Teaching Sunday School Replaces Preaching, says Retired Pastor

by Boyce Bowdon

During his 41 years as a United Methodist pastor, Ken Tobler enjoyed preaching. “When I retired in 2003, I expected to miss preparing and delivering sermons every week, but it has turned out I haven’t all that much,” says Rev. Tobler. “I’ve found teaching Sunday school makes up for not preaching.”

He says in some ways he experiences more satisfaction teaching than he had experienced preaching. “I like being able to challenge people to grow in their Christian faith regardless of what stage of development they are in,” he says. “I find that I can challenge more effectively in small groups, like a Sunday school class, than I could when I was preaching from the pulpit.”

Rev. Tobler teaches an adult class at Boston Avenue, an 8000-member United Methodist church in Tulsa. He says he was aware of the importance of Sunday school throughout his ministry. “Most people who joined churches where I was pastor were never really integrated into the church until they became part of a small group, and most often that small group was a Sunday school class,” he recalls. “So one of my tasks as a pastor was to encourage people to become part of a class.”

He views teaching Sunday school as an opportunity to encourage adults to reexamine their beliefs, to answer questions they have shied away from asking, to get rid of misconceptions they’ve held for years, and to renew their commitment to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Rev. Tobler says he knows it’s stressful to examine for the first time some of the assumptions about God that we have carried forward from childhood. But those assumptions may be blocking our spiritual growth—keeping us from experiencing a more mature faith. He tries to teach in a way that helps people replace theological concepts that no longer have meaning for them with theological concepts that ground their faith more securely and give their lives more meaning and purpose.

Rev. Tobler lectures during most of the class session. “When we use the Adult Bible Studies quarterly, I go through and pick out the parts that I think are the most stimulating. Then I add to them and focus on what I think will help our class the most. But I don’t just repeat what the quarterly says. I first present my lecture , and then—after people have heard what I have presented—they ask questions and share their views.

The teacher and the lessons are important, he declares, but they are not as important as the relationships that Sunday school class members have with one another. “Class members greet you and call you by name. They miss you if you are not there. When you have special needs, they pray for you, bring you food and help you in ways that show they care about you. Your class is your Christian support group,”

Rev. Tobler says Sunday school is a wonderful setting for growing spiritually as long as you live.

By Boyce Bowdon

Vicki Frick is very excited about a new curriculum for children called Live B.I.G. (“Belief In God”). Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Slidell, Louisiana, started using Live B.I.G. in September 2006, as soon as it became available, says Vicki, director of children’s ministry.

As the mother of three sons, she knows that today’s kids dislike sitting still and listening to lectures. “They are into video games and other technology. I’m glad The United Methodist Church is giving them something in Sunday school that connects with where they are.” (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon

Bob and Jerry Metcalfe say God used Serenity Sunday School Class at United Methodist Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City to transform their lives.

In July 1991, recently divorced Jerry joined the class. An attorney, she was already attending Al Anon. Bob, a member of Alcoholics Anonymous, joined the class in 1992. The class appealed to him because he wanted a deeper relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

“I had been out of the church for nearly 30 years,” Bob says. “It was a God deal that brought me to Church of the Servant.” (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon

“Most of our churches do very well ministering to people who come through our doors,” says Ruth Wiertzema. “But we are not very good at reaching people who don’t come through our doors.”

What can we do about it? Wiertzema—director of Connectional Ministries at the United Methodist Red Bird Missionary Conference in the Appalachians of southeast Kentucky—has a suggestion: If people don’t come to us, we must go to them. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon

Twenty-six years ago, First United Methodist Church in Tulsa started a Sunday school class for infants, toddlers, and two-year-olds.

The class has been going well ever since, says Connie Murray Ichord, who is Minister of Children and Sanctuary Celebrations at the 8800-member church in downtown Tulsa. “We have teens and young adults helping with the class now who were in the class as babies and they say that this is their first memory of the church and of the gospel message,” says Ms. Ichord. “They remember sitting around the table in Baby’s Bible Class hearing songs and stories about Jesus, Mary, nature and Mom and Dad.”    (Continue reading this article)

Igniting Ministry, the denomination's national television and welcoming campaign, works with bishops to encourage congregations to celebrate United Methodist Open House Month each September. This year, Sunday School is joining the welcoming wagon. (Continue reading this article)

By DeForrest Wiksten
Special Contributor

Most of us remember the people who were our teachers, mentors, and models in Sunday school. Even if we have forgotten their names or faces, we know that somebody enabled us to receive the faith in Sunday school.

