What Happens to Sunday School?

Change and loss are difficult realities for most church replants. Even anticipated change and loss is more than some legacy church members can deal with. This becomes especially difficult for areas of ministry that have “always been” for many church members, areas like Sunday School. Sunday School has a rich and valued place in older, established churches and in many ways has served congregations, communities and the Kingdom well.

When we tell legacy church leaders and members that as a New City Family Church, Adult Sunday School will become Missional Communities there is fear and panic to say the least! What is heard is, “We’re doing away with Sunday School!”
But that’s not necessarily true.

In a church replant all of the legacy church ministries are examined for ministry effectiveness and alignment with the church’s mission, vision and strategy. Sunday School is no exception. Some of our key questions in evaluating these ministries are:

• How is this ministry helping others live in light of the gospel? (our mission)
  Is there a clear gospel presence in the gathering?
  Is the gospel presented accurately to those present?
  Is the gospel applied not only to salvation but to all of the believer’s life?

• Is there evidence of lives being transformed in this ministry?
  As we present the gospel for salvation and sanctification are lives, families, communities being changed? (our vision)

• How is this ministry doing in living out our identities as family, missionary and servant?
  Do those who are a part of this ministry care for one another and provide for one another like family?
  Do they see themselves as a group as those sent out by God on His mission of redemption and reconciliation. How are they on mission together?
  Do they live as servants - in the church, in their homes and as they go about life, serving as individuals and as a group?
  Are they reproducing these qualities in others? (our strategy, disciples making disciples)

Often Sunday School classes do well at living out one or even two of these identities but come up short on a third. They may for example, do really well with the identity of family, living out the Bible’s “one anothers” and meeting needs. They may even do well serving the church together understanding that they live like Christ as they serve. But they may fall short of being on mission together through missional partnerships, engagement in the community or in a neighborhood. Assessment helps us understand where a ministry like Sunday School might be falling short in our mission, vision and strategy and helps us bring better alignment to those things.

So, the question! What Happens to Sunday School in a replant?
Our goal is to help Sunday School classes reimagine Sunday School, not as a closed community who loves one another and has Bible Study together, but as an open community growing in the gospel together, loving one another and engaging together in God’s mission. We want to help them see how they can be a part of the disciple making process and a part raising up new leaders in the church, even planting new classes who are also an open community, growing in the gospel together, loving one another and engaging together in God’s mission. Sunday School classes become Missional Communities - Missional Communities that meet on Sunday mornings taking on the characteristics that we see in Jesus’ life with his disciples and in the first churches of the book of Acts.

In the end we hope to have Missional Communities that meet at the church on Sunday mornings and Missional Communities that meet at various times during the week in homes in the communities all around the church!