How do you teach your sunday school?

[evangelist6589]

Do you lecture, or do discussion? One of the STRONG advantages of my church is that SS is discussion based. In fact SS is a highlight of the church experience and what I like best. The people are friendly and all which is good. Although being more Reformed in my evangelism we do not exactly agree, the good thing is that we can all agree to disagree which shows maturity. Like today we had a chat on witnessing and I clearly made a case for confrontational evangelism and God being the author of Salvation and he cares more about obedience than about results, and I made a case against seeker and men pleasing evangelism methods that do not get one hated by the world, etc.. However some disagreed and said we needed to conform based on response, and that we needed to adapt our techniques, etc..

I have been in churches where SS was another sermon, and I have been in churches where I was interpreted as rude because I asked questions and wanted to dialogue. Such churches have been rare, but when I was in SC IFB Churches where everywhere and BJU represented dozens of Fundamentalist all over the globe so everyone is different.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

Do you lecture, or do discussion? One of the STRONG advantages of my church is that SS is discussion based. In fact SS is a highlight of the church experience and what I like best. The people are friendly and all which is good. Although being more Reformed in my evangelism we do not exactly agree, the good thing is that we can all agree to disagree which shows maturity. Like today we had a chat on witnessing and I clearly made a case for confrontational evangelism and God being the author of Salvation and he cares more about obedience than about results, and I made a case against seeker and men pleasing evangelism methods that do not get one hated by the world, etc.. However some disagreed and said we needed to conform based on response, and that we needed to adapt our techniques, etc..

I have been in churches where SS was another sermon, and I have been in churches where I was interpreted as rude because I asked questions and wanted to dialogue. Such churches have been rare, but when I was in SC IFB Churches where everywhere and BJU represented dozens of Fundamentalist all over the globe so everyone is different.

Old School types dont have SS, rather we believe in teaching our children ourselves but if teaching is requires its the job of the Teaching Pastor & the HS.....and we all attend as a church. In other words, we all learn together.:thumbs:

 

[Judith]

If someone comes to learn they need to remain quiet and learn until they have been given permission to ask a question. If they want to teach than they need to start a class of their own. If they want to debate than they need to stay home and do so with the wife and kids.

 

[just-want-peace]

My class is older adult couples in the (approximately) 58-78 range. We have 4 regular teachers plus one who only teaches on a 5th Sunday. (This one also teaches an even older class once a month.)
Each one has a totally different style of teaching that varies from none to 3 or 4 remarks/questions for the lesson period to the other extreme of up to 15-20 rem/quest in the period.
Occasionally someone tends to get carried away and start chasing rabbits, but for the most part all is related to the topic at hand.
I personally like this system, specifically as many new undertones are discovered in the scriptures that, in a few cases, have answered a question I had or supplied an answer to a dillema.
Different strokes for different folks though, so find that which meets your needs and dive in.:thumbs:

 

[preachinjesus]

For our group leaders we encourage them to facilitate conversations in group time through guided conversation. In other words, present the topic, ask open ended questions, and lead towards resolving them while keeping the biblical text central.

Lecture is not preferred for our groups. We ask all of our leaders not to lecture.

 

[evangelist6589]

For our group leaders we encourage them to facilitate conversations in group time through guided conversation. In other words, present the topic, ask open ended questions, and lead towards resolving them while keeping the biblical text central.

Lecture is not preferred for our groups. We ask all of our leaders not to lecture.

I agree with you. I dislike churches that do not like open ended discussion and debate. I went to plenty of those type of churches in SC and they are all so dogmatic and opinionated it was impossible to reason with them because of their deep traditions and teachings of men. Many churches in the IFB movement are stooped in tradition and teachings of men. What got me was that their traditions are so deep they would not even consider the possibility that they could be wrong. Darn hypocrites!!!!

 

[evangelist6589]

If someone comes to learn they need to remain quiet and learn until they have been given permission to ask a question. If they want to teach than they need to start a class of their own. If they want to debate than they need to stay home and do so with the wife and kids.

Really? Who makes the rules? Do you know that many learn better by getting involved or are you so deep in your traditions and teachings of men you will not even consider that? Many of these type of churches are stooped in pride and arrogance and sad they are just blinded by their traditions.

I attended a few churches in SC that were so so so deep in formalism they thought it was rude that I would ask questions and talk during SS hour. Reminds me of the passage where Jesus rebuked the disciples for not welcoming children. Jesus welcomes children and desires us to learn and grow!

 

[Yeshua1]

Do you lecture, or do discussion? One of the STRONG advantages of my church is that SS is discussion based. In fact SS is a highlight of the church experience and what I like best. The people are friendly and all which is good. Although being more Reformed in my evangelism we do not exactly agree, the good thing is that we can all agree to disagree which shows maturity. Like today we had a chat on witnessing and I clearly made a case for confrontational evangelism and God being the author of Salvation and he cares more about obedience than about results, and I made a case against seeker and men pleasing evangelism methods that do not get one hated by the world, etc.. However some disagreed and said we needed to conform based on response, and that we needed to adapt our techniques, etc..

I have been in churches where SS was another sermon, and I have been in churches where I was interpreted as rude because I asked questions and wanted to dialogue. Such churches have been rare, but when I was in SC IFB Churches where everywhere and BJU represented dozens of Fundamentalist all over the globe so everyone is different.

youths are taught usually in a series, such as case for faith, evidence against darwinism etc, while adults taught usually by senior pastor more in a teaching Q&A session!

 

[drfuss]

My class is older adult couples in the (approximately) 58-78 range. We have 4 regular teachers plus one who only teaches on a 5th Sunday. (This one also teaches an even older class once a month.)
Each one has a totally different style of teaching that varies from none to 3 or 4 remarks/questions for the lesson period to the other extreme of up to 15-20 rem/quest in the period.
Occasionally someone tends to get carried away and start chasing rabbits, but for the most part all is related to the topic at hand.
I personally like this system, specifically as many new undertones are discovered in the scriptures that, in a few cases, have answered a question I had or supplied an answer to a dillema.
Different strokes for different folks though, so find that which meets your needs and dive in.:thumbs:

The above sounds like our bible study class over the past few years. We have three rotating teachers, each with a different style: one is mostly lecture, another mostly discussion, and the other teacher is both. If someone does not like this weeks class, come next week and it will be totally different. So far, people say they like the variation.

We had one guy who wanted to debate on minor issues. The class members did not like the debate attitude he had and it resulted in complaints. We had to tell him about the complaints and we suggested that he present his views as opinions or another way to look at it. He did not realize that his debating offended people; he changed and has become a good contributor to our class discussions.

 

[Tom Bryant]

We encourage, in fact, pretty much demand that teachers involve the students (of whatever ages). They usually begin with an exposition of the passage (we teach thru the Bible in SS). Then begin to talk about how it would apply and what situations they can apply a Biblical truth in.

We jokingly tell teachers that there are no "talking heads" in SS. btw, this is exactly why I don't teach SS classes because I am a preacher.

 

[evangelist6589]

We encourage, in fact, pretty much demand that teachers involve the students (of whatever ages). They usually begin with an exposition of the passage (we teach thru the Bible in SS). Then begin to talk about how it would apply and what situations they can apply a Biblical truth in.

We jokingly tell teachers that there are no "talking heads" in SS. btw, this is exactly why I don't teach SS classes because I am a preacher.

I will be teaching for the first time at this church in a few weeks. I have taught before at churches.