3 Trends Affecting Sunday School

I caught this article this week over at www.lifeway.com ( Don't tell anyone that I surf Baptist websites!! ) :-0

Here are the three trends cited by the author, Dawn Cornelius:

1. Postmoderns -- Dawn is saying that we need to take a missionary approach to postmoderns if we ever hope to influence them through ministries like Sunday School. We cannot ignore the postmodern mindset or hope that it will go away. Churches that want to make a difference will seek to understand postmoderns and how to engage them spiritually.

2. Technology -- Yeah, we've been saying this for years...and I am constantly amazed at the archaic resources we use in Sunday School. It's as if the rest of the world is flying a jumbo jet and Sunday School is coming down the road on a beat up bicycle. Dawn mentions podcasting as an example of a new technology that can easily be leveraged for the benefit of your Sunday School.

3. Community -- the buzzword of this decade in terms of how people will most likely be discipled. Look at your Sunday School and ask, "Are we creating safe environments of community where people can do life together?" Maybe you aren't sure what we mean by community. Here's a tip: If your classes are still a bunch of chairs aimed at a teacher who prepares 2 hours of material to deliver in 1 hour...you probably are not achieving community!

There's the 3. What do you think? What other trends do you see? How have these affected your Sunday School or group ministry?

Spring Life

The pics below are the front and back of a postcard mailing that went out to every Wesleyan Church this summer. SpringLife is a joint effort of the Spiritual Formation Department and the Department of Evangelism and Church Growth. The idea is to take the best of the former Heaven Week ( SFD ) and 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting ( E&CG ) programs and create a new emphasis for the Lent - Easter season. SpringLife will be full of helpful ideas and resources for leading your church into a season of relational evangelism and effective discipleship ( invite people to church, present the gospel, follow up with discipleship ). This FREE resource will be available in early 2007.

Your thoughts??

Spring Life