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How can the small church reach more children? How can you boost the Mid-Week service attendance? Ask Fifth- Grader Ashley Jones.
If you haven’t noticed, not too many children get up early enough on Sunday mornings for Sunday School anymore. It has only taken us a few decades to realize this. What do we do? Buy them all alarm clocks? That probably won’t fix the problem. What if we change the time we offer Sunday School? Now, we are thinking! Let’s start a Sunday School “B” ministry.
What is Sunday School “B”? This is Sunday School offered on Wednesday nights or some other time that would work best for you. Here is a possible schedule:
Fellowship Supper 6:00 p.m. Sunday School Assembly 7:00 p.m. Rotation of Classes 7:20 p.m. & 7:40 p.m. Dismissal 8:00 p.m.
You can run your van(s) starting around 5:00 p.m., make as many trips as needed and feed them until 7:00 p.m. The EGERMEIER’S BIBLE STORY BOOK can be used with handouts printed from http://children.calvarychapel.com/site/curriculum.htm. Biblical literacy is the goal. Classes may vary in order of rotation, but should include Bible lesson, memorization time, crafts, music, play, and remedial learning for school, etc..
The Fellowship Dinner is great for people who work. Someone on the schedule prepares the main dish and others bring side dishes, deserts, drinks, plastic ware, paper supplies, etc. This schedule rotates weekly so it doesn’t become too expensive or hard on a few faithful. Those who are unable to bring anything often help as the cleanup crew. For the children, you can feed them 50 hot dogs, fries, and a drink for around $25.
The First Church of God in Prestonsburg, Kentucky has about a year invested in this ministry. We have watched our dying Wednesday night attendance grow from an embarrassing low of six to an average of 75. Our Wednesday night service is now our largest attended service with a healthy balance of all ages. One of our Prestonsburg girls, Ashley Jones, a fifth-grader at Prestonsburg Elementary, started our growth in children by inviting her friends on her public school bus. She invited, they came, and are still coming. We are so proud of Ashley for being a soul-winner.
Sunday school on Sunday morning remains valuable for our drive-in children, so don’t discontinue it. Just consider expanding your Sunday School offerings to a second time to reach children that you are not reaching on Sunday mornings. SVW
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