Training Category: Shepherding Ministry
While Sunday School obviously provides a platform for Bible teaching, it also can be a good venue for Shepherding Ministry. Check out the following articles for all a shepherd has to tend to in addition to feeding:
General Responsibilities of a Shepherd
Specific Duties of a Shepherd
But, can we expect already busy Sunday School teachers to do it all?
Simply put, the teacher CAN’T do it all. To adequately prepare a lesson, get to know the students, and spend a lot of one-on-one time meeting needs is too much for today’s busy teachers.
As with any kind of shepherding ministry, Sunday School teachers need to enlist the help of others. Some possible ways of networking to share the load could include the following:
- Develop a resource list of referrals within the church and also outside of the church to help with specific needs.
- Recruit helpers to do some of the work such as preparing visuals, setting up the classroom, keeping records, etc. to free you up to do some relationship building and shepherding.
- Equip members of the class to use their spiritual gifts to help serve and meet the needs of one another.
- Encourage members of the class to live out the one another commands of Scripture among each other.
- Pair up the more mature students with the less mature students to help with discipling and mentoring.
- Connect those going through loss or difficult struggles with others in the class or church who have had similar experiences.
- Build margins into your schedule so your time is not so consumed that you cannot possibly be available to your students in times of emergency or great need.
- Pray, pray, and pray some more. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5-6).
The Shepherding Ministry Manual contains the above suggestions for Sunday School. It also contains content from the following articles, as well as some questions to guide you in thinking about improvements you might make to your church’s Sunday School ministry.
- So, what about Sunday School?
- What’s the role and qualifications of the Sunday School Teacher?
- What about Sunday School students and the teacher’s relationship with them?
- What is Sunday School’s greatest resource?
You May Also Find This Resource Helpful: Time Management for Teachers Worksheet