By Jenny Scott
February 2023
Lois Stewart, Mission Facilitator for Schools, is energizing leaders with a new Sunday School Network Group within the Northern Illinois District. Sunday School superintendents, teachers, volunteers, or anyone who wants to see their Sunday School grow and flourish are welcome to join the group. The group meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. for one hour on Zoom.
“Coming out of COVID and even before, Sunday School programs were struggling with numbers,” said Stewart. “The leaders in many churches wanted to connect to see how they can both get support and better support each other.”
For some of the meetings, the group shares ideas and themes. In other meetings, Stewart brings in guest speakers. For example, in October a staff member from Concordia Publishing House spoke about a new Sunday School curriculum which is part of the “Enduring Faith” study.
Stewart explained that the new curriculum is very user-friendly and flexible, therefore you don’t have to have the same person teach a whole quarter or a whole set of units. Volunteers can come in and teach just one week a month.
Another thing that they discussed was how to get more people involved in Sunday School. For instance, if someone doesn’t feel comfortable teaching, maybe they can prepare snacks or gather craft materials. The curriculum is structured in a way so that anybody who has a desire to be involved in Sunday School can play a part. A couple of the churches represented in the group have already purchased the curriculum and one woman gave firsthand information on how well it works.
In November, another Concordia staff member talked about how to reach out and recruit not only teachers, but also children within the church to encourage them to attend Sunday School.
“Both Concordia speakers were energetic, informative, and engaging,” said Stewart.
Future meeting topics will cover outreach into the community, as well as how to celebrate holidays like Easter and Valentine’s Day around the church year.
Stewart said the group has received very positive feedback so far. Anyone interested in joining the group can contact Lois Stewart at lois.stewart@nidlcms.org.
WORD: Helping congregations be more centered on a rich life of Word and Sacrament, with congregational support in transitions as well as time of joys and sorrows.