December 2007
A toolbox of wisdom to develop, nurture and encourage teachers, small group leaders and pastors in their teaching ministry.

Crafting Your Own Comprehensive Plan

 

 

By Diana L. Hynson

Your church most likely has some classes and small groups for Christian education and formation. They may be in formal settings, such as Sunday school on Sunday morning or a Wednesday night Bible study, for which the church finds a leader. They may be informal, such as a home-based monthly book discussion group that a group of church friends has organized.

The number of groups and classes varies from church to church, of course, but every church needs some system for conceptualizing, planning, organizing, and implementing these groups and for taking responsibility for what happens there. While each individual class or group is ostensibly organized to meet the needs of its participants (which is good), a systematic organization and approach is what facilitates the appropriate movement of persons in growth from one group to the next, the purposeful focus of the groups, the multiplication of groups, the ability to evaluate their effectiveness, and the needs for new or different groups and classes. This is important for the entire lifespan.

Every church needs a plan to help people grow in Christian faith.

At the very least, we want to “first, do no harm” (one of John Wesley’s admonitions in his General Rules). We want to have teachers and leaders who have the basic tools and skills to lead and teach. From there, we encourage continuing excellence and faithfulness (or to “do all the good that we can”; again harkening back to Wesley). The Christian Education Specialists team at GBOD has developed a comprehensive plan to help get you started on developing your own system (see the link below).

With the Comprehensive Plan document as a foundation, consider these things:

  • Do you have a vision and mission statement for the church, and thus for the ministry of Christian education and formation?

  • Do you have a way to know or assess who is where in their spiritual journey?

  • Is there a way to help all persons, new and long term, find classes and groups?

  • Is each group (for adults) planning and doing its own thing, or is there a larger picture and mission in place with intentionally planned classes and groups?

  • Do you have ways to encourage people to get beyond the stable, comfortable point in their faith journey so that they are challenged to a deeper, more mature Christian life?

  • Do you have a way to help people move from class to class or group to group so that they are able to keep growing?

  • Do you have any sort of purpose or stated learning plan or growth goals in each class or group? if so, do all the group or class members know?

  • What is your current plan to facilitate the transition of children, youth, and adults at various life stages into new groups and classes (so that youth do not “graduate” after confirmation or college grads drop off the radar until they come back with a family, for example)?

  • Have you surveyed the surrounding community in any way to see what groups or classes would welcome them?

  • Do you have any kind of evaluation or review process that is expected of group and class leaders to ensure that they are still fulfilling their mission and purpose?

  • Is there any strategy for ending groups that need to stop or be “re-purposed”?

Diana L. Hynson is Director, Learning and Teaching Ministries and Director, Church Vitality Indicator at GBOD.

For Further Reading and Reference...

 

A Comprehensive Plan for Teacher Development for United Methodist Congregations.

Beyond the Roll Book: Sunday School and Evangelism, by Diana L. Hynson and Scott J. Jones (Abingdon Press, 2006).

Deepening Your Effectiveness: Restructuring the Local Church for Life Transformation, by Dan Glover and Claudia Lavy (Discipleship Resources, 2006).

Feedback?

 
 


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 This newsletter was created by the Christian Education Team at GBOD and is made possible by your generous giving to the World Service Fund. You're receiving this newsletter because you've submitted your email address to us.