Ever have moments in your life that’s forever etched into your memory? I have many of those… and for some reason, two of many memories have to do with this topic.
- I happen to be walking by when a preschool boy stopped in his tracks, looked at his Sunday School teacher who was off-rotation, and said “but you didn’t come to class today!” He actually had the saddest puppy face ever, and he just looked perplexed as to why his teacher wouldn’t come to class when she was clearly at church.
- I was having dinner at a good friend’s house, and we were talking about my next ministry direction when their 5-year-old son said “Teacher Gloria, do you wanna move to my church?” His mom proceeded to tell me that he doesn’t like that his teachers change all the time in his Sunday school class. He really likes consistency at his preschool, but had difficulty at church due to the inconsistency at his new church. Oh, I had taught his class for about a year before he went to his new church.
We often think that primary purpose of Sunday ministries is to teach Bible lessons… and that’s true! However, for kids, who teaches those lessons matter just as much, if not more! We would never put up with our schools changing teachers every week or even every month, right? So why do we settle for inconsistent volunteers for our children in our ministries? God’s truth that is imparted during Sunday school is that much more powerful when it comes from someone that the kids have relationships with. That’s why it’s important to have consistent volunteers in our kidmin and emphasize relationship building with the children. There are other reasons, but I believe this has to be the #1 reason… because we can be much more effective in our ministry to the kids when they see familiar faces they trust and love week after week!
gloria s. lee 