for planning social activities?
This depends on the size of the class and the level of commitment that class members are willing to put into serving each other.  In a perfect world, every class would have a social committee that plans fun times for all.  Realistically, this responsibility may bounce from person to person.  The class director can plan a social meeting for brainstorming activities, and the activities are planned only if somebody agrees that they will plan a particular activity.  This actually can work rather well because the work is spread out over a number of people.

What are good social activities?
This is in no way a complete list, but some food for thought:

• Dinner out
• Date night for married couples
• Movie at a theater
• Movie in someone's home
• Game night
• Flag football
• Ultimate Frisbee
• Bridal / baby showers
• Scavenger hunt
• Potluck BBQ
• Mini-golf

Do you have ideas for other social activities?  Tell us in the comments.

How often should we have social activities?
This is a little tricky and depends largely on the class.  I used to be a part of a single adult class that had a social activity every weekend, sometimes even twice a week.  This worked well for that class because the members were looking to the class for socialization.  But I taught a single adult class whose members had social outlets elsewhere, so our get-togethers were maybe once a month.   To decide what's best for your class, consider your class members and what they're looking to get out of the class.  You may even want to suggest several dates for a particular activity and put it up for a vote.  Evite has a feature that enables this.

Some things to think about:

• Decide up front if this will be an activity with or without children. Some activities, like date nights, are best without children.  Then again, an activity in someone's home THAT IS ACCUSTOMED TO HAVING CHILDREN IN THE HOUSE may be a good time to include the children or even to hire a babysitter to watch over them while the adults are socializing.
• Beware of competitive attitudes.  Any event that involves competition is an opportunity to see someone's ugly side.  Believe me, I've seen it.  Bad attitudes, yelling, name-calling - and all from believers!  Decide ahead of time how you're going to handle that.  If it's relatively minor, it's best to overlook it and continue to treat the offender with love.  After all, we've all been there, right?  But if it escalates and can be deemed abusive in any way, it's time to talk to the offender privately and in a loving way, and then show them the door if they're not willing to change their behavior.
• Do social activities with other classes. This works well for smaller classes.  Sometimes we need critical mass, so to speak, for things like game nights, flag football, etc.  Doing a social activity with another class is also a great way of getting to know others in the church and building unity across classes.
• Think twice before drinking alcoholic beverages or seeing R-rated movies. Members of the class may have issues you don't know about, such as issues with alcohol.  They may even be trying to get involved in the church to get away from that.  We can be sensitive to potential issues by agreeing that certain activities have no place in our social activities.
• Learn what the class likes to do.  Don't try to force them into a social activity that they're not interested in.  People just won't show up.  Again, I know of what I speak.

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Plan a Weekly Class Lunch

Encourage social growth in your class by planning a class lunch every Sunday.  While Sunday School time is focused on the lesson and prayer, getting together for lunch moves the focus to socializing and getting to know one another.

How often should the class have lunch together?

It's best to plan a class lunch for every Sunday.  When I first started teaching my class, I tried to have lunch just once a month.  This didn't work out because people would forget about it and make other plans.  With a weekly lunch, the class always knew that it was going to happen and tried to make it.  And even if someone couldn't make it one week, there's always the next week to catch up with them.

Who do we invite to the class lunch?

EVERYBODY!  Regular class members, attendees that pop in and out, and visitors.  A good way to cause strife is to limit invitations to select people.  This isn't healthy for the teacher, the class, or the church as a whole.

Someone should be assigned to make the special effort every week to invite the visitors to lunch.  They may be new to the area, so make sure that the visitors have a map or directions to the restaurant.  A cell phone number could also be useful in case they get lost.   A group could even carpool to the restaurant and invite the visitors to ride with them.

How can we remind the class of the lunch?

If you don't already, you may want to start sending out a weekly email to the class, including information like the next lesson topic, lunch location with directions, and any other social activities planned.  (This would require that you have a list of email addresses.)  It's also a good idea to have an announcement sheet that you pass out every Sunday morning that includes the restaurant name, directions, and a contact number.

What restaurants are good choices for class lunches?