These “Ten R’s” describe how persons pass on the Christian faith in Sunday school, no matter how large or small the congregation. (Continue reading this article)

Ms. Anderson says she is pleased to see the varieties of United Methodist curriculum resources that are available. "Having more options gives us more opportunity to reach more people where they are and help them experience what they need."

She adds she is particularly pleased with a United Methodist resource for senior high youth called Synago (syn-AH-go). Synago is the root word of synagogue, a place where people come together to worship and to learn the faith. (Continue reading this article)

Sunday school attendance at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City was down, and the senior pastor, Guy Ames, was concerned. “This past year, when we remodeled our building, we moved almost every Sunday school class at some time,” says Dr. Ames. “And that really did a number on our attendance. It went from the upper 400s to the mid 300s, and it wasn’t coming back.” (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

When the Rev. James Graham became pastor of Verdigris United Methodist Church in June 2005, he was welcomed by a congregation that was alive and eager to grow. The 300-member church is 8 miles east of Tulsa in one of Oklahoma’s fastest-growing areas. A vision team of a dozen men and women was already exploring projects for the future.

“The first couple of times I met with the team, I sat back and listened,” Mr. Graham says. “They had already generated a six-page list of short- and long-term projects. I was impressed by their concern.”

But Mr. Graham soon saw the team had such a long list of good things to do, they were struggling to focus. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

Nurturing and celebrating the richness and complexity of today's family is the mission of the Family Matters Sunday school class at First United Methodist Church in Salem, Oregon.

"Our class connects us with other parents, and we learn from one another and become better parents," explains Sue Corner. She and her husband, Jeff, lead the class, which started 12 years ago and is still going strong. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

“There’s no better place than Sunday school to learn that you don’t have to buy into a give me, give me, all-about-me culture,” declares the Rev. Randy Mitchell, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Wagoner, a congregation of 950 in an eastern Oklahoma town of 8,000.
 
Mr. Mitchell says Sunday school is an excellent setting for making disciples of Jesus Christ.

“It’s easier to ask tough questions sitting in a classroom with supportive friends. And you discover you are not the only one asking them. You learn from others, they learn from you, and together you grow as disciples.” (Continue reading this article)

Couples need help getting their marriages off to a good start. How can a church help?

Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, came up with a solution six years ago that works well for them. They invited one of their members, Carol Smelley, a psychotherapist, to create and develop a Sunday school class especially for couples who have been married three years or less. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

It was a Sunday morning in the fall of 1999. Members of Horizon Sunday school class at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston, whose ages range from early 30s to early 40s, were sharing joys and concerns.

Scott Funk was reporting on the condition of his wife, Connie.

This wasn’t the first time the Funks had asked classmates to pray for them. Back in 1999, Connie had gone to the doctor for a check-up. Tests revealed that she had a degenerative kidney disease. Doctors told her that in four to ten years, her kidneys might fail altogether. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

“If high school kids know the church wants to be part of their lives, they are much more inclined to be part of the church’s life,” observes the Rev. Scott Mieir, minister of youth at McFarlin Memorial United Methodist Church in Norman, Oklahoma.

How can Sunday school teachers help high school students know the church wants to be part of their lives? Mr. Mieir has three suggestions, based on what he has learned during the 12 years he has taught Sunday school and directed high school ministry at McFarlin. His church has 5,100 members and is two blocks from the University of Oklahoma, but he believes his suggestions can help churches of all sizes and locations. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

Junior high students at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, like Sunday school so much they call it “Sunday Cool.” And evidently senior high students are just as fond of theirs, according to Beth Miller, director of Youth Ministries.

Located across from the University of Michigan campus, the church has 1,300 members, and worship attendance averages 540. When Ms. Miller came in 1995, not more than 10 senior high students attended Sunday school. Now at least 80 attend most Sundays.

