Visit a few Sunday Schools; take a look at your own and perhaps you’ll ask with me, not why don’t they come, but why does anybody come? Why do as many people come as do come? There is an answer. They come because they are spiritually hungry; because they want food; because they want to try and serve. But think of the thousands, even millions, that might be reached if we had a pro gram to interest and instruct them. Our Sunday School hour is basically in two parts — an assembly and a class period. The need for better prepared, trained teachers is great, but it doesn’t begin to compare with the need for better trained Sunday School superintendents. The average assembly period in 95 per cent of our Sunday Schools is evidence of a great need here. Little prayer, little planning, little preparation, are in evidence. The church and the Sunday School have Christ to give to the world. We may differ in some very essential things, but basically evangelical protestantism sees in Christ the hope of the world. Why then are we failing so in reaching those of our communities? Because we are negligent in planning a program that will really inspire, instruct, interest. What are elements of an opening assembly? The Bible, making the program Christ centered, prayer, and music are always the chief elements. These can be pre sented in various ways and well by several people.^ The superintendent is a coordinator to see that each one who is to take part is invited and prepared. The musicians, pianist, song leader, and special music should be in formed of their part in the program well in advance. The central portion of the program must give out the Word o f Life. It may be a brief message by a teacher or a visiting speaker. It may be a visual aid as an object lesson. There are good ones for all ages. The superin tendent doesn’t have to prepare all special events. In fact, he shouldn’t. A few good rules are: Use as many people as possible. Begin on time and close on time. See that the program progresses rapidly. See that a variety of things are in cluded throughout the year. Every superintendent ought to make his own year book — marking special days and Sundays to be ob served in special ways, such as missionary Sundays, tith ing teaching, temperance emphasis, rally day, promotion day, etc. It is just as easy to be planning several Sundays at a time as it is one, and the preparation should be much better. It takes time to plan and prepare and to properly execute a program, but it pays big dividends. Invite M ore People The first important thing is to get a program going, then invite the people. Get the house cleaned up before the company comes. It is definitely wrong to publicize unless we have some thing to publicize. You may get people out once, but if they are disappointed they will be harder to get back again. Teachers must be expected to take care of visitors and absentees. No Sunday School has any right to even dream of an expansion program unless they are taking care of those they already have. Why get any more to neglect? Any Sunday School that will systematically take care of the absentees and visitors will see its average attendance and its enrollment grow. I heard of a man in Chicago who went to church and left his hat on. The pastor noticed it and asked an usher to ask the man to remove his hat. The usher went and spoke to the man and said, “ Sir, would you kindly re
move your hat?” The man seemed enthusiastic and re plied — “ I knew it would do it. I knew it would do it. I’ve come here for six weeks and you’re the first person who has spoken to me.” Many a Visitor has decided if he’ll ever come back before he even sees the preacher. It is the usher at Sunday School as well as at church that has the first chance to show himself interested in the newcomer. Church members need to be reminded and trained to invite people to come back again. “Thank you, call again” is a familiar sign as we leave the restaurant or department store. Too often it’s neither in sight nor on our lips as strangers leave our building. Invite them to return. Invite those who attend some services o f the church to attend others. For instance in most morning worship services there are from 25 to 50 per cent who were not in Sunday School. It’s a good time to invite, not only from the pulpit but person to person, even if it is an organized effort with key leaders assigned to sections of the building to speak to and invite all who were not in Sunday School to attend next week. Invitations should vary. There are many ways to in vite people to public gatherings. Use every legitimate method to inform them o f what is going on and to in terest them in coming. Here are a few — the church bulletin, special letters and cards of invitation, public announcements, radio spot and news announcement of special events. The newspaper is an excellent means and could be used much more if stories were well writ ten and gotten to reporters in time. All these methods are good, but none excels the personal contact. For Sun day School it can certainly be said that the fastest grow ing churches and Sunday Schools are those employing visitation contact methods. It is scriptural and it gets results. Invest M ore than Pennies We must invest more time. The job well done means hours of effort. Let’s challenge our men and women with the bigness of the task. It’s an all week’s job. How often we’ve heard superintendents persuading, begging someone to take a class with “ They’re only little tots, it won’t take much time, — half an hour or so on Sunday morning.” The Sunday School teachers of America have the biggest job of any single corps of workers. These men and women can do more to change the. tide of irreligion, immorality, irresponsibility than any group in the land. Laws won’t do it. We’ve got laws. Government can’t do it. Christ can do it as He is given opportunity to touch lives that the Sunday School has reached, but it takes time, your time. We must invest more than pennies. Pennies and Sunday School have seemingly gone together ever since Sunday School first began, but it takes more than pen nies to build good Sunday Schools. What Sunday School does not need better equipment and more and better buildings to care for those they have labored to reach? Whether on a local, state, or national level, if we are to do the job as it must be done we must invest more dollars. The Holy Spirit outlined the program for the church to follow — “beginning at Jerusalem and Judaea and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Don’t slacken your efforts at home or abroad, but let’s include in our plans Judaea and Samaria with a more informed personnel, more interested pastors, an improved program, by inviting more people and by in vesting more time and money in the greatest cause of all — that of reaching every member of every family of every nation with the gospel messagfe of Christ
A P R IL, 1964
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