Any restaurant that is buffet-style would be a good choice.  Try to avoid places that require everyone to pay on the same ticket.  Also, keep cost in mind.  Lunch can get expensive if you have an entire family to pay for.  If it's too expensive, people just won't join the class for lunch.

Are there alternatives to going to a restaurant?

You might see if someone would open their home for a potluck.  Lunch may start a little later if people need to go pick up their food from home after lunch, but it could save them a lot of money.  And it would be great for those with children if their kids have someplace to play.  Just be sure to thank the hosts!

An afternoon in the park is also a great alternative.  All everyone will need is a change of clothes and some fast food.  A bonus would be organizing some games.  Just be sure to have a backup plan in case the weather doesn't cooperate.

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Making Prayer Requests Part of Your Class

We could all use a little prayer sometimes.  Actually, I could use A LOT of prayer.  All the time.  There have been times in my life when I haven't been able to pray for myself, so I longed to have someone pray for me.  Hearing someone lay my request before the throne on my behalf did a lot to soothe my soul.

No doubt there are many in Sunday School classes across the country that would love to have someone pray for them.  Consequently, prayer requests can be an important aspect of your class.

Some benefits of taking prayer requests:

• Class members feel like someone cares for them. Not everyone has someone to pray for them.  As a matter of fact, there may be some class members that don't know another believer outside of your small group.  This is especially an issue in single adult classes.
• Class leadership has the opportunity to serve through prayer.  Scripture encourages us to pray for each other.  Praying for members of the class is a good way to live out Scripture rather than just study it.
• Praying for each other builds community. It's an opportunity for us to be vulnerable and open up to the group, even if in a small way.  Our vulnerability invites friendship.  If this is done well, the Sunday School or small group environment can be a major factor in our growth, spiritual and otherwise.

There's a flip side to most things, so let's look at some negatives of sharing prayer requests:

• Prayer requests can take a long time. If we take prayer requests at the beginning of class, Bible study time may be severely limited due to the number of requests or long-winded requests.
• Prayer requests can be inappropriate. I'll never forget the time that a guy in a co-ed singles class that I attended asked for prayer for his porn addiction.  AWKWARD!  The teacher pretty much froze in place and the rest of the class refused to look at each other.  Valid prayer request?  Absolutely.  But it would have been more appropriate to make that particular prayer request privately with the teacher or in a men's small group.  This is a good reminder that when we ask for prayer requests, there's no telling what we'll hear.
• Prayer requests can turn into gossip. There's a post at Stuff Christians Like that describes this issue.  It can be a major issue in a small group and is the primary reason that I stopped taking prayer requests publicly.

So how do we incorporate the good things about prayer requests while trying to avoid the negatives?

• Take prayer requests at the end of class.  Leaving ten minutes at the end of class to take requests and pray ensures that Bible study time is not robbed.
• Take written, not verbal, prayer requests.  The teacher of a class that I was a member of for a few years had me make prayer slips that people could fill out.  They placed the slips on a table with a basket to place them in once completed.  I've also seen prayer cards placed on chairs in the class.  Someone in class leadership was assigned to collect them.  This is a good way of setting aside prayer requests that are not appropriate for public consumption.  In my class, I asked people to email me with their requests. 
• Send prayer requests out by email. The class that I am currently a member of sends out a weekly email containing prayer requests.  The email can also be sent only to class leadership if more privacy is requested.

Now it's your turn - have you found a creative way to incorporate prayer requests into your class?

Rock Out the Class

Ok, to be perfectly honest, I'm not a "rock out" kind of girl.  As a matter of fact, the only time that I recall ever using those words together in a sentence was when I (proudly) told people that "My husband took all of the rocks out of the flowerbeds." 

All that to say that I may use the term incorrectly.  So let me tell you what I don't mean.  I am not suggesting that you:

• ...trade in your I-want-to-be-trendy-but-not-look-like-I'm-trying teaching outfits for black leather pants and chains around your neck, including a ginormous glittery cross with enough diamonds to buy gas for ten families with SUVs for 20 years.
• ...stalk David Cook and convince him to come to your singles class to sing Billie Jean as part of a lesson on abstinence.
• ...get a fog machine going in a corner of the room, put the overhead light on a dimmer, and teach while you're standing in a spotlight.
• ...make "Jesus Rocks" t-shirts and distribute them to every class member, including little t-shirts for the kids.

