Do you go through workbooks in Sunday School or just lecture?

[evangelist6589]

Perhaps I have asked this before, but I can't remember. How do you do SS? Do you just lecture and teach people like how it is done in traditional churches, or do you setup tables and everyone including you sits down, and the class goes through a study guide book such as one by MacArthur, Wiersbe, or one of the other dozens of them out there in SS? I have been in many traditional churches where thy just lecture at people in SS and I get almost nothing out of the lessons, but the very strong advantage of my church is that their SS is very workbook/study guide based with tables setup and its all about diving deeper into the topic whether it be a book of the Bible, or a theology topic.

 

[just-want-peace]

Lecture; with class input as appropriate.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Neither. Open discussion. It's the best way to learn.

 

[Zaac]

We use workbooks. But different teachers use the workbooks differently. If I'm teaching the workbook is there as a guide and I'm going to facilitate the open discussion to get us to the modern application of what we've read/studied BEFORE we get to class.

Pulling the people into the discussion and letting them teach each other

will never go wrong. :flower:

 

[preachinjesus]

We do groups on campus and off campus on Sundays and outside that time. They're all groups regardless of the name.

All of our teachers are asked to lead in directed discussion where a topic, or passage, is presented and then discussed by the group. Open ended questions are the best way to go. This helps facilitate a deeper conversation. It leads to richer groups.

 

[JeremyV]

Neither. In our Sunday School (for adults) we have a scripture selection and basic commentary. We read the scriptures and discuss them using the commentary as a guide. Often we find ourselves disagreeing with the commentary.

 

[12strings]

We'll say neither too. For the adult class that I have been in the longest, there is usually a book, or lesson guide that the teacher goes through. He Presents a few preliminary thoughts, or has someone read the main scripture passage for the day, then begins asking guided questions as he works through the passage or lesson little by little. (ie, talk a little, ask another question, discuss, move ahead a bit, repeat. That class has great discussions, and even has good civil disagreements about certain issues.

There is one of the substitute teachers who tends to lecture too much when he teaches, but he's getting better.

We are a fairly traditionally structured church, with Sunday School and Morning Worship Service...then various community groups meeting throughout the week. The SS hour probably leans more instructional, and the groups lean more discussion-heavy...but there are elements of both in both settings.

Our Senior Adults have been doing more of a work-book type thing forever, so they keep doing that. The children's classes also go through workbooks, I believe, but they leave them at church during the week.

The Youth Classes (which I just recently began teaching one of them) are similar in format to the Adult class I described above, except we very often begin the discussion with a "How would you respond in this situation?" Question.

 

[evangelist6589]

We'll say neither too. For the adult class that I have been in the longest, there is usually a book, or lesson guide that the teacher goes through. He Presents a few preliminary thoughts, or has someone read the main scripture passage for the day, then begins asking guided questions as he works through the passage or lesson little by little. (ie, talk a little, ask another question, discuss, move ahead a bit, repeat. That class has great discussions, and even has good civil disagreements about certain issues.



There is one of the substitute teachers who tends to lecture too much when he teaches, but he's getting better.



We are a fairly traditionally structured church, with Sunday School and Morning Worship Service...then various community groups meeting throughout the week. The SS hour probably leans more instructional, and the groups lean more discussion-heavy...but there are elements of both in both settings.



Our Senior Adults have been doing more of a work-book type thing forever, so they keep doing that. The children's classes also go through workbooks, I believe, but they leave them at church during the week.



The Youth Classes (which I just recently began teaching one of them) are similar in format to the Adult class I described above, except we very often begin the discussion with a "How would you respond in this situation?" Question.

Very good. In SC among the IFB churches that I visited most were very lecture oriented in their SS with questions at the end and such. I did visit some SBC churches that were discussion based but none workbook study book based. I guess to each his own but I prefer discussion and study books.

 

[Scarlett O.]

We use SS literature.

I don't like to lecture. Sometimes my students will open up and discuss a lot and ask GREAT questions that we all investigate from God's Word and sometimes they just seem to want to listen.

I'm uncomfortable with doing all of the talking because I don't think that how we best learn, but occasionally it happens.

That's why I use a lot of questioning techniques - both in regular school and Sunday School or anywhere I am asked to teach or be a presenter.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Neither. Open discussion. It's the best way to learn.

