How To Enroll New People
Introduction: Does Sunday School enrollment have to be a hard-sell effort? Before the meeting, schedule two outgoing members of your staff to role-play a positive enrollment scene. Have them portray coworkers or neighbors.
Design this staff conference to emphasize why and how to enroll new people in Sunday School. Open with prayer, and then move into an agree/disagree discussion of the statement by Andy Anderson, the late Southern Baptist Sunday School consultant:
Instruction: "Sunday School enrollment may be the most important figure in church."
Begin dialogue with comments from someone who agrees. Follow with someone who takes exception. Alternate points of view to continue discussion and allow time for workers to express themselves. Guide the exchange to point out that enrollment shows the relationship of the church to the field.
Just as important as how many attend Sunday School is how many do not attend who should. How many are yet unreached?
First base in the We Build People discipleship model is Include Them. Here people begin to identify with the church, come to recognize their need of Christ, and accept Him as Savior. Sunday School should be a primary first-base ministry.
Have the senior pastor or other discipleship leader give a brief overview of the We Build People or Purpose-Driven Church discipleship process visual. (If you are not familiar with We Build People, take the tutorial at http://webuildpeople.ag.org/.) Otherwise, simply sketch the baseball diamond graphic on the chalkboard and explain the parallel commitments at each base:
Base 1: Church commits to include them.
Individual commits to membership.
Base 2: Church commits to instruct them.
Individual commits to maturity.
Base 3: Church commits to involve them.
Individual commits to ministry.
Base 4: Church commits to invest them.
Individual commits to mission.
The We Build People Law of Inclusion for first base says: "A disciple-making church intentionally provides a process that includes people in its sphere of care, causing them to desire to become believers, establishing a relationship with Jesus Christ and His body, the local church."
In Sunday School, this means enrollment. The first element of Sunday School outreach is open enrollment.
Define open enrollment as the practice of enlisting anyone, anytime, anyplace with his agreement. Sunday School enrollment is not joining the church—qualifying for voting church membership, etc. The Sunday School roll is the list of people to whom we are committed to minister and who have agreed to let us.
We do not enroll people because they attend. Even more, we do not drop them because they do not come. We remove people from the roll only when we no longer can minister to them. The ones who do not come need to be on the roll more than any. They most desperately need our prayers and ministry focus. When we recognize the roll as our ministry list, we will want to enroll everyone possible and keep all enrolled.
Role-play: Set the scene for the group, and then let the players develop it. One participant might begin, "I’ve never heard you mention church. If you don’t have a church home, I believe you’d like our Bible fellowship group. We have a small group of friends who meet each week to study God’s Word and explore how to apply it to our daily lives. I’d really like for you to come, but I can enroll you right now. We would pray for you and plan our studies and activities for your needs and interests. We would keep in touch, so you know everything we plan and can be part of it; thus we will know what’s happening with you." The second participant might question what kind of commitment he or she must make to be enrolled.
After the role-play, let the group expand on enrollment possibilities. As they brainstorm, on the board write ideas and, especially, targets for enrollment. Encourage them to target first those closest to the class.
Enroll church attendees who do not come to Sunday School. In most churches this will be 30 to 50 percent of worship attendance.
Enroll newcomers to class the first time they attend. Avoid the "visitor" label. "Guest" is good, but better still is, "Thank you for being part of the class today. We hope you will continue with us. May I add you to our ministry list for prayer and information? It identifies you with the class and helps us minister to you. Just fill in this enrollment card and we’ll put you on the roll."
Enroll worship service guests. Put a Sunday School enrollment invitation/opportunity on the guest card. The ushers and greeters should be ready to answer questions about specific classes and to encourage enrollment.
Enroll new church members. Many churches have not even enrolled current members. Church leaders should include Sunday School emphasis and invitation to enroll during new-member classes. The church membership card should feature a Sunday School enrollment space.
Enroll new converts. Do it at the altar. With other new Christian resources, suggest a new converts class and let the new believers know Sunday School is the best place to grow in Christ.
Enlisting these groups inside the church likely will double enrollment, and possibilities outside the church are unlimited. In a typical Assembly, 50 to 70 percent of enrollment attends. They come because the class prays for them, plans lessons and activities for them, and keeps them informed—in short, ministers to them.
As enrollment increases in a life-changing Bible study with friendly and caring people, attendance also will climb. The percentage of enrollment remains about the same, but ministering to 50 percent of 200, you reach twice as many as 50 percent of 100.
Mel Surface is Christian education director for the North Texas District.
