A Week­ly Min­istry Cal­en­dar For Sun­day School Teachers

When one feels God’s call to teach the Bible, a sense of total com­mit­ment to God and a total involve­ment in His work accom­pa­nies the call. How can a called direc­tor or teacher do less than min­is­ter to learn­ers and their fam­i­lies at any time dur­ing the week?

Think of Jesus’ min­istry. He wor­shiped with oth­ers and led in Bible study at the syn­a­gogue. But how many more ref­er­ences in the Bible are made to His min­istry dur­ing the week? He did many things on days oth­er than the Sabbath.

This is week-long approach to min­istry. While some days of the week may show sim­i­lar min­istries, oth­er days dis­play unique oppor­tu­ni­ties. Look at some of the min­istry con­sid­er­a­tions shared here. Depend­ing on your lead­er­ship role, which of these can you, will you, use this week?

Sun­day

  • Pray for a good session.
  • Pray for depart­ment mem­bers and teachers.
  • Arrive on time and be pre­pared for Bible teaching.
  • Teach in Sun­day School.
  • Greet learn­ers upon arriving.
  • Talk with learners.
  • Lis­ten to learners.
  • Strive for excellence.
  • Min­is­ter to guests by help­ing them find their rooms and the wor­ship center.
  • Meet needs while at church.
  • Wit­ness by your pres­ence and par­tic­i­pa­tion in the wor­ship service.
  • Watch for oppor­tu­ni­ties to min­is­ter to families.
  • Vis­it a Sun­day School mem­ber who may be in the hospital.
  • Send learn­ers cards to encour­age and express appre­ci­a­tion for their attending.
  • Phone prospects.
  • Call absen­tees to say, “We missed you.”

Mon­day

  • Fol­low up on sick absentees.
  • Check the roll for per­sons hav­ing birth­days this week (learn­ers and teachers).
  • Pre­pare birth­day cards.
  • Plan for a spe­cial out­ing with learn­ers to get to know them better.
  • Pre­pare for next Sun­day by eval­u­at­ing yesterday’s session.
  • Get a list of prospects from Sunday’s services.
  • Pray for learn­ers and their families.
  • Vis­it homes of prospects.
  • Send “Glad you were here” cards to learn­ers who were present yesterday.
  • Call guests to let them know of week­ly activities.
  • Set appoint­ments to vis­it lat­er in the week.
  • Eval­u­ate the needs of mem­bers and plan ways to reach out to them this week.
  • Write post­cards to some mem­bers. Next week send cards to the rest of the members.
  • Begin think­ing of teach­ing items for Sunday.
  • Par­tic­i­pate in church­wide visitation.

Tues­day

  • Begin repeat­ing (learn­ing) the Bible vers­es and study­ing for next Sunday.
  • Fol­low up on absent learn­ers who were sick.
  • Make plans for the reg­u­lar plan­ning meeting.
  • Send cards to learners.
  • Deliv­er to absen­tees last Sunday’s Sun­day School extra Sun­day School pieces that may have been used.. Con­tin­ue pray­ing for spe­cif­ic needs and concerns.
  • Send a care pack­age to absen­tees or to a learn­er’s home for a spe­cial occasion.
  • Pre­pare notes, cards, or newslet­ters to mail to families.
  • Con­sid­er a depart­ment get-togeth­er (pic­nic, etc.). Involve fam­i­ly members.
  • Call teach­ers to remind them of tomorrow’s plan­ning meet­ing. Phone prospects to remind them of Wednes­day activ­i­ties. Offer trans­porta­tion or a place to meet them at church.

Wednes­day

  • Attend Wednes­day night activities.
  • Assist a fam­i­lies with younger chil­dren as they go through the meal line.
  • Attend the reg­u­lar plan­ning meeting.
  • Make assign­ments relat­ed to next Sunday’s preparation.
  • Share out­reach results and needs with oth­er teachers.
  • Pray for each learn­er dur­ing the plan­ning meeting.
  • Write post­cards to mem­bers and prospects.
  • Look for prospects you have invit­ed dur­ing Wednes­day activities.
  • Meet a prospect and his fam­i­ly (you pre­vi­ous­ly con­tact­ed) in the park­ing lot and guide them through the activities.
  • Speak to learn­ers as you see them at church tonight.
  • Pray for learn­ers and fam­i­lies dur­ing prayer meeting.
  • Change bul­letin boards (for par­ents in the hallway).
  • Gath­er resources and set up your depart­ment for Sun­day if the room is not in use.
  • Thank teach­ers for meet­ing and plan­ning regularly.
  • Com­pare vis­i­ta­tion results with oth­er age groups to note pos­si­bil­i­ties for con­tin­ued visits.

Thurs­day

  • Begin the day with prayer for oth­er age group teachers.
  • Final­ize plans for Sunday.
  • Invite learn­ers over for lunch or supper.
  • Cook din­ner for a fam­i­ly. Phone ahead for the best time to deliv­er the meal. Keep the learn­er’s tastes in mind.
  • Phone three mem­bers and two prospects tonight.
  • Talk to a fam­i­ly while run­ning errands. Invite them to church. Give them your name and phone number.
  • Mail the cards you wrote last night.
  • Bake cook­ies for a family.
  • Begin call­ing learn­ers to encour­age atten­dance this Sun­day. Fol­low up on needs of which you became aware at church on Wednesday.
  • Hand out out­dat­ed lit­er­a­ture while shopping.

Fri­day

  • Begin the day by pray­ing for each learner.
  • Con­tact the fam­i­ly who will be going away for the weekend.
  • Check with oth­er teach­ers for last-minute planning.
  • Make sure sub­sti­tute teach­ers are enlist­ed for teach­ers who will be absent.
  • Pre­pare the room for Sun­day if the room was in use Wednesday.
  • Address a birth­day card for a learn­er with a birth­day ear­ly next week.
  • Look for signs of new neigh­bors mov­ing into your area as you do run errands.
  • Check at home for any per­ish­ables need­ed for Sunday.
  • Call mem­bers, remind­ing them of Sun­day School.

Sat­ur­day

  • Pray for the fam­i­lies of your learners.
  • Com­plete prepa­ra­tion for tomorrow’s session.
  • Fin­ish mak­ing phone calls to mem­bers and prospects.
  • Vis­it fam­i­lies you sched­uled for today.
  • Invite a learn­er’s fam­i­ly to join you for a back­yard pic­nic at your home.
  • Get a good night’s rest!