If you’re involved with Sunday school, either as a superintendent, CE director, teacher, or another capacity, then you’ve no doubt heard the lament that things have changed. Crowded classrooms and regular attendance are no longer the norm. Instead you’re struggling with things like whether to go to a one room Sunday school or how to reach biblically illiterate kids who only attend your program every few weeks.
Join us for this three week course as we explore ways to handle the challenges of the 21st century Sunday school such as declining enrollment, erratic attendance, competition with other activities, lack of volunteers, and budget cuts. We’ll also talk about the possibility of doing Sunday school a different way or at a different time.
We’ll look at intergenerational ministry and worship along with ways to introduce them in your church, using the experiences of churches who are doing them successfully. Partnering with families will be discussed with specific steps you can take to help families become the primary faith formation leaders for their children.
We’ll also look at the movement to get rid of Sunday school and what this means for you and your ministry. Together we’ll come up with an action plan and innovations to your Sunday school program that will fit your unique situation.
You will be able to access this course at your own convenience; a minimum of four to five hours per week is necessary to benefit from the course content.
This course is eligible for 1.0 CEU.
Price: $50
About the Instructor
Debbie Kolacki is a Certified Christian Educator and Certified Lay Servant in the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She has a BA in English from Wagner College and completed the courses for her certification as a Christian educator through Columbia College in South Carolina. She has taught children, youth, and adults and served in many areas in her local church for over twenty years.
Debbie is the senior consultant for Practical Resources for Churches (PRC) where she works with people in all areas of ministry and leads webinars, workshops, and retreats. Her blogs include Faith Geeks and Practical Resources for Churches. She loves doing research of all kinds for church folks. When Debbie is not working for the resource center or doing church things, she enjoys being at home with her family, writing, reading, and doing faith geek things.
Past Students Said…
“I found all the links so full of information! I truly have been impressed with this course. …This has been just what I needed to keep my fire going to rebuild our Sunday school.” – Kristin S.
“Thank you for this on line class. I am so inspired and excited with all the information and resources I have received. This should be a requirement for all!” – Marie M.
“Debbie has offered more than instruction; she has fueled my fire, given me hope as well as the confidence in moving our program into the 21st century with success and the strength to take on the challenges!! Very grateful for having taken the time to complete this, I have the tools I need to complete a process I begin.” – Susan M.
“The course materials were instrumental. We had been discerning an inter-generational ministry approach to Christian Education at my church for some time. The materials, links, webinars provided the push needed. The Christian education team is very excited about the new direction we are heading.” – Patty B.
“I learned that there are MANY ways to approach the issue of Sunday School and children/youth programs in church, and that many churches are facing the same issues. It was so beneficial to be able to share ideas in the discussions, to read about new techniques and theories that other churches are trying and what modern research is telling us, and to be able to think through and outline a plan of action that we could potentially take back to our own church.”
“The course was great and the instructor was fantastic! She provided so much useful information and such excellent resources, and her assignments and activities really helped us to think about these issues in the context of our own churches.”