Ok, that last one was pretty weak.  And so was the one before that.  But hopefully you get my drift. 

All I'm saying is that it's a good idea to include music in your class someway, somehow.  I've talked before about playing music before class starts, and I still stand by that, but it can be especially powerful to make music part of the class itself.  For example:

• I used to go to a class that had a guy play the guitar and sing some worship songs before we got into the lesson, and we all sang along.  I wouldn't classify this particular guy with the guitar as metrosexual, but he was still very good.  Sometimes there were even bongo drums, which made us all feel very with-it and cool.
• I once led a Bible study in my home where we studied the lyrics of a different Christian song each week and looked at the Scripture that the lyrics referred to.  The idea was to sing the song actually knowing what it means.  After we were done we would listen to the song, but we didn't sing along because we were not with-it and cool and were afraid of sounding stupid.

Your choice of songs doesn't really matter, as long as they're Scripture-based.  Maybe your idea of rocking out is a lively rendition of Rock of Ages - I'm cool with that.  Rock on.  Or you may lean more toward David Crowder or Delirious music.  That's awesome too.  Just keep it clean, my friends.  Biblically clean, that is.  (Ha!  I crack myself up.  An no one else.)

Just do me a favor and don't give the floor to a guy with a guitar that can't play.  People will end up thinking, "Lord, come quickly!" and not for the right reasons.

Now it's your turn - what's a good way to incorporate music into a class?

Getting Class Members to Participate with Questions

A healthy class is an active class. 

If a visitor were to peek into your classroom in the middle of class, would they see talking and laughter, or silence and boredom?  Are people involved in the lesson, or are they doodling and just waiting for it to be over?

I have several posts about lesson preparation, but one thing that I have yet to mention on this blog is that we should be preparing our lessons in such a way that we invite participation from the attendees.  There are a number of ways to do this (split up into smaller groups, draw something out, etc.), but one of the easiest ways is simply to ask a question and wait for a response.

What type of question?
Stay away from a right or wrong question!  There's nothing like asking the class, "What are the names of Abraham's sons?" to strike fear in the heart of every member.  Sure, there's usually a know-it-all present that loves to showcase their knowledge, but the rest of the class won't jump in to answer for fear of looking downright stupid.

Our questions should cause a moment of reflection, allowing the attendees to internalize Scripture.  See Sunday School Teaching Believers to Meditate on God's Word for more thoughts on this topic.

Here are some examples of good questions for reflection and meditation:

• When studying Matthew 18:15 - "What's a typical reaction when someone hurts us deeply?"
• When studying Matthew 27:36 - "What's it like to watch a person in pain and do nothing to help?"
• When studying Matthew 6:13 - "What is it about ourselves that allows us to be tempted?"
• When studying Psalm 23 - "How might you describe God based on your occupation?"

When should we pose a question?
Prepare several questions based on the text that the class is studying.  I prepared a fill-in-the-blank handout for each class with the major points that I wanted to cover for the particular passage of Scripture that we were studying.  I tried to have a reflection question for each major point.

What if they don't answer?
Don't worry if you don't get responses right away, especially if the class is not used to getting involved in this way.  The nature of a reflection question dictates that the attendees may need a few moments to think in order to form a response.  So just wait for a response, even to the point of having an "uncomfortable silence."

And if they still don't say anything?  You can try rephrasing the question.  Maybe it just wasn't clear the first time.  This has happened to me a couple of times and the class response was basically, "Say wha?"  Or answer the question yourself and ask again if anyone has any other ideas.  Make it a conversation.  You can refer to interviews with other teachers to see how they deal with an uncommunicative class.

You can increase your chances for a response if you have some sort of ice-breaker at the beginning of class.

Now it's your turn - What are examples of good reflection questions?  Tell us both the question and the verse that it applies to.

Person Matthew 6:13

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Playing Music Before Class

Imagine that you're visiting a class for the first time.  On your way to what you hope will be the class of your dreams, you pass a room alive with music, chattering, and smiling faces.  But once you reach your destination, you find silence and soft voices. 

Wouldn't you want to go back to the first room?

