This is a "rough draft" of Part III. It will make a lot more sense if you read Parts I and II first. Part I in this series quotes the multitude of research projects into the real life benefits of church attendance. Part II quotes a number of research projects and poll results that knock out the crutches for lame excuses used by church for "where the kids are on Sunday." My main goal in providing articles such as these is to work through and focus my thoughts on subjects which I am interested in knowing more about. That process includes questioning, research, reading, discussion, and finally the process of writing & feedback. My intention is not to prognosticate or pontificate. My goal is to move the discussion forward, in my own mind, and perhaps in those of a few other kindred souls. <>< Neil   Suggestions welcome. Email Neil@sundaysoftware.com.

Part III in a series on Children's Ministry
Characteristics of a New Ministry to Children - a rough draft.

I begin with EXPANDED versions of the modest proposals with which I concluded Part II in this series....

I'd like to teeter on the edge of some new proposals...

Proposal #1
Question: Is Sunday morning before 10 a.m. the BEST time in the 21st Century to conduct children's Bible education? In some churches and places in the country, the answer is logically "no." It's only ONE time during the week where we can conduct children's Bible education. Theologically speaking, Sabbath is for being with your family at rest and contemplation. Worship was reserved for just before and just after Sabbath (sunset and sunrise). So let's not get all worked up about Sunday School "has to be" on Sunday. Even the idea of Sunday School isn't very old... and it was originally instituted to get children off the streets.

RATHER... let's move the discussion of "is Sunday" beyond the question of "what day then" and make a larger observation:

The primary objective of Sunday School  is not to be Sunday.
It's to do Bible Study whenever and wherever it can flourish.

Proposal #2 explains this 'larger observation' further...

Imagine if we had never heard of Sunday School. Imagine if we had no preconceived notions or schedules to hold back our thinking of what a Bible based education should be like for children, youth and adults. What would we create?

In the 'old' days of fewer churches and slower means of transportation, it made sense to create a program of study that "got them while they were already here for worship." The idea of Bible classes before or immediately after worship on Sunday arose as a matter of logical convenience. And there is still a good deal of truth -for some churches- for the argument of convenience. But there is nothing sacred about having classes before worship. It's merely a choice based on a prediction of the most convenient time to achieve maximum attendance.

I want to digress for a moment to attack one of the most prevalent attitudes among church staff today --that members are somehow tainted by the "CONSUMER oriented society" --and the church shouldn't "give in" to that attitude. I've heard some preachers decry "people today" who want churches to be CONVENIENT like "Fast food drive throughs." Balderdash. Everything about the modern church is a matter of "logical convenience." Pews lined in rows to fit a maximum number of people in a room. Scripture Lesson Chapter/Verse printed in a handy bulletin. Pre-printed Pledge envelopes. Evening meetings scheduled "after work hours." Air conditioning. Precut communion bread. To those who want to blame the people, I say "judge not lest ye be judged."

One of the BIGGEST reasons many educators, pastors and volunteer leaders don't want to consider change is because it will inconvenience them. Further down in this document I'm going to propose a list of WAYS to do a NEW KIND of Children's Ministry. And almost every one of those ways is going to be inconvenient to the way we do things now. Change is inconvenient. And to put this back on a theological plane for a moment --God is inconvenient too. It would be a lot easier if God didn't care so much. "It would be a lot easier to go back to Egypt, at least there we had bread and water." Ok...so let's move on....

"Sunday School that's not just on Sunday" might incorporate some special studies on Sunday morning, some special evenings, some special retreats, some family ministry events, some home groups, and some parent-led home teaching. The Bible is far too important to teach in just one one format, place and timeslot. Our new approach would be to offer additional studies and experiences for those ready to go deeper (I can think of about 10 elementary kids at my church who are ready for that --and shouldn't be held back by the "less-ready"). It would include "cast your net" events designed to attract the unchurched members in our midst and their children. It would include several "rite of passage" events to mark accomplishments and points of spiritual maturation. It would incorporate youth, confirmation, family and adult ministries in its design. It would view students as individuals with individual needs, individual schedules and individual preferences, not "take it or leave it."

Proposal #3... Change on the scope and scale I'm proposing will require new time & new leaders, not more time for the same leaders.

I propose that each church have a branch of its Christian education ministry charged with the responsibility of bringing CE to the kids, rather than bringing the kids to CE. In fact, I would go so far as to say that any church which is not actively working on a plan to reach children through their homes, their parents, through their siblings and neighbors in a personal "off-church-campus" way, is a program that is living in the past, and not addressing current and future needs.

The "look, feel, and shape" of such an "off-campus" approach is uncharted territory for most of us. It's simply not the way we were brought up or trained. And there are few published resources to help -especially if you are of the Mainline Church persuasion. But it must be innovated or we will become increasingly irrelevant.

STATISTICS AND TRENDS ARE NOT DESTINY. Not if we learn to invent.

In his article, "Innovating on the Fly," reknown church growth consultant Bill Easum writes one of the most true statements about the church that I have ever read. And here I am applying it to Christian education and Sunday School.

"For the next fifty years, the ability to constantly innovate "on the fly" will present one of the most important leadership issues facing any organization.

Not since the Reformation has the need to discover new ways to achieve old things been as important as it is today.

Those not secure enough to innovate on the fly will be unable to effectively lead a church through the next twenty years."

You can read the full article and many other excellent Easum articles at
http://www.easumbandy.com/resources/index.php?action=details&record=338

Conclusion to Part II:
I am sure that there are some folks reading this article who will disagree with it. I am sure there will be some who shudder at the thought of "abandoning" a monolithic "has to be" approach to children's Bible education. And there will simply be some who aren't interested in putting forth the extra effort required to change. But this article wasn't written for them. It was written to help me understand some truths, and to help clarify in my own mind some thoughts about "where do we go from here" as they relate to Christian education.

