|
| Back
to Index |
 Analyze
And Grow
Growth, maintenance, or decay -- which word best describes your
Sunday school? Every Sunday school can be classified as either growing,
maintaining, or decaying. How can we know the condition of our Sunday
school? By keeping records and analyzing the facts.
How often have you asked yourself, 'What does it take to make a Sunday
school grow?" Addressing this question seems overwhelming because it
implies a deeper question: "Can I find out what makes a Sunday school
grow?" The answer is "yes." By anaIyzing your Sunday school, you can
move from maintenance or decay to growth.
Keeping records and analyzing facts provides you with three important
factors for growth. First, you will discover your Sunday school's history.
Knowing what has taken place in the past will help you plan for the
future. Second, you will discover the present condition of your Sunday
school. You can discover its strengths and weaknesses. Then you can
use the strengths to your advantage while correcting the weaknesses
so they don't become barriers to growth. Third, you can project realistic,
attainable goals.
Several types of information should be collected, charted, and analyzed
in order to grow.
- Relationship between Sunday school and church attendance
- Weekly Sunday school attendance
- Monthly Sunday school attendance
- Sunday school attendance in each class
- Membership gains and losses (transfers in/out; conversions/reversions;
births/deaths)
- Ages and genders of membership by groups
- Number of visitors per Sunday in each class
- Reason for visitor's attending Sunday school (visitation, advertisement,
friend, pastor, teacher)
- Number and types of Sunday school classes
- Percentage of people actively involved in Sunday school
- Percentage of people involved in outreach compared to ministry within
the Sunday school
- Sunday school growth compared to community growth
- Attitudes of people both involved and uninvolved in Sunday school
As you collect information, put it into a graph or a chart to get an
overall picture of trends and patterns.
You may discover that certain weeks are always low in attendance. You
may see a relationship between the number of people involved in outreach
and the number of visitors in Sunday school. You may see a relationship
between the number of classes and total attendance. You may see a relationship
between the sues of classes and percentages of growth.
You can discover why people are and are not involved in Sunday school.
You may find a group of people who would attend if there were a class
to meet their needs.
Graph what you discover. Analyze the information, looking for cause/effect
relationships.
Contact the Sunday School Promotion and Training Department for help
with record keeping and analysis. Each month as you record and analyze
data, you will discover helpful information for helping your Sunday
school grow.
Collecting information is like panning for gold. You strain the sand
and water until you find a nugget. You will discover nuggets as you
analyze your records carefully.
Copyright © 1997 by
The General Council of the Assemblies of God
1445 Boonville Ave., Springfield, MO 65802
| Top of Page |
|