As teachers, we want our classes to be places where people feel free to talk and share.  But first we must create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. 

Some ways to create a relaxed and friendly atmosphere are:

• greeting people at the door with a smile
• engaging in casual conversation
• sharing coffee or snacks
• upbeat music

A good first step in creating an atmosphere in which people want to linger is some good upbeat music.  Something that brings a smile to your face, a bounce to your step, and a feeling of "Hey, y'all!"  (I live in Texas, so the y'all is completely appropriate.  Northerners may prefer "Hey, you guys!"  And those of you from the Pittsburgh area would probably go with "Hey, youins!"  The point is - promote a friendly feeling!)

Here are some suggestions to implement this:

• Bring a CD player to class along with some upbeat CD's.  You'll want to keep a collection of CD's with your Sunday morning gear or you'll be listening to the same CD for a year.  Trust me - I  KNOW.
• Bring a radio to class and tune into a Christian station.  Just avoid talk radio or everyone will be bored to tears.
• Set up a Sunday Morning playlist on your iPod or MP3 player.  You'll need some sort of speaker system so that it's not just you beebopping to the music.  I tried using an FM transmitter with a radio, but it didn't work for me in the classroom.  You may have better luck.  I recommend a speaker system like this one to plug your player into.  Just don't leave it behind or it might disappear!

Some good songs for your Sunday Morning playlist:

• Made To Love - TobyMac
• Here Is Our King - David Crowder Band
• Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - Chris Tomlin
• Indescribable - Chris Tomlin
• He Is Exalted - Shane & Shane
• Friend of God - Israel & New Breed

Now it's your turn - what would you add to your Sunday Morning playlist?

Coffee Break

I just came from lunch with my team at work.  I'm with these people forty hours a week, working on various projects, but I find it interesting that when we have lunch together we talk about everything but work.  For example, today some of us discussed cooking, children, India, and hypermiling.  It's nice to see something other than the I'm-so-stressed-out-working-on-this-stuff side of people.

I attribute the relaxed conversation to good food.  Especially eyes-rolling-to-the-back-of-your-head kind of good food.  (I must be into hyphens today.)  Chewing.  Tasting.  Appreciating.  Conversing.  All's right with the world when I'm enjoying a good meal.  (Especially sushi!)

So how about taking that experience into the classroom on Sunday mornings?  Here are some ideas:

• Set up a coffee bar.  If your church doesn't provide coffee, brew a pot before people start arriving for class.  Provide nice-sized Styrofoam cups and stirring straws.  Set out a basket with cream and sugar/Splenda packets.  Be sure to have some napkins or paper towels available for spills.
• Pick up some donuts on the way to church.  You can place them on a table or pass them around the room.  (Don't forget the napkins.)  Maybe the sugar will get non-morning people to liven up during the discussion time!
• Have the class members sign up to bring breakfast.  It doesn't have to be anything fancy.  Maybe just donuts, kolaches, fruit, or even a breakfast casserole if someone decides to make a little extra effort.  Having someone different bring breakfast each Sunday makes this less of a burden on everyone.  And don't forget the plates and napkins!

You may be surprised how conversation flows when folks are gathered around the coffee pot or passing around a box of donuts, especially during that awkward time before class begins.  If nothing else, it gives them something to talk about.  There's no telling where a "Stacy, I've got to get this recipe from you" or a "Darn it, I can't even get through the morning without spilling something on myself" comment will take you!

Greeting People at the Door

My husband was just saying the other day that if you say hi to someone first, they'll usually say hi back.  It's just a matter of making the first move.  And I have to say that I love for people to say hi to me.  It makes me feel like they noticed me and thought that I was significant enough to acknowledge.

We want to make sure that every person that walks into our classrooms feels noticed and significant. 

The best way to do this is to have at least one person at the door to the classroom greeting each person that walks in. 

Now let's look at the details.

Who?
Really, just about anyone can be a greeter, as long as they have an attitude to help.  One of the first things that I ever did to help in a Sunday School class was server as a greeter, and I'm not exactly a social butterfly or belle of the ball.  I would say that the one requirement for a greeter is that they are willing to smile and say hi to strangers.  Or at least smile, if nothing else.

