Sunday School Plans and Goals 2012
Can you believe we are now in the year 2012? As we look to the future none us know what lies ahead, but our God is in complete control of all things and that gives us hope and a sense of expectancy as we watch Him work His glory in and through us.
During 2012 we’re going to introduce a new church theme “The Year of the Family.” Bro. Larry is going to release all the details in a few weeks.
Our main thrust this year is to continue to challenge all of our leaders to make their classes “missional” as we continue to work toward adjusting our Sunday School ministry paradigm. Many of the Sunday School “gurus” are now formulating what they call “missional ministry conferences” to discuss the changing Sunday School environment and what it means for Southern Baptist churches as they seek to reach a new generation. Statistics are showing us that we are on the verge of losing the 18-34 year old age group, and that we must be busy reaching their generation. Statistically, by the time our youth reach the age of 18 they are beginning to drift away from the church – many of them were raised in church, made a profession of faith in a church, or were active in a youth ministry of a church, but after High School they depart and only about 20 % of them ever return — thus, the effort toward reaching the 18-34 year old age group. I’ll be attending a conference again this March and will report back with information and ideas.
Our Senior Pastor is continuing to challenge our whole church to “Press On Toward the Goal.” This continues the push we began in 2010 and encourages us all to continue pressing forward. Bro. Larry is challenging all of us to live the devoted life and to commit our lives to pursuing God’s best for our families in 2012. For Sunday School, this means we will work through this church wide theme to challenge our leaders to renew their efforts to two main priorities – Reclaiming the Church and Intentional Ministry. “Reclaiming the Church” is a focus of reaching out to our absentees and occasional attendees. I will continue to provide our Adult Sunday School classes with a list of their contact priorities and ask that they make contact with the families and then report back to me the results on a contact response sheet. Each class can expect to be a target group two or three times a year. My prayer is that we will be able to “reclaim” many of our own church families.
A second challenge is ”Intentional Ministry.” Intentional Ministry is simply putting our faith into practice. I would like for every class to determine what type of ministry they could perform in the community and then go out and do it at least twice through the course of the year. Examples would be things such as a class visiting in a nursing home, a class serving a “shut in” by doing maintenance projects around their home, a class working with a local school to go in and read to students or provide help to under-privileged children. The ideas are endless, and so is the need in our community. The point is to love, to serve, and to take the church into the world. Please strategize with your class and let me know what your “Intentional Ministry” project is.
I hope you have a great year of ministry for the Lord and for the members of Northeast Baptist. Pursue excellence as we serve the Lord with all our heart.
Bro. Randy
