As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“Studies have shown participation in ongoing Bible studies bolsters worship attendance. The higher a church’s percentage of weekend worship attendees involved in a small group, Sunday School class or similar group, the greater likelihood of five-year worship attendance growth.” - Lifeway
“As a church practitioner in groups ministry for the past three decades, I’ve seen the benefits of having both kinds of groups to reach different kinds of people.” - Lifeway
“This is the fundamental reason we shouldn’t discard the old approach—the Bible itself invites readers to learn from the lives of its characters.” - TGC
“Second, we can strive to use the Sunday school hour fully for Bible teaching. In many adult classes announcements, prayer time, and discussion of community events takes up much of the teaching time. Third, we can emphasize Bible reading plans.” - SBC Voices
“Teaching a Sunday school class, especially one for teens or adults, can be tough. Prefabricated curriculum can feel a bit canned. People aren’t looking for another sermon knowing they’ll get one right after class.” - P & D
Awana President Matt Markins: “We see our global footprint as being a child discipleship organization. So we know for us to go into the future, we have to have a whole other set of resources to help the church effectively reach kids to the gospel and help them to make disciples.” - Christian Post
From Faith Pulpit, Spring 2018. Used with permission.
The first article demonstrated that teachers and teaching are two essential components of a New Testament church at any age level. This second article focuses specifically on the Bible teaching ministries for adults.
Churches today utilize three main Bible teaching ministries for adults:
“Do you believe that God used evolution to create human beings?”
- yes. 24.6% of those who attended Sunday school
- yes. 18.5% of those who did not attend Sunday school
Sam Weller, associate professor of creative writing at Columbia College Chicago and authorized biographer of Ray Bradbury, recently published an article in The Chicago Tribune that got me thinking: “Without school librarians, we’re on a dystopian path.”
In his commentary he expresses his concern about cuts in staff and funding for school libraries. During a visit to rural Shawnee, Oklahoma, he found out that their school library received no funding whatsoever for new library books in 2016. In Wichita, Kansas, certified librarians were being replaced by clerks. The Kansas Department of Education has reduced the number of certified librarians in their state by 31%. The number of school librarians in the Chicago public school system has dropped from 454 to 160.
Mr. Weller reminds the reader that Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 depicts a dystopian society that no longer values reading and education.
Discussion