RICHMOND — Adult Sunday school is often considered irrelevant for engaging adults today. Many believe the Sunday school has become ineffective and outdated, especially in reaching young adults. Some say it is just not working. However, most Virginia Baptist churches have a Sunday school and it is not going away!
Young adults desire deeper relationships. Many say they are spiritual but also consider spirituality to be personal and private. They desire fulfilling lives helping others. Their desire is to make a positive contribution in life.
Bill Alphin
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Many turn to friendships on Facebook and Twitter — hardly a substitute for a face-to-face relationship. While personal relationships may be enhanced by Facebook and Twitter, there is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation or a human touch. An individual can pursue a spiritual life alone, but spiritual life is better nurtured in community. An effective adult Sunday school can and should be very relational, caring and service-oriented, and should provide a community in which to grow a mature faith. Basic principles of Sunday school are not the problem.
The problem is that we as church leaders often do not give our best effort to Sunday school. Let’s face it, some adult teachers are boring. Even if not boring, many only lecture. There are some great teachers. However, I have personally observed a great number of teachers who are obviously ill-prepared to teach that particular Sunday. It is not a rarity for an adult teacher to read the lesson to the class. Students sit and listen, and maybe one or two will answer a question — usually the same people that spoke up last week. We are happy when adults just show up — no matter that they are asked to do nothing.
While it is true that many young adults drop out of church in their late teens and early 20s, it is also true, even today, that many return once they are married and especially when they have children. One thing that does attract young adults to Sunday school is effective children’s Christian education.
Unfortunately, many parents leave the Christian education of their children to the church, placing a high expectation on children’s leaders. Yet it is not uncommon to find a dark children’s classroom when the parent and child arrive, because a teacher is late.
So what is the solution?
- Choose people who are gifted and teachable to be leaders, not just willing bodies.
- Prayerfully enlist Sunday school leaders that feel called to Bible teaching and are willing to be held accountable.
- Focus on Sunday school teaching as ministry, not merely keeping a program going.
- Provide the training and resources required to be successful. Teachers should be encouraged for quality work.
- Utilize adult class members to provide care and contact ministry, helping them find fulfillment in serving others.
- Treat adult learners as responsible participants in the learning experience, not just targets for information dumping.
- Begin new classes that will attract young adults.
- Change the name to adult Bible fellowship rather than Sunday school.
Most of all, consider the ministry of the Sunday school as important enough to give it our best.
Bill Alphin is Sunday school and discipleship coordinator for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board’s courageous churches team.