This article and four more to follow are about ideas — lots of ideas. Most of them have been collected from Sunday school teachers and students over the course of many years. They involve things that have enriched Sunday school programs and broadened the goals that Sunday schools have addressed with their children. I hope by sharing these with you, they will get you thinking about new things to try or, perhaps, stimulate your own teaching creativity. By all means, read them and run with them.
Serving others
- Once a year, say at Thanksgiving time, have the Sunday school children bring in items for “sunshine baskets” for the elderly, sick, isolated, or shut-ins. Involve the children in the preparation and delivery of the baskets. Some interesting human nature lessons may be learned in the process.
- “Be ye kindly affectioned one to another” (Rom 12:10). Here is something a CYC has done. Each week a different member of the CYC identifies someone in the ecclesia who has a birthday or an anniversary or who is sick and could use a cheerful “hello”. Then after class a card is circulated for all the CYC members to sign. (Thanks to Bro. Dan Wilkinson, Worcester, MA.)
- Adopt a grandparent! Bridge the generation gap in your ecclesia. This can be done in several ways. Sunday school children can be paired up with older members of the ecclesia. Then from time to time the children prepare something — a card, a small craft item, a plant or flower, an edible treat — and give it to their “adopted grandparent” between Sunday school and meeting time. Doing this once is good; doing it more than once is better. It helps build relationships where they may not otherwise exist.
- Here is a variation on the same idea. An older Sunday school student might be encouraged to “adopt” an elderly member of the ecclesia or a neighbor and visit them in their home. Chat with them, do a Bible reading together, share an interest, run an errand, wash some windows or do something around the house for the “adopted grandparent”. It should be stressed, of course, that the point of this is not to earn money, but to give kindness to someone. “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
Reaching out
Sunday school superintendents and teachers can do a lot of things to reach out to their children, families, and neighbors. Do you have a student who misses Sunday school? Keep a supply of envelopes and postage stamps on hand in your Sunday school area. A postal scale might come in handy, too. Every time a child is absent from Sunday school, send the lesson material or assignment home as soon as Sunday meeting is over. This tells the child that he or she has not been forgotten, and it also says, “Our Sunday school work is important!” Be persistent at this!
Cards to kids. Kids still love to get mail: plain old ordinary snail-mail. One Sunday school teacher we met several years ago told us that she made a practice of writing a letter or card to each of her Sunday school children every week! She took the time to embellish each note or card with a bit of calligraphy, a little drawing, a sticker, or rubber stamping. All of this told her children that she cared for them and that they were important to her. The teacher would get these ready early in the week and then mail them so they arrived on Friday or Saturday. It gave the children something to look forward to, and the timing reminded them that Sunday school was coming up again soon. (Thanks to Sis. Eunice Treadway, Chicago, IL)
Find ways to build and strengthen relationships with your students. The previous idea got Esther and me thinking (we were still teaching our own Sunday school kids at the time). When we went anywhere, we tried to make a point of buying picture postcards and sending them to our Sunday school students while we were away. We planned ahead and made sure that we took stamps and addresses with us.
Of course, the last three ideas relate to the dark ages of the pony express (almost!). No doubt in this day and age, you can think of ways you might use e-mail or texting or social networking strategies to make extra contact with your students and strengthen your relationship with them within the wholesome framework of the Truth. One thing to keep in mind though: modern electronic communications are fast, cheap, and commonplace. It is hard to make them seem special anymore. Any suggestions?
More communicating
One thing you might do by email is to send out an occasional Sunday school newsletter. It has never been easier to put one together. Almost everything you own these days can take digital pictures! Adding text is a breeze. Lots of color pictures of the Sunday school kids in action, a few words about what is going on in Sunday school, a calendar of upcoming events, and a few words of Godly wisdom can be put together and sent out to everyone almost as fast as you can think about them. This is one way that “fast, cheap, and commonplace” can be put to good advantage. Print up a few hardcopies of the newsletter for those in the ecclesia who don’t do computers. Help everyone be more aware of what the Sunday school is doing.
Take the Sunday school newsletter idea to a higher educational level. Get the children involved in producing it. Give them some responsibility for reaching out and telling others what is going on in their Sunday school. Work closely with them to make this a success and give them a sense of accomplishment.
A carefully edited hardcopy of your Sunday school newsletter might also be mailed to the families of children that live near your meeting place. Let them know what is going on in the Christadelphian Sunday school and provide them with a way to get in touch with you if they would like to know more.
Revisiting Sunday school goals1
Sunday school is about more than imparting Bible knowledge to children. It is also about developing relationships with them within the bonds of the Truth, and it is about helping them develop Godly relationships with others. In many respects, that is what this month’s ideas are about. If you haven’t tried any of these before, give them some serious thought. And send me your good ideas, too, please.2 I will be happy to share them in the pages of The Tidings magazine.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One