The general theme for this year’s BGCO Sunday School Clinic training is “Nothing Less,” based on Colossians 3:17. The goal is to encourage small group leaders to give their best to God. This necessarily means that we must not settle for comfort and convenience. Our best involves sacrifice and service. If there is no outreach and no multiplication strategy involving developing new leaders and starting new groups in a small group, “nothing less” is only a slogan. Let’s give an uplifting challenge to pastors to give their all to their Sunday Schools because what happens in those small groups has eternal consequences. Begin the breakout session with some kind of quick mixer. Many of the pastors know each other but there will be newcomers as well. Use a mixer like “This or That,” where each tells their name and responds to a “This or That,” such as “Are you a dog or a cat?” “Teacher or Principal?” “Novel or Short Story?” “The Bottle or The Cap?” “40 MPH or 80 MPH?” “Phone Call or Voice Mail?” “The Actor or the Director?” “A basket or a cart?” “Digital or Hardcopy?”

Pastors set the pace for their Sunday Schools Help pastors understand that they are the key element in an effective Sunday School small group ministry. It will go no farther than they are willing to go. Say, “That’s not a guilt trip but it is simply the lay of the land. It is reality.” Put all of the breakouts at the clinic in context. Point out that hopefully some of their leaders may be attending other breakouts that deal with the mechanics of SS ministry in all of the different age groups. State, “As the pastor, you need to be aware of those things but this breakout is to help you lead on a higher level.” Illustrate using the old “the forest versus the trees” metaphor. Say, “As pastors, we have to take the 50,000 foot view and see the big picture.”

Better Sunday School Ministry Requires A Better Vision For It If our Sunday Schools are going to be better and if we are going to give Jesus nothing less than the best, then we will need a better vision for it. If it is helpful, substitute the word “clarity” for vision. STATE, “As the pastor, you must be crystal clear about your SS small group ministry.”

What is the typical vision for Sunday School in a local church? What is the typical vision for SS in a local church? (Discuss, write answers on a white board or tear sheet.) Make sure that the following are included: fellowship, care, Bible study. Point out that these are not the ultimate purpose of Sunday School, which is to make disciples and fulfill the Great Commission. Go on to remind the group that those three things are however functions of the Sunday School, through which the mission/purpose can be fulfilled.

VISION Measures Values Mission Strategy Present a framework and model for understanding what is vision so that we can then connect it to Sunday School small group ministry. List the four components of vision. Strategy

VISION Mission What are we doing? Our mandate The mission of Sunday School answers the question: What are we doing? (or at least attempting to do). In conjunction with the overarching mission of SS, which is to make disciples, you need to establish one or two Wildly Important Goals. SAY, “We’ll come back to what this is in just a moment.” Our mandate

VISION Values Why are we doing it? Our motives Values answer the question, “Why are we doing Sunday School?” In other words, why do we do Sunday School anyway? This question helps us get at the issue of motivation. Ask for examples of values related to SS. Make sure that “people” and “the word of God” are included. SAY, “People and the word of God are the only two things that will last forever. This makes this worthy candidates in any consideration of values.” Our motives

VISION Strategy How are we doing it? Our map Lead a discussion on this question: “What is the definition of Sunday School?” Mention the ReConnect definition: “Sunday School is a church’s primary strategy for connecting people to Jesus, to His truth, to His community, and to His mission.” Identify strategy as the map we follow to accomplish our mission. STATE, “The word ‘strategy’ is a Greek military term and could be translated ‘the art of the general.’ It is a plan for taking a hill, for fighting battles that will help you win the war.” WARNING: Do not leave the impression that the ReConnect definition is the ONLY definition of Sunday School. Simply affirm that it is a good and helpful one. Our map

Wildly Important Goal (WIG) Represents something new Receives our maximum focus Brings the greatest impact Limited to one or two at a time Examples? Strategy is a way to achieve what some have called your “Wildly Important Goals” (WIG). These goals are in contrast to your ongoing activities. They represent something new to which we will give our maximum focus. We have to remember that there are always more good ideas than we have the capacity to execute. A WIG is more than just something that is important. Instead it is an objective that, if achieved, would make the greatest impact on our Sunday Schools. In fact, it represents something so fundamental to your heart of your Sunday School that to achieve it defines the whole organization itself. IMPORTANT: you cannot have more than two WIGs at any given time. In most cases, with most churches being volunteer-driven, one WIG will be more than enough to chase after. Discuss some possible WIGs for a church’s Sunday School.

VISION Measures When are we successful? Our marks There are two kinds of measures, lead and lag. Lead measures are the things that you do in order to accomplish your objective. Lag measures tell you if you have reached your goal. Our marks

Difference between lead and lag measures Lag measures tell you if you have reached your goal They measure the goal Lag measures are hard to do anything about Lead measures tell you if you are likely to reach your goal They measure something that leads to the goal Lead measures are mostly within your control Most leaders focus on the lag measures (SS enrollment, attendance, giving). Spend lots of time defining the lead measures that WILL contribute to the goal. REMEMBER: it is the data on the lead measures that matters. For example, everyone understands that making contacts contributes to your SS objective. But not everyone focuses on the data associated with contracts (how many, when were they made, what was learned as a result, etc.)

Lead Measures for Sunday School? Lag Measures for Sunday School? Examples Lead Measures for Sunday School? Lag Measures for Sunday School? Lead a discussion on possible lead and lag measures for Sunday School. Ideally, this discussion will spark some creative thinking for the pastors present that will result in their establishment of lead and lag measures for their own Sunday Schools.

The Danger with Vision VISION Measures Mission Values Strategy Share the following (in your own words): “These four components define vision. The great danger is that the leader tries to hold and cast a particular vision for Sunday School that exists outside this framework. In other words, it has not connection to the four components. For example, a pastor wants his Sunday School ministry to begin to minister outside the walls of the church building. He begins to talk about this. HOWEVER, he fails to show how that is a fulfillment of the mission of Sunday School. While ideally the values of Sunday School would include people and the word of God, the reality is that it is mostly about the Bible and only a small portion of people, namely, church members, not lost people. Although the pastor has a “vision” for this, he has not set any tangible goal for this, something that would qualify as a Wildly Important Goal (WIG). And finally, there are no measures in place that would track this vision of a missional Sunday School.” Ask for response to the information shared. Invite pastors to rate themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 regarding how much actual vision is in place for their Sunday School small group ministry. VISION Strategy

Apart from vision, there will always be a gap between the leader and the team Before advancing the animation on this slide, ask, “Do you ever feel like there is a gap between your Sunday School leaders and yourself? Do you ever feel alone in the endeavor to make Sunday School a meaningful ministry in your church? Do you ever feel like you’re speaking a foreign language when you talk about Sunday School to your leaders? Do you sometimes feel like your leaders are looking at you like a calf looks at a new gate?” Say, “If so (advance animation), it may be a lack of vision.”

Vision = Clarity Vision is one of those words that has either lost its meaning through overuse or polluted through association (vision as a building, vision as mere numerical increase, etc.) Perhaps it will help to use the word “clarity” in the place of “vision”. Are you clear about what your Sunday School is and what you want to see it accomplish? Remember the old adage: a mist in the pulpit brings a fog in the pew. If you are not crystal clear in your understanding of what your Sunday School is about, then there is little, if any, chance that your church will have any clarity about it either.

Next Steps? Spend some time brainstorming next steps. Ask, “What are two or three things you can do to develop, clarify, and communicate Sunday School vision in your church?” Close in a time of prayer and ask God to turn the aspirations of the group into realities.