I should say first that many churches facing difficult challenges ARE doing well, or at least holding their own. My research was not to describe the decline in every church --but mainly to take away the crutches that failing --and even successful churches use to prop up their lack of growth, or lack of desire to change what seems to be working --thus ignoring the future. I've known several educators who have thriving programs, but continue to blame sports or homework as the reason why MORE kids aren't coming. Part II should generally take care of that crutch.

There are many reasons why decline can happen in a program. In the past I would have said that the #1 reason is leadership. And that's still somewhat true in MANY churches. They don't have the leaders to do well. And leadership in the church --like it or not, starts at the top --the pastor. If people feel good about the pastor and the direction he/she is leading them, they usually feel good about other opportunities in the church as well. But that's not always so.

Try as they might, some churches simply discover that for a variety of reasons, Sunday morning is not primetime for Christian education. A lot of factors go into this. A HABIT of not coming to Sunday morning classes is probably the most prominent. And habits are very difficult to break. I've been in a church that had growing worship attendance, but declining Sunday School attendance. And the children's offerings were great. They just couldn't generate the adult ed interest. And in a small church, there is such a thing as "critical mass."  To begin and grow a small group, you need X number of people. Fall below that X number, and the group will fall apart. Groups are cyclical. In a larger church, you can wait out the bottom of the cycle because you still have X number of people coming. But in a small church, when the cycle is down, the group can cease to function.

Then there's the "Ecclesiastes 3 Factor"  --there's a time and a season for everything. And particularly in a small church, you can't have everything you want blooming at the same time. Not enough energy, leaders and people to go around.

Caution: Some people want to give up the ship without a fight. Rather than create a better Sunday morning program, they want to give up. I don't believe in giving up on something until it's been given my best shot.

I've also seen poor leadership kill children and volunteer enthusiasm. Recently I was at a school sponsored event where teams of children were being awarded in a science "Olympiad." As various teachers brought the enthusiastic children up front to announce names and awards, I was struck by the range of personalities and number of inappropriate/poor speakers who took the microphone. One leader of children made the parents cringe. You've seen them too. Some programs have a "vibe" about them that is infectious --either positively and negatively. In one of the churches I have been priviledged to serve, our decline was due in part to worn-out leaders from the past still hanging on. So the first thing you will want to do is CHECK THE VIBE.

So maybe its the leadership, or maybe it's just time to do something really different (but do it well).
But maybe it's time to simply do a better job.
Check your motives before you make up your mind.

We are in an era where experimentation is needed.

The following guidelines are a first draft. After Parts I and II of this series led people to contact me about more details" I decide to offer a first glance at the notes I've been collecting on the subject of "what the future of ministry to children might need to look like."

Please note: I'm not going to explain the obvious, --which is that we are in the business of nurturing faith and biblical literacy. This is about "how" not "what."

Characteristics of a new ministry to children:

1. Do less "whole group" programming that is year-round and facility based. This will open up time for other opportunities to go out and be where the kids are. New venues will create new opportunities for interaction and keep us from offering only a classroom based model. (Example: a children's group I know pledged to attend events in which each member was already involved. The group would show up at soccer games to watch individuals play, dances, school competitions, etc.)

2. Think beyond Sunday morning. Organize opportunities to meet a variety of options and schedules. Provide opportunities that have defined start and end dates. Studies show that people find it easier to join newly forming groups, rather than break in to existing ones, and respond to defined lengths of commitment.

3. Create opportunities that include the children's parents at times, rather than viewing parents as "the ride to and from the program."

4. Have a one-on-one component where leaders go where kids live and play. Involve mentors, and youth as role models.

5. Seek to match each child with an opportunity to serve/help in the life of the church.

6. Expand the number of ritual/rites of passage which children/youth can pass through, rather than lumping it all into one Confirmation behemoth. Keep these "rites of passage" easy to participate in (no 10 week courses), but special enough to draw wide interest.

7. Individual churches will shape parts of their ministry to children in ways that capitalize on real strengths -not imagined ones. A real strength in the church might be it's tradition of camping, or service, or the presence of college students, for example. Such strengths present unique opportunities to those churches.

8. Use technology to "data-base" contact information about kids and their activity/interests. No more losing kids through the cracks.

9. Planning meetings will include focusing on the lives and needs of individuals, not just program detail.

10. Develop new standards for measuring success and failure. Five quality encounters a year can have a greater impact than 25 weekly attendances in a classroom.

11. Recognize that some children/youth are ready for exceptional commitment and provide a track for them to follow. (By analogy, schools have found that gifted students need gifted/extra approaches or they drift off).

12. All children's ministry in the future must be equally focused on family ministry, and in particular, encouraging and TRAINING parents to talk about faith in the home and in daily living.

13. Your thoughts here.

Neil MacQueen
April 2004
June 2006

Neil MacQueen is a Presbyterian minister, Christian educator, President of Sunday Software Inc., and leader in the Workshop Rotation Model movement for reinventing Sunday School. Over the years he has written and published numerous articles and two books on Christian education, and led numerous conferences and seminars. Part of Neil's ministry is addressing current issues and future of Sunday School and Christian education. Neil and his wife Malinda and their three daughters live in Columbus Ohio. This article was first published at www.sundaysoftware.com. Email Neil at neil@sundaysoftware.com

This article may be reprinted for non-commercial use, provided the author and website information is preserved.