Equipping Sunday school teachers yields many benefits. It ensures that your children’s ministry has a solid foundation. It provides valuable leaders in classrooms. And it helps you recruit and retain volunteers. So consider these practical tips for building a strong Sunday school team.
So much goes into creating a dynamic kidmin team. As you build your group of Sunday school teachers, keep these four important factors in mind.
Equipping Sunday School Teachers: What They Need
1. Clarify job descriptions.
First, create a job description for each role on your team. Clearly outline the time commitment, the responsibilities, the benefits of the role, and any other expectations. Check out this sample Sunday school director job description.
2. Place people in their “sweet spot.”
Next, take time to discover each person’s gifts and passions. Don’t place people where you need them to fill a gap. Instead, place them where they’re gifted. When people are in their sweet spot, serving is energizing.
3. Build mentorship into your team structure.
Create a culture where each teacher or team member intentionally mentors another as everyone serves together. In other words, the leader invests in key teachers who can one day be Sunday school leaders. A key teacher prepares assistant teachers to become key teachers one day. An assistant teacher prepares room assistants to be assistant teachers one day.
4. Plan for appropriate adult-to-child ratios.
First, check with your state’s required adult-to-child ratios. Then build a set ratio into the foundation of your Sunday school. Here’s an example ratio:
- Infants: 1 to 2
- Crawlers: 1 to 3
- Toddlers and Twos: 1 to 4
- Threes and Fours: 1 to 8
- Fives through Sixth-Graders: 1 to 10
Having a good adult-to-child ratio is critical to success in children’s ministry. Here’s why.
Why Your Adult-to-Child Ratio Matters
1. Effective learning is possible.
For starters, you can move beyond “crowd control.” Then it’s possible to dive into interactive, hands-on learning.
2. Safety increases.
Teachers can supervise children more closely, leading to fewer accidents. Plans such as fire evacuation are more efficient too. For safety training resources, check out the Shepherd’s Watch Safe and Secure Church Kit.