Take a look at what happens on Sunday morning and you’ll see why students make Sunday morning classes a priority in their busy schedules. (Continue reading this article)

Even churches with vibrant children's Sunday school programs sometimes have difficulty attracting their members to adult Sunday school.

Some members may feel that "Sunday school is for children," and others may say, "I don't know what they do for adults, but I didn't enjoy Sunday school when I was a child."

If these comments sound familiar, it may be that your members simply don't know much about adult Sunday school and just how rewarding it can be for those who are looking for ways to grow in their faith. Asking these members to commit to a Sunday school class for a semester or a year may be a tough barrier to overcome.

So how do you overcome this commitment barrier without them knowing what adult Sunday school is like? (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

"Gee, Boston Avenue is so big, I don’t know if I want to be part of this church." That’s what prospective members sometimes tell the Rev. Amy Johnson, associate pastor at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa, one of the nation’s 10 largest United Methodist congregations.

How does she reply? "I always say, ‘Don’t worry. Once you join a Sunday school class, the class will be your home within your church home.’" (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

Ask United Methodists at Mayfield Church in Chestertown, Ohio. They can tell you a church is never too old to make a new start.

Mayfield was chartered in 1835. One hundred and sixty years later—in 1995—members took a fresh look at two questions: What is our reason for being? What more can we do to fulfill our mission? (Continue reading this article)

By Bill Gnegy
Special Contributor

As a high school Sunday school teacher, I've become comfortable with the idea that my main role is to plant seeds -- knowing that God will cause those seeds to grow at the right time in the right ways, whether or not I ever see the results. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

"My Sunday school class is a vital connector," says Jackie Shields.

A retired registered nurse, Ms. Shields is a member of the Seekers Sunday School class at Brentwood, a 6,000-member United Methodist church in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville.

When she and her husband, a surgeon, moved from Nashville to Brentwood nine years ago, they hesitated to visit Brentwood UMC because it was larger than the church they had attended. But they decided to visit when friends invited them to come to Sunday school, and they've been attending ever since. (Continue reading the article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

Retired United Methodist Bishop Bruce Blake fondly remembers his seventh-grade Sunday school teacher as his all-time favorite.

"Frankly, Mr. Barnhart was lousy as a teacher," Bishop Blake concedes. "Every Sunday morning, he would stand up in front of our class and read the lesson out of the book word-for-word. Like you might expect from a bunch of seventh-grade boys, we would whisper and snicker and pay no attention to him." (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

“From my experience, there’s more biblical training, there are more lessons learned and more lives transformed through Sunday school than through any other place,” says Robert H. Spain, a United Methodist bishop who lives in Brentwood, a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee.

Bishop Spain retired as an “active bishop” in 1992, but he’s still plenty active. In addition to being chaplain of The United Methodist Publishing House, he fulfills various episcopal assignments. Yet he makes time to teach Sunday school at Brentwood United Methodist Church. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

“My little girl told me last night she couldn’t wait to go to Sunday school. How could I tell her I wanted to sleep in?”

A parent asked Christy Boyle that question recently. She wasn’t complaining—she was delighted that her daughter likes Sunday school. And so is Ms. Boyle.

Visit with Ms. Boyle for five minutes and you will discover that she loves her job as Director of Children’s Ministries at St. Andrew United Methodist church in Highlands Ranch, a growing suburb of Denver, Colorado. (Continue reading this article)

By Boyce Bowdon
Special Contributor

Back in 1994, Cecil Malone was visiting with his daughter, the Rev. Cecilia Kelly. Mr. Malone had recently retired as director of the Employment Security Division for the State of Arkansas and had become state director of AARP. Ms. Kelly was then pastor of Highland Valley United Methodist Church in Little Rock—now she is Children & Families Specialist for the Arkansas Conference.

“We were talking about how homebound people miss out on a lot,” Mr. Malone recalls. Ms. Kelly was saying most shut-ins need supportive relationships with more people, mental stimulation, and spiritual nurture. The two of them agreed that churches could do more to help.

Their meeting of minds didn’t end with talk. Ms. Kelly said, “Dad, why don’t you look into it?” (Continue reading this article)