When?
The greeters should be at the classroom door long before you would typically expect anybody to get there.  The thing to keep in mind is that visitors usually show up early because they're trying to give themselves enough time to find their way around.  So a good rule of thumb is to have your greeters in the classroom and ready to start at least 15 minutes before class begins.

Where?
The greeters should stand outside the classroom door.  This way they see everyone walking down the hallway and can help along those that are a little shy to come in.  I even had a greeter once that noticed visitors wandering the halls looking lost and encouraged them to come join us in class.  Now that's a good greeter!

How?

1. The greeters should give a friendly smile to pretty much anyone that walks down the hall.  After all, they're representing the church as a whole and not just your class. 
2. For those coming into the classroom, the greeter should smile, say hi, and look the person in the eye.  People want to feel like they've been seen, especially in church. 
3. If your class distributes an announcement sheet or other handout, you may want to give those to the greeter to give out as people enter. 
4. If a visitor approaches the class, the greeter may want to take the visitor into the classroom and introduce them to at least one regular attender that has agreed to make visitors feel welcome.  For this reason, you may want to have two greeters at the door so that the door is always manned if one of the greeters steps away.
5. There may be a few minutes between people showing up, giving the greeters a chance to chat.  It's great to catch up with someone that we may have not seen all week, but they shouldn't be so lost in their discussion that they're not really paying attention to people walking in. 
6. The greeters should stay at the door for at least the five minutes after class begins to welcome late arrivals.  If you structure your class time to give announcements before the lesson, this shouldn't be a problem.
7. Although many visitors arrive early, some arrive really late.  So the greeters should be ready to jump up and welcome into the class any really late arrivals, making sure they have a chair and the handouts.

The point is to make people feel like they are welcomed and wanted. 

Do you have any tips for ways to greet class members?

Get 'em Talking

As a Sunday School teacher, I tried to structure my lessons around interaction among the  class members.  I wanted them to answer questions out loud, share how Scripture affected them, and respond to others' comments.

But it's not always easy to get them talking.

Sometimes trying to get someone, anyone, to say anything leaves the teacher begging.  "What do you think?  Anyone?  Lucy, were you going to say something?  No?  How about you, Albert?  Not you, either?  Well, let me tell you what I think..."

This lack of participation does a couple of things.

• The class feels dead and boring.  Visitors will likely never come back.
• Class members leave feeling like they did not have a meaningful experience.  Again, visitors may not see the value in returning.

So how do you get them talking?

The minister I "reported" to taught me that the key was to get them talking at the beginning of class.  Get them to say just a couple of words and they'll feel like they were a part of things and maybe even relax them enough to participate during the lesson.

So what should they say?

The way we did this was with a class question.  At the beginning of class, after announcements and before the lesson began, either I or the person doing announcements would ask a question, then go around the room to give everyone a chance to answer.  The question was different every week, and required only a short answer so that we wouldn't spend too much time on it.

What are some good questions?

You can ask a random icebreaker question:

• What's your favorite junk food?
• What's your favorite color and why?
• If you could drive any car, what would it be?
• What's your favorite Christmas / Easter / birthday / (special event) memory?
• Who is your hero?  (besides Jesus)
• If you could have dinner with two people from history, who would they be?
• Chocolate or vanilla?

Or you could ask a question related to the lesson topic:

• When teaching about the names of God, you can ask, "If you were to give God a special name, what would it be?"
• When teaching about the Lord's prayer, you can ask, "Do you have memories of saying this prayer as a child?"

Whether the question is random or related to the topic, the key is to get each person to share just a little bit of something about themselves, a personal thought.  Not just an impersonal fact. 

Make it fun!

This works best when the person asking the question, or someone else in the class, responds to the answers in a fun way.  "You want to have dinner with George Washington?  Considering your love of clothing, I would have guessed Coco Chanel!"  Just keep things lighthearted.

How long does this take?

This depends on the size of your class.  Since the primary purpose of being in a Sunday School class is to share God's Word, I'd say that this should take at the very most ten minutes.  Anything more than that is just socializing and should be reserved for lunch after church...but that's another post!

Do you have any ideas for good icebreaker questions?  If so, leave them in a comment!