Another Opportunity: Open House Through Your Sunday School
by Carol F. Krau

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly;
teach and admonish one another in all wisdom;
and with gratitude in your hearts
sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.
(Colossians 3:16, NRSV)

Promotion Sunday has come and gone. Teachers have been recognized for their call to the teaching ministry in your congregation. Perhaps new classes were begun. Before we know it, football season will be finished for another year, and we will have concluded another holiday season. The dawning of 2007 will bring to mind old and new resolutions — some half-hearted, some humorous, some determined. The start of a new calendar year offers your congregation another opportunity to continue or initiate the theme of "Open House" in your Sunday school and through the Christian education ministry in general. Here are some possibilities to consider:

1. Focus on local, national, and international mission.

• Organize a mission tour of organizations within your district or annual conference that are supported by apportionments. To learn what organizations there are in your area, contact your district superintendent or annual conference office.


• Sponsor a mission "fair" in your congregation. Invite United Methodist organizations and other local charitable organizations to set up displays with information about their services. Provide refreshments. Play games. Invite a choir or band to lead music.


• Invite a missionary (current or retired) to speak to your Sunday school classes. Ask her or him to bring photographs and artifacts from the location in which she or he served. Have the missionary share experiences and help the congregation learn about how The United Methodist Church is in mission around the world.


• Use the Children's Fund for Christian Mission materials with your children's classes. To receive these materials, contact Connie Schmutz at cschmutz@gbod.org.


• Purchases copies of the 2007 Prayer Calendar from the General Board of Global Ministries. Create a bulletin board with names and birthdays of missionaries around the world. Mark missionary locations on a map. Sponsor a special prayer service during which Sunday school members pray for mission personnel.

2. Offer a short-term class on the sacrament of baptism.

• Consider beginning the class on the second Sunday of January, which is the Sunday during the liturgical year that congregations celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. Use the gospel texts related to Jesus' baptism: Matthew 3; Mark 1:1-9; Luke 3:1-22.


• Use By Water and the Spirit: Making Connections for Identity and Ministry by Gayle Felton, which contains the full text of the paper, "By Water and the Spirit," the offical United Methodist document on baptism.


• Decide whether the class will be for any interested person, for participants in a confirmation class, for people new to The United Methodist Church, or for adults who have never been baptized.

3. Organize a class for newly-elected church leaders.

• Encourage all church leaders to participate in an existing Sunday school class, small group, or in a new study.


• Use the class to prepare leaders for connecting their work with the mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ.


• Use the class as an ongoing setting for reflection on Christian leadership, emphasizing leadership needed in your congregation.

4. Invite individuals to make a commitment to practice spiritual disciplines.

• Offer a class that provides information and skill development in prayer, methods of Bible study, fasting, and worship.


• Begin a small group using the Companions in Christ materials, such as The Way of Blessedness, The Way of Grace, or The Way of Forgiveness.


• Organize a spiritual life retreat to introduce participants to spiritual disciplines.


• Invite individuals to participate in a Walk to Emmaus. (Contact the General Board of Discipleship for more information about the Walk to Emmaus at 877-899-2780 or at www.upperroom.org/emmaus.)

5. Remember that Christian education happens in many settings on any day of the week!

• New classes may be offered during the week, as well as on Sunday.


• Consider scheduling some classes at more than one time, so that more people can participate.


• Consider scheduling some classes or small groups in homes or other community locations. Christian education doesn't have to take place in the church building.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Carol F. Krau is the Team Leader for the Congregational Leaders Team and Director of Teacher/Leader Development at the General Board of Discipleship, PO Box 340003, Nashville, TN 37203. She may be reached at 1-877-899-2780, ext. 7171 or ckrau@gbod.org.

Posted 12-12-06

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