Recruiting and Training Sunday School Teachers- the Training Mentor Approach

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Recruiting and Training Sunday School Teachers-
the Training Mentor Approach

• Prepared by Teachable Heart Ministries

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• If half of the population of your church is
  children and teenagers you need at least a
  teacher for every 8 children
• one out of eight adult members should collaborate
  in Children's ministry
• take into account the great importance of this
  ministry, and the need of reaching children
  outside the church, there is even more need.
• How do we accomplish this?

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Where to Start

• Some might basically be interested in working
  with children, but be afraid of having to teach
  without knowing how to do it. Work at
  facilitating their training period.
• Children and teenagers themselves with parental
  direction can be involved in teaching
• Parents can begin as assistant teachers
• When parents learn how to teach their own
  children, there will be less need for Sunday
  School and some families could even start
  evangelistic groups for new children..

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How to Introduce New Teachers

• Allow interested parents to visit different
  Sunday School classes without any commitment (up
  to three visits, for example).
• Training Mentors- During this time, the
  assistant is a disciple of the teacher. He learns
  by observing the teacher and helps him in
  practical issues (distributing materials, helping
  children with their crafts, maintaining
  discipline, etc.) According to his progress, he
  might also lead praise times, prayer times, or
  teach parts of a lesson. Hands on-training.
• Receive a basic formal training for new teachers.
  
• Commitment as a teacher of a class, for one year.
  
• After some time of experience as a teacher, he
  will look for a new assistant teacher and train
  him.

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Preparation of a Sunday School Leader

• Biblical knowledge
• Development of his own spiritual life (communion
  with God, living according to His Word, not doing
  things in his own strength but in the power of
  God, stewardship, etc.)
• Getting God's vision of children (regarding their
  spiritual and psychological situation, their
  needs, their potential for God, etc.)
• Knowing and applying different teaching methods
• Practice in teaching
• Practical and creative capacities, such as
  drawing making crafts playing a musical
  instrument singing acting or playing puppets
  elaborating educational materials etc. (Not
  every teacher needs all of these capacities, but
  he should have at least some of them and develop
  them more.)

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Growing New teachers

• A church never has "too many" teachers
• If there are more teachers than needed for
  teaching the children of the church, there is
  always need to find more children outside the
  church to reach for the Lord.
• The Sunday School Director trains and disciples
  the teachers ideally the teachers are parents,
  the teachers disciple the assistant teachers
  teachers and assistant teachers disciple the
  children and teenagers.

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Your not short teachers if

• You have at least 2 experienced teachers and a
  parent for each willing to be extra hands
• Break up ministry teams that are experienced and
  have been working together for more than one
  year, instead of one team you now should have
  two. If you can do that in every grade youll
  have eight! 8 mentors x 2 helpers 16 workers
• A Year later- 16 x 2 32 workers!
• And a year after that 32 x 264 workers!

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The Long and Short of it

• If you disciple parents in how to spiritually
  train up their children include the mandate to
  equip and disciple others you will never be short
  childrens ministry workers!