And I should have added, our Sunday school teachers are expected to do the study and prepare the discussion outline themselves, not relying on prepackaged materials.

 

[Rolfe]

Neither. Open discussion. It's the best way to learn.

Agree, as long as it kept under control.

 

[padredurand]

Neither. Open discussion. It's the best way to learn.

It's flannelgraph or nothing. You modern folk are just ruining Sunday school. :tongue3:

 

[Rolfe]

It's flannelgraph or nothing. You modern folk are just ruining Sunday school. :tongue3:

Flannelgraph?

 

[evangelist6589]

We use SS literature.

I don't like to lecture. Sometimes my students will open up and discuss a lot and ask GREAT questions that we all investigate from God's Word and sometimes they just seem to want to listen.

I'm uncomfortable with doing all of the talking because I don't think that how we best learn, but occasionally it happens.

That's why I use a lot of questioning techniques - both in regular school and Sunday School or anywhere I am asked to teach or be a presenter.

With only women correct?

 

[Scarlett O.]

With only women correct?

Not correct.

I have taught Sunday School for a least two decades. It's either been a children's class, a youth class, and for most of those years - an adult woman's class.

For the past two years, since my senior adult ladies have passed away at an enormous rate over the last 15 years, I find myself with a mixed gendered class.

How did this happen?

My pastor had a "Pastor's Sunday School Class" for the last 22 years. It was filled with about 20 people who just didn't fit in anywhere - the misfits, so to speak. Most of them were misfits because the other Sunday School classes didn't make a welcoming room for them.

Most of these were couples.

Two years ago, he felt led to start a class for young men - raising them up to be more accountable and he asked his current class to find other Sunday School classes.

Three of the couples made their way to my class after visiting other co-ed classes taught by couples. One couple in their 50's and two more in their 60's. All of whom just don't "fit" anywhere.

I went to my pastor about this as he is 100% the most conservative, fundamentalist, and traditional pastor I have ever sat under and I expected him to "demand" they they go elsewhere and to condemn me for having them allowed across the threshold of my Sunday School room.

He didn't.

He told me that he felt that was where they needed to be.

I won't apologize for being under the umbrella of my pastor's authority and if anyone chooses to condemn me for having three couples in my class, I'm not going to participate in the head chopping.

I did not go looking to include couples in my class.

 

[abcgrad94]

It's flannelgraph or nothing. You modern folk are just ruining Sunday school. :tongue3:

Humph. We use clay tablets and scrolls, so there!

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

It's flannelgraph or nothing. You modern folk are just ruining Sunday school. :tongue3:

Pardonne moi, Padré, but I am not in preschool. :laugh:

FYI, I'm too old for there to have been rampant Flannelgraph advocates or users back in the day, but my kids were "flannelgraphed" near to insanity in Sunday preschool.

 

[Yeshua1]

Perhaps I have asked this before, but I can't remember. How do you do SS? Do you just lecture and teach people like how it is done in traditional churches, or do you setup tables and everyone including you sits down, and the class goes through a study guide book such as one by MacArthur, Wiersbe, or one of the other dozens of them out there in SS? I have been in many traditional churches where thy just lecture at people in SS and I get almost nothing out of the lessons, but the very strong advantage of my church is that their SS is very workbook/study guide based with tables setup and its all about diving deeper into the topic whether it be a book of the Bible, or a theology topic.

We normally go through an entire book, as we just completed going through the Gospel of John in 44 weeks, and the pastor had us get a binder, and put in it his stugy guides for each class, and we were encouraged to take notes on them...

He also will open it up to discussion, so feels more like a regular classroom setting like in Bible college...

We tend to use actual text books/study guides more in our cell groups...

 

[padredurand]

Humph. We use clay tablets and scrolls, so there!

Rolf must be one of them young ones that missed the finer things of the old ways.

 

[evangelist6589]

We normally go through an entire book, as we just completed going through the Gospel of John in 44 weeks, and the pastor had us get a binder, and put in it his stugy guides for each class, and we were encouraged to take notes on them...



He also will open it up to discussion, so feels more like a regular classroom setting like in Bible college...



We tend to use actual text books/study guides more in our cell groups...

Very very good... Very good example.