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5 Key Competence E's of an Effective Sunday SchoolLeader

Written by David Francis

Ten Best Practices To Make Your Sunday School Work Resource Book

Sunday School leaders have different specialties. Some primarily reach, some primarilyteach, some primarily minister, some primarily administer. But all effective SundaySchool leaders must develop some organizational competencies. I believe there arefive key ones - Competence Es, if you will: Enlisting, equipping, encouraging,evaluating, and envisioning.

EnlistingThis is the endless task of a Sunday School leader, whether you are the pastor enlistinga Sunday School director, a Sunday School director enlisting department directors orteachers, a teacher enlisting class leaders, an outreach leader enlisting people to takevisitation assignments, or a group leader enlisting members to take food to a bereaved

classmate. And it can be a joyous task! An effective leader doesnt view this as animposition, but as an invitation to serve God and neighbor. So the effective leadercommunicates (a) this job is important, (b) God has put your name on my heart, and (c)asks the person to pray about it. If the person agrees, he responds, Thats great. Illget back with you. Whatever God tells you to do will be OK with me!

EquippingOnce a person is enlisted, he or she must be trained to do the job. Libby Bridger, whogives staff leadership to the Sunday School ministry at Hebron Baptist Church inDacula, Georgia, uses a point system, and gives awards annually to workers whoaccumulate 20 (Bronze), 25 (Silver) or 30 (Gold) points. They can earn points forattending training seminars, participating in special outreach events, reading books, orlistening to or watching tapes, CDs or DVDs. Of course, the starting point for equippingis a job description. Some samples are available at lifeway.com/sundayschool.

EncouragingAll of us appreciate a pat on the back, a kind word, an appreciative nod, a sinceresmile, an understanding wink. Vickie and I teach a preschool class. Our division directoroccasionally comes by with a piece of candy attached to a brief note that says thankyou. Its just a little thing, and we dont even eat the candy, but it makes you feel a littlespecial. When I was serving as a Minister of Education, I made a weekly habit ofmaking the rounds of the Sunday School classes, especially the preschool rooms, justto stick my head in the door to smile or nod or give a thumbs up. Sometimes whenyoure serving in a room of two-year olds in potty training, but who cant talk yet to tellyou they need to go, you just need someone to affirm that they know youre there, andthat youre appreciated!

EvaluatingJohn Kramp, vice president of the Church Resources Division at LifeWay, oftenreminds those of us who work for him that job number one for an effective leader is toaccurately define current reality. Hows it going? Whats going well? What could begoing better? What are our plans for accomplishing our strategic objectives? Whattactics will we use to achieve our goals? What changes do we need to make? How dowe measure success? (In the March article, I will address some of the measurements -

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or metrics - you can use to evaluate the health of your Sunday School.)

EnvisioningEvaluation is about assessing what is - current reality. Envisioning is about what couldbe! Stand outside your church building, in the educational building hallway, or at thedoor of your empty classroom. Ask God to give you a vision for what it could look,sound, and smell like if you got serious about doing excellent Sunday School work. AskHim to give you a goal. Then start communicating what pastor Gene Mims calls a

compelling image of an achievable future. In the April issue, Ill introduce - or remindyou - of three key numbers that will help you achieve that goal. In the meantime, enlist,equip, encourage, evaluate, and envision. Then start over again! Thats the joyful workof the effective Sunday School leader.

David Francis is director of Sunday School at LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville,Tennessee .