Youth Sunday School as Disciple Maker
It was evident at the Ascension, that the disciples were in desperate need of the boldness and insight of the Holy Spirit. Yet the implications of Jesus' parting command were quite clear–they would soon be doing with others what He had done with them. What happened in their lives between the call to come and be and the commission to go and make was discipleship in its purest form.
The cliché that "discipling is better caught than taught" holds much truth. Even so, the eternal impact Jesus made on lives came not only through public demonstration but in private discourse.
What ministry in the local church most adequately presents such an opportunity, not only in the sense of a smaller group setting but in the depth of teaching? The Sunday School. Where else could a person who is truly serious about discipling young people find so many students engaged in the systematic, interactive study setting the Sunday School provides?
Indispensable parts of the discipleship process are challenging, equipping, and providing opportunities for students to become active with their faith in every context of their lives. Much of the challenge is issued through messages in youth services or rallies. Opportunities and outlets for involvement come through the various ministry teams during outreaches and events. The crux of the whole process, however, is the equipping for service, and Sunday School is the biggest context for that.
Here are a few tips on using Sunday School as a youth disciple maker:
1. Emphasize Sunday School as integral to the overall youth ministry.
Some of our best youth leaders talk about their youth group as a separate entity from the Sunday School. Purpose and format may vary greatly, as will the sphere of influence of each ministry. Still, one is incomplete without the other, and both should be promoted to all youth involved in either context as part of the overall ministry. If anyone considers himself part of the youth group, then class is the place to be on Sunday morning.
2. Adopt a more aggressive enrollment policy.
Pending an initial personal contact, many youth who have been guests in services or activities can be added to prospect rolls where they should get immediate and regular attention regarding Sunday School. Campus missions or casual meetings with your current youth and their friends can also provide a basis for enrollment. Keeping in touch with these students allows a relationship to build--which is key to discipleship.
3. Choose curriculum that is practical and interactive.
Discipleship is not a spectator sport. Students need to participate in the process. Ask questions that lead students to discover and articulate the biblical truth for themselves. Take advantage of a broad base of resources that incorporate video, object lessons, role-play, drama, and written work into the lesson. Specifically apply the lesson to real life. Come up with practical ways to live out the Bible truths on Monday morning–ways that can be prayed for as class ends and accounted for as next week's class begins.
4. Equip teens to become active with their faith.
Students must learn to build, share, and defend their faith throughout life. Courses should be offered regularly on the basics of discipleship: the Word, prayer, Scripture memorization, evangelism, devotional life, missions, the work of the Holy Spirit, the life of Jesus, personal evangelism, campus missions, spiritual warfare, and prayer. Find and use the most practical, creative, and biblically solid resources available on these subjects. Offer some courses as student leadership electives. Teach other subjects in combined sessions, giving potential leadership the option of outside work projects. Vary this format so as not to keep student leaders away from their peers for an inordinate length of time.
5. Involve peer mentors in the discipleship process.
Offer an ongoing 4- to 6-week course that a person can join anytime. Here students who are new believers can spend time with a friend, youth leader, or–ideally–those who led them to Jesus, working through a question-and-answer booklet on basics of the faith. Outside of class the students and mentors should be accountable to each other through personal contact each week. Leaders should also follow up on these individuals to encourage continued involvement in the rest of the youth ministry.
6. Keep classes small.
Place teens who are active in any capacity of the youth ministry on a Sunday School roll. Refer to this listing each week for contacts. The advantage of using Sunday School as the source of contact and emphasis is: Those who can be tied into Sundays will likely attend youth services and other events as well. On the other hand, those who are only drawn into services and activities may not make their way to Sunday School without encouragement. No matter how dynamic youth services may be, students cannot be thoroughly discipled in that setting.
7. Use Sunday School rolls for weekly contact.
Discipleship, which is birthed out of relationship, is best nurtured in smaller group settings. Depending on the availability of quality leaders, structure your Sunday School with levels or electives so that classes do not get too large. The same principles that make cell groups effective also apply to Sunday School. Classes can still be effective with 20 to 30-plus if they remain interactive, but it becomes increasingly difficult for individuals to receive personal attention.
8. Keep students accountable for what they learn from week to week.
This can be accomplished by having them complete outside projects and allowing them to take part in teaching what they have completed. Regular personal contact by phone, postcard, visit, or school activity should be maintained with all students. If all teachers, assistants, adult and student leaders help in the process, each needs only to make a few contacts every week, thus allowing the interaction to be more in-depth than just a quick "Will you be there?" call.
9. Give students a wide variety of outlets for ministry.
Let them see for themselves why they need to study the Word, pray, and demonstrate their faith. Plug the whole Sunday School process back into the rest of the youth ministry by allowing trained students to fill leadership roles in ministry teams, serve as small group leaders, assist in teaching, and serve on the youth council or core leadership team.
Discipleship is an ongoing process that takes young people full circle from when they respond to the call to follow Christ to when they can be commissioned to lead others. If you take Jesus' command seriously to "go and make disciples...teaching them to obey everything I have commanded," you must conclude that discipleship is not possible without a broad base of teaching. Sunday School can provide this. It will bridge the gap between the call to come and be and the commission to go and make disciples.
