Pastor! Don't Stress! Find A Sunday School Director!

I had three calls from pastors this week with the same question. These pastors were of different size churches and they were different types of communities. They all had two things in common. First, their churches were stuck! They weren’t growing but they were all killing themselves with the amount of work they were doing. Second, none of them had a Sunday School Director and wanted to know what to do about it. Well, I imagine that there are other pastors just like them so I want to share with you some ideas.

This is how I attempted to answer their question and address their situation of not having a Sunday School Director.

If I were you this is what I’d do…

I would begin praying for a Sunday School Director. I mean really praying! Pray like you are praying for a lost person to be saved or sick person to get healed! Talk with God about this and tell Him why you need the help of a Sunday School Director. Depend on God! Commit to God that whoever He reveals to you, you’ll ask them to serve. No matter who it is. Keep praying until He shows you a person.
One of the biggest mistakes I see pastors making is they get their best Sunday School teacher to be the Sunday School Director. That’s not what you need. Also don’t get the easiest person to serve as your Sunday School Director. You know that person that does everything or will do it just because you ask them. Don’t go the easiest and quickest route. Commit to this for the long haul!
The person you need is a leader. Pray for someone that can work with others and lead them. Who in your church has had a background in administration? It could have been in a business or in education or some other community organization. Try to stay away from those that have only been the “boss” of people and never really worked with volunteers. Leading the Sunday School and volunteer leaders is a lot different from bossing a bunch of paid employees.
The person you need is someone who can organize. Pray for someone that can see a task and then develop a process to address it. These type folks are task oriented like engineers. Be careful with these types because they can become so involved with the task they will disregard people in the process. I know, because I are one!
The person you need is a person that is a little unhappy with the condition of the church. Pray for someone that has a vision for things to be different at your church. These type folks are not usually “lifers” at the church. They weren’t saved as a child and many times have been at the church less than 15 years.
The person you need is someone that understands growth will come from those under the age of 55. I’m not saying that this age group is not important but rather that usually the growth the increase in attendance and new people will come from younger age groups. They also understand that the best thing to do with older folks is to encourage them, thank them for their faithfulness and focus on changing everything for those from the cradle to 50 years of age. You need to pray for someone that thinks young and open to change.

I told each of these pastors that these were my thoughts and that these were in no way an exhaustive list nor was it a perfect list but it was simply a place to start. I would welcome your ideas and insights.

If I or anyone on our team can assist you or your church please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Published November 27, 2018