One of the key functions of adult Bible classes and teen Sunday school in our Baptist churches is helping to assimilate people into the body life of the local church.
In this growth points video, I share five ways to best assimilate and build people through these classes:
(If you cannot see this video in your RSS reader or email, you can watch it here.)
- Identify the target of the class. Having a specific target group (we group ours by life stage—single, married, age, etc.) helps guests know which class to visit and helps teachers give more specific lesson applications.
- Establish an identity for the class. I like to have class names and logos so people can remember and hold onto that class identity. Teachers can use the logo on lessons, signage, notes, and business-sized cards they give to prospective members.
- Devote yourself to love the members of the class. What really builds a strong class is a loving environment, because acceptance is the optimum environment for growth. A good adult Bible class provides acceptance, accountability, availability, and activities.
- Enroll people into the class. Whether it be the first time they visit class or in a home follow up visit, make sure you’re getting people’s contact information and enrolling them to be part of the class. Keep good records, and use email addresses and phone numbers as additional touch points of communication with class members.
- Invest yourself in lesson preparation. Make sure that you’re teaching sound, Bible lessons with pertinent application for the members of your class. (We’ve provided many of the curriculums we’ve used here at Lancaster Baptist through our publications ministry.) Pour yourself into preparing the lesson, and labor to connect God’s Word with your students’ hearts.
We’ll have several lessons on reaching and assimilating people at this year’s Spiritual Leadership Conference, June 12–15. If you haven’t done so already, I encourage you to register online and to plan to join us for this inspirational and educational conference.
